1.1
Data:
http://www.tutor2u.net/business/ict/intro_business_information.htm
Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis.
http://www.jhigh.co.uk/Intermediate2/Using%20Information/3_data&information.html
Data and its existence in multi-media form
Multimedia is more than one concurrent presentation medium (for example, on CD-ROM or a Web site). Although still images are a different medium than text, multimedia is typically used to mean the combination of text, sound, and/or motion video. Some people might say that the addition of animated images (for example, animated GIF on the Web) produces multimedia, but it has typically meant one of the following:
• Text and sound
• Text, sound, and still or animated graphic images
• Text, sound, and video images
• Video and sound
• Multiple display areas, images, or presentations presented concurrently
• In live situations, the use of a speaker or actors and "props" together with sound, images, and motion video
Multimedia can arguably be distinguished from traditional motion pictures or movies both by the scale of the production (multimedia is usually smaller and less expensive) and by the possibility of audience interactivity or involvement (in which case, it is usually called interactive multimedia). Interactive elements can include: voice command, mouse manipulation, text entry, touch screen, video capture of the user, or live participation (in live presentations).
Multimedia tends to imply sophistication (and relatively more expense) in both production and presentation than simple text-and-images. Multimedia presentations are possible in many contexts, including the Web, CD-ROMs, and live theater. A rule-of-thumb for the minimum development cost of a packaged multimedia production with video for commercial presentation (as at trade shows) is: $1,000 a minute of presentation time. Since any Web site can be viewed as a multimedia presentation, however, any tool that helps develop a site in multimedia form can be classed as multimedia software and the cost can be less than for standard video productions.
For multimedia Web sites, popular multimedia (sound or sound and motion video or animation) players include: MPEG, Quicktime, and Shockwave.
characteristics of data
The main characteristic of data is that (by definition), they are unprocessed, unorganised and discrete (in separate, unrelated chunks).
Manipulating data
Transforming data into a different form or creating new data from old data through arithmetic operations, sorting, modification, or other operations.
Few ways of manipulating data
• SELECT - retrieve data from the a database
• INSERT - insert data into a table
• UPDATE - updates existing data within a table
• DELETE - deletes all records from a table, the space for the records remain
• MERGE - UPSERT operation (insert or update)
• CALL - call a PL/SQL or Java subprogram
• EXPLAIN PLAN - explain access path to data
• LOCK TABLE - control concurrency
Information and knowledge
Creating Information
Good information is that which is used and which creates value. Experience and research shows that good information has numerous qualities.
Good information is relevant for its purpose, sufficiently accurate for its purpose, complete enough for the problem, reliable and targeted to the right person. It is also communicated in time for its purpose, contains the right level of detail and is communicated by an appropriate channel, i.e. one that is understandable to the user.
Further details of these characteristics related to organisational information for decision-making follows.
• Availability/accessibility
• Accuracy
• Reliability or objectivity
• Relevance/appropriateness
• Completeness
• Level of detail/conciseness
• Presentation
• Timing
• Value of information
• Cost of information
• The difference between value and cost
http://www.jhigh.co.uk/Intermediate2/Using%20Information/12_charact_of_info.html
Quality of information
Why is Information Quality Important?
Information is the lifeblood of any business.
Information comes in many forms: from e-mails to standards manuals, training materials to annual reports, web sites to process diagrams, sales proposals to computer systems on-line help. We could keep going.
But even if you are lucky enough to have all this information, it still has to work. It has to communicate. It has to tell your staff and your customers what they need to know. It has to be accurate and understandable. And it has to be accessible - if it can't be found it might as well not exist.
Benefits
Developing good information and delivering it in an effective format is a specialist skill. Do it properly and you can:
• Reduce customer support costs
• Help your customers get the most from your products or services
• Increase sales though better quality proposals and more effective product usage
• Avoid user problems when rolling out new systems
• Improve staff productivity - better knowledge and fewer mistakes
• Provide effective guidance and standards for staff in heavily regulated industries.
