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.

INFORMATIO
DATA KNOWLEDGE
N
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".

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 3

 Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer

Data processing:
► 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.

INPUT(DATA PROCES OUTPUT(INF

) S ORMATION)
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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.
Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 5
► 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.
Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 7
► 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)

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 8

 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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 9

► 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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 10

► 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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 11

 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. Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 12
► 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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 13

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

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 14

 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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 15

 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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 16

► 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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 17

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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 18

 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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 19

► 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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 20

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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 21

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.

Neha Asthana,IT Lecturer 22