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INFO 101 / ILP104

FOUNDATIONS OFINFORMATION SYSTEMS

An Introduction to Information

Systems (IS)

Week 1 - Lecture Notes

(Chapter 1 of text book)

Contents

Concepts of Information Systems (IS)

Components of an IS

Data vs Information

Characteristics of Valuable Information

What is a System ?

What is a Model ?

Computer-Based IS (CBIS)

Technology Infrastructure

Business Information Systems (BIS)

Special-Purpose BIS

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Concepts of Information Systems(IS)

IS are everywhere! e.g? ATM cash withdrawal / deposit, check

balance, transfer money to another A/c? Internet online trading, searching, etc..

? Touch N Go system, Movie Ticketing System

? HandPhone, PDA,

? scanners, bar codes,etc..

Can we live without IS ???

What is an IS ?

- a set of interrelated components that collect,

manipulate, and disseminate data/information andprovide a feedback mechanism to meet an objective.

Components of an IS

feedback

collect manipulate disseminate

Components of an IS

? Input (I/P) the activity of collecting, capturing or

gathering of raw data. E.g to produce apaycheck for an employee? No. of hours work, hourly rate

can be manual or automatic

input device i.e. scanner, keyboard etc..

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Components of an IS cont

? Process

the activity of manipulating, converting or

transforming data into useful outputs. involves calculations or comparisons

E.g to produce a paycheck for an employee

? Multiply No. of hours work by hourly rate

can be done manually or with the assistanceof computers

Components of an IS cont

? Output (O/P)

the activity of producing useful information

types of formats i .e. reports, documents.

Output from one system can become input foranother. E.g Sales order can be used as inputto a Customer Billing/Invoice system.

Output devices i.e. printers, display screens

Data vs Information

? Data are raw facts i.e employees name, no. of

hours worked, hourly rate, sales order (qty),etc

represented by:-? alphanumeric data - numbers/digits, letters,

special characters,

? image pictures, graphic images

? audio sound,

? video movie pictures

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Data vs Information

? Information

a collection of data that is organized in a

meaningful or valuable manner. E.g A sales manager would prefer Total sales

than individual sales of an employee

Characteristics of ValuableInformation

? accurate error free

? complete e.g an investment report mustinclude all important costs

? simple not very complex

? flexible can be used for variety ofpurpose

? economical not so expensive to produce

? timely past information is not valuable

What is a System ?

? a set of elements/components that interact toaccomplish goals.

? E.g a CollegeElements

Input Process Output Goals

students teaching educated acquire

professors research students know-

books ledge

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cont

? Other elements i.e:

boundary the campus fencing

feedback graduate performance fromparents or public

control academic standard set by theuniversity authorities and external examiner.

subsystems accounting, business,computing, engineering, etc..

What is a model?

? An abstraction that is used to representreality (real systems)

? Why do we use model? A real system can be very dynamic and

complex. To study or experiment with such asa system can be quite difficult.

? 4 types of model:- Narrative based on words, verbal or written

descriptions i.e. reports, documents

. cont

physical e.g a builder may develop a scalemodel of a new apartments to give potentialbuyer information about the overall

appearance of the project.

schematic uses graphs, charts, figures,diagrams, illustrations, pictures.

mathematical used to analyze and solveproblems.

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Computer-Based IS (CBIS)

? a single set of hardware, software,databases, telecommunications, people

and procedures that are configured tocollect, manipulate, store, and processdata into information.

? E.g a company payroll system, orderentry system, inventory control system

Technology Infrastructure

? Hardware - equipments

? Software - programs

? Databases how data is organized

? Telecommunications the electronictransmission of data from one computer toanother

? People the most important element

? Procedures strategies, policies, methods and

rules.

Business Information Systems (BIS)

? Common types of BIS:-

E-Commerce systems

?Refers to any business transactionexecuted electronically between parties i.e.

B2b business-to-business

B2c business-to-consumer

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. Cont

Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

?are systems that used to record businesstransaction. (any transaction that takes

place)?E.g when buying goods from supermarket,

withdrawing money from ATM, making aflight reservation at an airlines office.

?a.k.a Data Processing Systems (DPS)

?produce documents i.e. sales invoice, totalsales by items, salary slip (routine task)

. Cont

Management Information Systems (MIS)

?build on a TPS by integrating variousfunctional areas that linked through acommon database

? focus efficiency do the Thing right greater output for given input

?produce reports i.e summary, periodically,demand reports, or exception reports i.e.low stock level

?cannot produce future information i.e.predicting sales trends what if analysis

. cont

CommonDatabase

Manufacturing MIS

TPSFinancial MIS Other MIS

Marketing MIS

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. Cont

Decision Support Systems (DSS)

?support problem-specific decision-making

?main focus effectiveness of decision-

making do the Right thing meeting thebusiness goals

? include elements i.e. model base - a collection of models

database a collection of facts/information

user interface systems and procedures

?produces ad-hoc reports

? flexible and adaptable suitable to anyusers style and decision environment

Special-Purpose BIS

? Artificial Intelligence (AI)

a system takes on the characteristics ofhuman intelligence.

include elements:

? Robotics

? Vision systems robots can store and process

visual images (can see images)

? Natural language processing system that can

understand languages i.e Spanish, English,

Mandarin

. Cont

? Learning systems able to learn from past

mistakes and experiences i.e. playing games,making business decisions

? Neural Networks trends or patterns recognitioni.e. stock market spot market trend

Expert systems an interactive software thatmimics human experts i.e. give opinion,advice, recommendations. E.g loan approval,

tax experts

Virtual Reality (VR) users become fullyimmersed in an artificial, 3-d world.

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- End of Week 1-