These are important issues for your business. You cannot afford to treat them lightly. We don't
http://www.edissero.com/newwiiqi.htm
Value of information
Information is an important part of an organization. It is through this a manager makes business decisions. Even if the information is transmitted efficiently and interpreted correctly, it may not be used effectively. The quality of information is determined by how it motivates manager’s action and contributes to effective decision making.
1)The utility Dimension:-
The utility dimension has four components namely the form,the time,the acess and the pocession. If the information is presented in the form the manager requires, then its utility increases. If it is available when needed, the utility is optimized. If the information is easily and quickly accessible through the online access system. Its utility gets an additional boost. Lastly if the information is possesed by the manager who needs it, then its utiliy is the highest.
2)Satisfaction Dimension:-
Another key for measuring the quality of information is by satisfaction. The degree of satisfaction would determine the quality of the information. If the organiztion has a high degree of satsfaction, then one can be safe in saying that information systems are designed properly to meet the information needs of the managers at all the levels.
3)Error Dimension:-
An error is third dimension to meaure the quality of information. The error creep in on account of various reasons, namely:
• An incorrect data measurement
• An incorrect collection method.
• Failure to follow the prescribed data processing procedure.
• Loss of data or incomplete data.
• Poor application of data validation and control systems.
• A deliberate falsification.
The data should be avoided of errors, care should be taken that the information is possesed after ensuring the correctness of the data in tersms of time and the number of doucment, and the transactions in the period.
Relevance of information
https://blogs.oracle.com/strategy2success/entry/relevance_of_information
4. Bias Dimension:-
If the information is processed out of a biased data it will have a bias. The procedure of communicating the information should be such that the system is able to detect the degree and the nature of the bias and correct the information accordingly.
http://www.q4points.com/2012/03/quality-or-value-of-information.html
Knowledge
Information and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.
1.2 Investigates the need of technology to create, disseminate and manage data and information
Drawbacks of manual methods in manipulating data and information in bulk
Data processing is the means by which raw data is turned into usable information. Manual data processing is the physical entering and organization of data. Though most data processing is now done by computers, there was a time when collected data was recorded and tabulated by hand in paper spreadsheets. The tables were used to calculate, analyze and summarize data, but calculations were done by
hand or calculator. The limitations of stacks of paper, human error and the cost of man-hours meant that manual data processing could not handle the increasing demands of modern data collection.The development of computers and programs designed for manipulating data rendered manual data processing obsolete. Computer programs are much more efficient and capable of handling an enormous volume of data which would take human processors inordinate amounts of time to complete. In addition, computers can quickly analyze algorithms and other patterns automatically, and present several representations simultaneously, so that analysts can compare the results. This means that methods for manual data processing are forgotten except for historical textbooks and people with an interest in history, but they are useless in modern times; since using older, manual methods to process modern data is not feasible, it is important to have redundant computer systems for backup purposes.As computer programs grow more sophisticated, computer-related tasks that were originally done by hand are done by software. For example, when using spreadsheets to perform complicated accounting tasks, it was once necessary that a person had to copy and paste several fields at each step of the process. This manual component is no longer necessary with advanced programs designed for the application and correctly configured. Programmers are continually looking for ways to allow software to perform the tasks that humans must still do when working with software, whether it is data entry or data analysis. For more information,
Difference between electronic data processing and manual data processing?
Electronic data processing is done on computer its quite simple. effective and consumes less amount of pages and filing as the data can be stored in computer MEMORY
where as on manual data processing it's done with pen and paper with traditional data processing method's its tough and complicating as it consumes more pages and filling it makes the data processing work more tedious and tiresome !
Components of data processing
Various components included in data processing using automatic form-input system include
OCR – Optical character recognition
OMR – Optical mark recognition
ICR – Intelligent character recognition
BCR – Barcode recognition
MICR – Magnetic ink character recognition
Advantages & Disadvantages to Manual Data Entry
Slowness
Unreliability
Inaccuracy
Cost
• Cost is one of the primary drawbacks of manual data entry. Manual data entry is a labor-intensive process. An efficient worker might achieve a typing speed of 100 words per minute, but even at that rate it can take several minutes to type a single page of information into a computer. The cost of hiring data entry workers is likely to exceed the cost of purchasing basic equipment and software to automatically enter data into a computer, especially if large amounts of information must be entered. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, typists earned $31,390 a year on average in May 2008 and data entry keyers earned $26,120. For small data entry tasks, manual entry may be cheaper than the cost of buying the appropriate equipment for automated data collection.
