Information Technology

Unit-1

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 1

 What is data?
► Data is a collection of facts-unorganized but able to be organized into
useful information.
► Data also means raw facts and figure which are meaningless.
► E.g.: class attendance sheet, collection of sales orders.
► Data can be manipulated to produce output such as student
attendance reports, salary slips etc.
► This output which can help people in making decisions is called
“information”.
► Therefore, information is data arranged in an order and its useful to
people who receive it.
► Knowledge is information that has been paired, shaped, interpreted,
selected and transformed.

DATA INFORMATION KNOWLEDGE

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 2

GENERATION OF KNOWLEDGE
Note:
► The terms information and knowledge are frequently used for
overlapping concepts. The main difference is in the level of abstraction
being considered.
► Data is the lowest level of abstraction, information is the next level,
and finally, knowledge is the highest level among all three.
► Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which
information and knowledge are derived.
► For example, the height of Mt. Everest is generally considered as
"data", a book on Mt. Everest geological characteristics may be
considered as "information", and a report containing practical
information on the best way to reach Mt. Everest's peak may be
considered as "knowledge".

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 Data processing:
Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer

► Processing in general terms is a series of action that are applied to an

input for getting an output.
► In context of data processing, input is our data and output is useful
information.
► Hence, data processing is defined as series of actions or operations
which convert data into useful information.
► Data processing includes three sub-activities:-
► - capturing the input data
► - manipulating the data
► - producing output results.
► Different resources used in data processing are: people, devices,
procedures that help to attain output.
► E.g.: marks in various subjects are processed to make a mark sheets.
► Sometimes output is again fed as input for further results.
OUTPUT(INFO
INPUT(DATA) PROCESS RMATION)
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 Information Technology:
► “Information Technology is the use of hardware,
software, services, and supporting infrastructure to
manage and deliver information.”  
► Information technology (IT) refers to the management
and use of information using computer-based tools.
► It includes acquiring, processing, storing, and distributing
information.
► Most commonly it is a term used to refer to business
applications of computer technology, rather than scientific
applications.
► The term is used broadly in business to refer to anything
that lies into the use of computers.
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► Information Technology is having impact on all trade
industries and businesses, in service as well as in
manufacturing.
► It is affecting workers at all levels of organizations,
from the executives to middle management and clerks.
► Information technology is increasingly becoming a
basic factor of all types of technologies such as craft,
engineering etc.
► We can also say that methods used for collecting the
data, storing it, converting that data into information
and communicating it all over the world is Information
Technology.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 6

 Information Age
► The age, also commonly known as the Computer
Age or Information Era, is an idea that the current age
will be characterized by the ability of individuals to
transfer information freely, and to have instant access to
knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to
find previously.

► The idea is linked to the concept of a Digital

Age or Digital Revolution, and carries a shift from
traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought
through industrialization, to an economy based around the
manipulation of information.

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► This primer (coating) on the information age, as well as
the other primers in this series on the Information
Economy, Society is an act of imagination and
affirmation of a future that is being shaped by
information and communication technologies (ICTs)

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 What is the digital revolution?
► Technological breakthroughs have revolutionized communications
and the spread of information.
► In 1875, for example, the invention of the telephone breached
distance through sound. Between 1910 and 1920, the first radio
stations began to broadcast sound.
► All of these technologies deal with information storage and
transmission.
► However, the one characteristic of computer technology that sets it
apart from earlier analog technologies is that it is digital.
► Analog technologies incorporate a combination of light and sound
waves to get messages across, while digital technology, with its
system of discontinuous data or events, creates a “universal model”
to represent information.
► To use an analogy, a digital world is a world united by one
language, a world where people from across continents share ideas
with one another and work together to build projects and ideas.
► More voluminous and accurate information is accumulated and
generated, and distributed in a twinkling to an audience that
understands exactly what is said.
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► This in turn allows the recipients of the information to
use it for their own purposes, to create ideas and to
redistribute more ideas.

► The result is progress.

► Take this scenario to a technological level—

► All kinds of computers, equipment and appliances

interconnected and functioning as one unit.
► Computers playing compressed audio data files or live
audio data streams that play music over the Internet like
radios.
► Some modern homes allow a person to control central
lighting and air-conditioning through computers.

► These are just some of the features of a digital world.

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► The Digital Revolution is the change from analog
(light and sound waves) and mechanical
electronic technology to digital(electronic pulses of 0’s and
1’s) technology, that has taken place since c. 1980 and
continues to the present day.

► Implicitly, the term also refers to the sweeping changes

brought about by computing and
communication technology during the latter half of
the 20th century.

