INFORMATION

- WHAT IS INFORMATION?- ATTRIBUTES OF INFORMATION

WHAT IS INFORMATION?

DEFINITION  Ordered sequence of symbols that can be

interpreted as a message. Information can be recorded as signs, or

transmitted as signals. Information is any kind of event that affects

the state of a dynamic system.

DATA OR INFORMATION???

DATA INFORMATION ACTION

PROCESSING DECISION MAKING

Data Management Without data and the ability to process

it, an organization could not successfully complete most business activities

Data consists of raw facts For data to be transformed into useful

information, it must first be organized in a meaningful way

The Hierarchy of Data• Bit (a binary digit): a circuit that is either on

or off• Byte: eight bits

• Character: basic building block of information– Each byte represents a character – Can be an uppercase letter (A) , lowercase letter

(a) , numeric digit (1) , or special symbol (@/+)

• Field: typically a name, number, or combination of characters that describes an aspect of a business object or activity

• Record: a collection of related data fields• File: a collection of related records

• Database: a collection of integrated and related files.

EXAMPLE

BASIC CONCEPTS Data: raw facts.

E.g. Alphanumeric, image, audio, and video

Information: collection of facts organized in a way that can have additional value.

Value of Information??

It is directly linked to how it helps decision makers achieve their organization’s OBJECTIVES and can be MEASURED:- in time required to make a decision- Increased profits to the company

Information Spectrum

Data processing Information Information intelligence

Knowledge Knowledge experience Wisdom

In five minutes, draw on the board as many signs, symbols and signals as you remember.

What do you think?

Now observe the images and try to determine if they are part of DATA or INFORMATION

ICT - Data and Information

We talk about Information -

the "I" in ICT. But… What is information? How does it differ from "data"? And what kind of information does a

business require?

Read the article Data and Information and answer the following questions in the answer format

EVIDENCE 1

Questionnaire 1. . Write your definition of DATA vs

INFORMATION 2. What do you need to do in order to transform

data into information? 3. What is the key aspect for planning for

decisión-making in business? 4. Mention 3 examples for the decision-making

categories. 5. What data and information are meaningful for

your project?

Attributes of Information

11 Attributes of Information

Usability Relevant Simple Flexible Economical

Delivery Timely Accessible Secure

Quality• Accurate• Verifiable• Complete• Reliable

Accuracy vs. Reliability Accuracy – true, free from error

Precision – refers to the level of accuracy 1/3 = 1.333 is accurate 1/3 = 1.333333 is more precise

Reliability – in IS, it refers to how often information is accurate. An information source could be error free

but might not work all the time.

Weather ForecastingWhat do you think?Are weather-people:

A. reliable, B. accurate, C. both, or D. neither?

Accurate vs. Reliable1. Weatherman A

can predict tomorrow´s temperature to the exact degree (C°)

- but only 40% of the time, the other 60% he cannot interpret the raw* data.

2. Weatherman B

can predict tomorrow´s temperature but it may be off by 5 degrees

- His system works 95% of the time

*Raw: Not processed

Who is more accurate?Who is more reliable?

Can you guess??..

What attributes are described? Respond in the answer format.

1. My calculator always does multiplication correctly in never makes an error. My calculator is __________ . 2. However, I dropped it in the sink and sometimes it doesn´t turn on. So, my calculation is not _________

EVIDENCE 2

3. I put the reports on the website so everyone can access them.

This makes the reports more ________.

4. The reports are PDF files which cannot be modified easily, so we also provide the data in standard XML format which can be converted to any other format.

The XML format is more ___________.

5. Teacher: My student evaluation report includes 23 answers from all 31 students. It´s hard for me to tell if my students are good or bad, because the data is not__________.

6. The student evaluation report includes only my average score, which is very _______ and easy to interpret, but I’d like all the data.

THIS IS THE END OF THIS MODULE.

INFORMATIONGo to next module: Information Systems