Accuracy
• The accuracy of data entered into a computer is of utmost importance in data entry. Manual data entry has the potential to be more accurate than automated data entry. A human worker can recognize and correct errors as they occur and so an attentive data entry worker may make fewer errors than an automated system. Manual data entry does, however, introduce the possibly of human error; workers that do not have close attention to detail or that are suffering from a lack of concentration or fatigue may make more errors.
Data Entry Speed
• Manual data entry tends to be slower than automated data entry. It might take a skilled data entry worker four minutes to enter a page of data with 400 words on it into a computer. Scanners can take the information on a page and create a digital copy within seconds. For large data entry projects or time sensitive projects, the speed of automated data entry may be a significant advantage.
Considerations
• Manual data entry requires no formal education but hiring employees can be expensive even if wages are low, since employers often provide costly benefits. Businesses can outsource data entry tasks to contract laborers or workers in other countries to reduce data entry costs.
Emergence of IT era
Realizing the importance of information in daily life
Modern technology has become such an important facet of our lives that without it, the world would be radically different. We use so much technology (things like cell phones, computers, WiFi, cars, etc.) that it has ceased to be the luxury item it was even 10 years ago and has become the basic necessity that it is today. But there are still many people who do not even have the basic access that many of us take for granted.
If you are living on a very low income, things like cars, cell phones, and computers are going to stretch your budget. Cars need gas, maintenance, insurance. Cell phones need payment plans and a computer by itself can cost several hundred dollars. In our society now, if you do not personally own or do not have easy and convenient access, you are going struggle to keep up. For many of my consumers, this is the first time owning a computer. Many are looking for work or are beginning to go back to school. For those who are going to school, finding classes online is very important. Many do not have a car or easy access to public transportation, so being able to access those classes online gives them an opportunity that they may not have had previously.
I know from personal experience what it is like to attend school without a computer, and it was never an easy time. You have to schedule your time around when libraries and computer labs are open so that you can get your work done, and it is not always assured that there will be a space open for you. And the locations where the computers are may not always be easy to get to. During my time studying abroad, I had to take public transportation to a computer lab. Fortunately, the Austrians are known for their transportation systems, so I was only a 20 minute ride and walk away from wherever I had to be. I spent most of my senior year in college without a computer, mostly because I was to lazy to get it fixed after it got a virus. So whenever I had any work to do, I had to drive to the school computer lab. It could get inconvenient and stressful at times to do all this, even considering the fact that I had easy access at all times.
Without something like a personal computer, trying to get a job is very difficult. Many businesses now place ads for positions on the internet, and so it becomes hard for someone to get a job. Other businesses allow for someone to work entirely from home, so being able to get those types of jobs lets a person earn an extra income, and if you are dependent on a single low income, even a little bit can go a long way. For them, it is a great opportunity to get access to technology that they may not have had before. It is important for them to bridge the “technology divide” and for us to help get them there.
What does technology means
Naturally, the definition varies from person to person. There are few definitions around but it has the similar meanings.
Technology is the usage of tools, machines, techniques, systems or methods of organization in order to perform a specific function.
In another word, is the use of scientific knowledge to solve practical problems, especially in industry and commerce.
it means that anything that uses information from the field of science and math to solve problems (equations, real-life, programming, etc.) is technology.
Electronic technologies
Electronics is the branch of science and technology which makes use of the controlled motion of electrons through different media and vacuum
Electronic technologies vs other technologies
Merging of information technology and communication technology
Advantages of Technology-Based Communication
Communication is key in a small business. Whether communicating with your customers, contacting your vendors or sharing relevant information about your business, your information must come through in an accurate and preferably winsome way. In a technologically focused business climate, technology is an important facet of your ability to communicate. There are several advantages to using technology over more traditional means of communication.