► Analogous to the Agricultural Revolution and Industrial

Revolution, the Digital Revolution marked the beginning of
the Information Age.
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 Goal Of IT:
► Goal 1: Deliver timely and effective responses to
customer requirements through teamwork.

► Goal 2: Provide vision, leadership, and a framework for

evaluating emerging technologies and implementing
proven information technology solutions.

► Goal 3: Provide citizens, the business community and

staff with convenient access to appropriate information
and services through technology.

► Goal 4: Work with agencies to improve business

operations by thoroughly understanding business needs
and by planning, implementing and managing the best
information technology solutions available.
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► Goal 5: Guarantee a reliable communication and computer
infrastructure foundation on which to efficiently conduct
business operations today and in the future.

► Goal 6: Effectively communicate information about plans,

projects, and achievements to staff and customers.

► Goal 7: Develop and maintain technically skilled staff who are

competent in current and emerging information technology and
a user community that understands and can employ modern
technologies to maximize business benefits.

► Goal 8: Ensure effective technical and fiscal management of the

Department's operations, resources, technology projects and
contracts.

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► Goal 9: Enforce secure and effective access to technology
resources through use of authentication and identity
management technologies.

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 Role Of IT:
► 1.leads to rapid growth
► 2.it has changed the power structure forever-
power is shifted now to people,
► 3.drives B2B e-commerce world wide
► 4.leads to smaller investments .
► 5.It provides an opportunity to the developing
nations and under developed nations so that can
build up their strategies and compete with the
developed nations.

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 E.g.: SIEMENS
► Siemens is a German-based 150-year-old diversified and
Global manufacturer With 484,000 employees, Siemens
does business in 190 countries and has 600 manufacturing
and R & D (research and development) facilities in over 50
countries. Its product lines and services are extremely
varied, including communication and information,
automation and controls, power, transportation, medical
equipment, and lighting.
► Besides its own 13 operating divisions, Siemens AG has
interests in other companies like Bosch (household
appliances), Framatome (in France's nuclear power
industry), and Fujitsu computers.

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► Facing hundreds of competitors, most of which are in
foreign countries, the company had difficulties expanding
its business in a fast-changing business environment and
was unable to enjoy the profit margin of some of its
competitors.

► A major problem area was the coordination of the internal

units of the company.

► Another one was the collaboration with so many suppliers

and customers.

► In particular, its supply chain-the flow of materials from

suppliers through manufacturing, distribution, and sales-is
very complex.

► Finally, it Was necessary to find ways to curtail costs and

to increase customer service.
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Solution:
► By the late 1990s the company decided to transform itself
into a 100 percent "e-business (a company that performs
various business functions electronically), by introducing
Web-based systems and electronic commerce application in
all of its operations.
► The reason for such an ambitious goal was the need to solve
the problems caused by multi location, multiple supply chain
operations.
► Embarking on a four-year plan, the company Slatted the
transformation in 1999.
► Siemens has decided on a dual approach: It will use its own
in-house information systems capabilities where it makes
sense to do so, but it will also go out of- house to purchase
some systems from major vendors.

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 Its Goals were:
► Improve its readiness for extended electronic commerce by
standardizing hundreds of business processes across
multiple divisions.

► Redesign the information technology infrastructure to

enable integration of best-of-breed software (software
components that best fit the company needs, each from a
different vendor), integrated into an enterprise wide,
platform.

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► Besides being able to handle electronic transactions, Siemens also
wants to create an easily accessible central corporate knowledge base-
a company wide storehouse of proven methodologies .

► Using SAP R/3 systems along with software from i2 Technology and
IBM, the company is building functional systems that link the
enterprise, ensure support functions, and connect with the company's
supply chain partners.

► Functions such as customers orders, on-line procuring of materials for

manufacturing, collaborating with different partners for developing
products, and transporting of finished products are being integrated
across the company using the Internet as much as possible.

► Also system aims at providing better customer service to Siemens's

business customers.

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RESULTS:
► In its 2000 fiscal year, the company saw its electronic
commerce sales and its electronic procurement transactions
reach 10 percent of its total sales and purchases,
respectively.
► In 2002, online sales increased by 25 percent, and e-
procurement grew 60 percent over its 2000 level.
► By March 2003,350,000 employees were networked
throughout the company.
► They had direct access to the Internet, and a portal
through which employees could access corporate
information was in use.
► This portal offered various workplace aids, including search
engines, forms, travel booking, and electronic expense
account reporting.

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Conclusion:
► This case illustrates that fierce global competition drives
even large Corporations to find ways to reduce costs,
increase productivity, and improve customer service.

► These efforts are best achieved by using Web-based

systems, which are the major Enablers in the
transformation to an e-business or e-company in the digital
economy.

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