True Cost of Ownership
The true cost of technology to communicate when you compare it with much slower means of communication such as mail delivery is relatively low. As technology continues to be standardized and made more efficient, the cost of using it in communication continues to decline. While the actual cost of a traditional communication method such as mailing a letter may be very small, the actual cost in lost efficiency and misplaced letters should be considered carefully. In a small business, some things can wait, while others simply cannot.
Efficiency
When communicating with technology, you can find and deliver data to your employee or customer anywhere. When you need to contact your employee on the field, you can text message or email his smartphone or tablet both simple and complex information rather than he being forced to wait until he arrives back at your facility to receive it. With the high-quality digital still and video cameras available, you can provide pictures or video quickly and in very high resolution to help your employee complete a task. A customer can get real-time information as to the status of an appointment and can communicate needs in a prompt manner. She can also provide helpful feedback quickly so you are able to fill her need quickly and efficiently.
Documentation
Technology has made documentation and archiving of communication quick and easy. With the use of databases and inexpensive storage, you can save emails and other communications and can query them as needed for future use. Compare that with filing paper copies in an immense array of expensive file cabinets to attempt to archive later and it is easy to see a cost and efficiency savings in documentation. The required space to store cabinets and the employees to find the data, not to mention the gradual degradation of ink on paper, makes traditional means of documenting communication quite challenging and inefficient.
Other Advantages
With technology, you can have live video conversations with people in multiple countries using simple webcams and a teleconference service, an option much more efficient and less expensive than flying all involved parties to a central location to meet. You can communicate new products or services to people throughout the world -- in real time using social media -- who can purchase your goods at any hour on your website. You are in effect open 24 hours a day to anyone on Earth with internet access using eCommerce technology. These customers can browse your FAQ links to answer questions until a live adviser is available to assist. Inexpensive or free language translation is available on the internet on sites like Google Translate, which help bridge cultural communications' hurdles to facilitate worldwide customer service.
Development of the internet and WWW
History of the Internet
The history of the Internet began with the development of electronic computers in the 1950s. The public was first introduced to the Internet when a message was sent from computer science Professor Leonard Kleinrock's laboratory at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), after the second piece of network equipment was installed at Stanford Research Institute (SRI). This connection not only enabled the first transmission to be made, but is also considered to be the first Internet backbone. This began the point-to-point communication between mainframe computers and terminals, expanded to point-to-point connections between computers and then early research into packet switching. Packet switched networks such as ARPANET, Mark I at NPL in the UK, CYCLADES, Merit Network, Tymnet, and Telenet, were developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s using a variety of protocols. The ARPANET in particular led to the development of protocols for internetworking, where multiple separate networks could be joined together into a network of networks.
In 1982, the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) was standardized and the concept of a world-wide network of fully interconnected TCP/IP networks called the Internet was introduced. Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when the National Science Foundation (NSF) developed the Computer Science Network (CSNET) and again in 1986 when NSFNET provided access to supercomputer sites in the United States from research and education organizations. Commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) began to emerge in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990. The Internet was commercialized in 1995 when NSFNET was decommissioned, removing the last restrictions on the use of the Internet to carry commercial traffic.
Since the mid-1990s, the Internet has had a revolutionary impact on culture and commerce, including the rise of near-instant communication by electronic mail, instant messaging, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) "phone calls", two-way interactive video calls, and the World Wide Web with its discussion forums, blogs, social networking, and online shopping sites. The research and education community continues to develop and use advanced networks such as NSF's very high speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS), Internet2, and National LambdaRail. Increasing amounts of data are transmitted at higher and higher speeds over fiber optic networks operating at 1-Gbit/s, 10-Gbit/s, or more. The Internet's takeover over the global communication landscape was almost instant in historical terms: it only communicated 1% of the information flowing through two-way telecommunications networks in the year 1993, already 51% by 2000, and more than 97% of the telecommunicated information by 2007.[1] Today the Internet continues to grow, driven by ever greater amounts of online commerce, entertainment, and social networking.
When we talk about the Internet, we talk about the World Wide Web from the past four or five years. But, its history goes back a lot further; all the way back to the 1950s and 60s.
"Where was I," you ask, "while all this was happening?" Well, it's quite simple really: the Space Program. America was so fascinated with sending men into outer space, hundreds of miles away, it never saw what was being invented to bring everyone closer together -- eventually.
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So, just in case you missed the development of the Internet, here is a brief timeline highlighting some of the major occurrences over the past 49 years that have shaped the Internet of today. For more extensive info, you'll find links to other timelines at the bottom of this page.
Brief Timeline of the Internet
1958 . President Eisenhower requests funds to create ARPA. Approved as a line item in Air Force appropriations bill.
1961 . Len Kleinrock, Professor of Computer Science at UCLA, writes first paper on packet switching, "Information Flow in Large Communications Nets." Paper published in RLE Quarterly Progress Report.
1962 •J.C.R. Licklider & W. Clark write first paper on Internet Concept, "On-Line Man Computer Communications."
• Len Kleinrock writes Communication Nets, which describes design for packet switching network; used for ARPAnet
1964 . Paul Baran writes, "On Distributed Communications Networks," first paper on using message blocks to send info across a decentralized networktopology(Nodes and Links)
Oct. 1965 . First Network Experiment: Directed by Larry Roberts at MIT Lincoln Lab, two computers talked to each other using packet-switching technology.
Dec. 1966 . ARPA project begins. Larry Roberts is chief scientist.
Dec. 1968 . ARPANet contract given to Bolt, Beranek & Newman (BBN) in Cambridge, Mass.
Sept. 1, 1969 . First ARPANet node installed at UCLA Network Measurement Center. Kleinrock hooked up the Interface Message Processor to a Sigma 7 Computer.
Oct. 1, 1969 . Second node installed at Stanford Research Institute; connected to a SDS 940 computer. The first ARPANet message sent: "lo." Trying to spell log-in, but the system crashed!
Nov. 1, 1969 . Third node installed at University of California, Santa Barbara. Connected to an IBM 360/75.
Dec. 1, 1969 . Fourth node installed at University of Utah. Connected to a DEC PDP-10.
March 1970 . Fifth node installed at BBN, across the country in Cambridge, Mass.
July 1970 . Alohanet, first packet radio network, operational at University of Hawaii.
March 1972 . First basic e-mail programs written by Ray Tomlinson at BBN for ARPANET: SNDMSG and READMAIL. "@" sign chosen for its "at" meaning.
March 1973 . First ARPANET international connections to University College of London (England) and NORSAR (Norway).
1974 . Intelreleases the 8080 processor.
• Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn publish "A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection," which details the design of TCP.
1976 . Apple Computer founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
• Queen Elizabeth II sends out an e-mail.
. Vint Cerf joins ARPA as program manager.
1978 . TCP split into TCP and IP.
1979 . Bob Metcalfe and others found 3Com (Computer Communication Compatibility).
1980 . Tim Berners-Lee writes program called "Enquire Within," predecessor to the World Wide Web.
1981 . IBM announces its first Personal Computer. Microsoft creates DOS.
1983 . Cisco Systems founded.
Nov. 1983 . Domain Name System (DNS) designed by Jon Postel, Paul Mockapetris, and Craig Partridge. .edu, .gov, .com, .mil, .org, .net, and .int created.
1984 • William Gibson writes "Neuromancer." Coins the term "cyberspace".
• Apple Computer introduces the Macintosh on January 24th.
March 15, 1985 . Symbolic.com becomes the first registered domain.
1986 . 5000 hosts on ARPAnet/Internet.
1987 • 10,000 hosts on the Internet.
• First Cisco routershipped.
• 25 million PCs sold in US.
1989 • 100,000 hosts on Internet.
• McAfee Associates founded; anti-virus software available for free. Quantum becomes America Online.
1990 . ARPAnet ends. Tim Berners-Lee creates the World Wide Web.
1992 "Surfing the Internet" is coined by Jean Armour Polly.
1993 . Mosaic Web browser developed by Marc Andreesen at University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
. InterNICcreated.
• Web grows by 341,000 percent in a year.
April 1994 . Netscape Communications founded.
• Jeff Bezos writes the business plan for Amazon.com.
. Java's first public demonstration.
Dec. 1994 Microsoft licenses technology from Spyglass to create Web browser forWindows 95.
May 23, 1995 . Sun Microsystems releases Java.
August 24, 1995 . Windows 95 released.
1996 . Domain name tv.com sold to CNET for $15,000. Browser wars begin. Netscape and Microsoft two biggest players.
1997 . business.com sold for $150,000.
January 1998 . Microsoft reaches a partial settlement with the Justice Department that allows personal computer makers to remove or hide its Internet software on new versions of Windows 95.
. Netscape announces plans to give its browser away for free.
1998 . US Depart of Commerce outlines proposal to privatize DNS. ICANNcreated by Jon Postel to oversee privatization. Jon Postel dies.
1999 •AOL buys Netscape; Andreesen steps down as full-time employee.
• Browsers wars declared over; Netscape and Microsoft share almost 100% of browser market.
• Microsoft declared a monopoly by US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson.
•Shawn Fanning creates Napster, opening the possibilities of peer-to-peer file sharing and igniting a copyright war in the music industry.
2000 . Fixed wireless, high-speed Internet technology is now seen as a viable alternative to copper and fiber optic lines placed in the ground.
. The Dot-Com Bubble bursts. A majority of the dot-coms ceased trading after burning through their venture capital, often without ever making a net profit.
January 10, 2000 • AOL Merges with Time-Warner. AOL shareholders take 55% stake in newly formed company.
February 2000 . A large-scale denial of service attack is launched against some major Web sites like Yahoo! and eBay, alerting Web sites to the need for tighter security measures.
. 10,000,000 domain names have been registered.
September 2000 . There are 20,000,000 websites on the Internet, numbers doubling since February 2000.
July 2001 . A federal judge rules that Napster must remain offline until it can prevent copyrighted material from being shared by its users.
. The Code Red worm and Sircam virus infiltrate thousands of web servers and email accounts, respectively, causing a spike in Internet bandwidth usage and security breaches.
November 2001 . The European Council adopts the first treaty addressing criminal offenses committed over the Internet.
. First uncompressed real-time gigabit HDTV transmission across a wide-area IP network takes place on Internet2.
January 2002 . .name begins resolving
January 2003 . The SQL Slammer worm causes one of the largest and fastest spreading DDoS attacks ever, taking only 10 minutes to spread worldwide.
. The Internet celebrates its 'unofficial' 20th birthday.
September 2003 . The RIAA sues 261 individuals for allegedly distributing copyright music files over peer-to-peer networks
December 2003 . The Research project "How much information 2003" finds that Instant messaging generates five billion messages a day (750GB), or 274 Terabytes a year and that e-mail generates about 400,000 terabytes of new information each year worldwide.
2005 . YouTube.com launches
2006 . There are an estimated 92 million Web sites online
May 2006 . A massive DDOS assault on Blue Security, an anti-spam company, is redirected by Blue Security staff to their Movable Type-hosted blog. The result is that the DDOS instead knocks out all access to over 1.8 million active blogs.
August 2006 . AOL announces that they will give for free virtually every service for which it charged a monthly fee, with income coming instead from advertising.
October
2006 . There are an estimated 92 million Web sites online (some stats say over 100 million)
. Google Inc. acquires YouTube for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction.
January 2007 . Microsoft launches its various consumer versions of Microsoft Vista.
February 2007 . Apple surpasses one billion iTunes downloads.
March 2007 . 1.114 billion people use the Internet according to Internet World Stats.
April 2007 . Search engine giant Google surpasses Microsoft as "the most valuable global brand," and also is the most visited Web site.
Development of mobile computing and communication devices
