The value of information
Today we live in an information economy,where information is at the core of every procedure in any field,We all need information to carry out daily life endeavours even the simplest of all as getting a lottery ticket.
We are all aware of the Importance of information in our lives ,but when the concept of information meets that of technology in the aspect of systems the collaboration of the two terms hightens the value of the concept of information so what exactly are information systems?
Ralph Stair and G.Reynolds in their book Fundamentals of information systems offer a detailed definition of informations systems,according to this book IS(Information systems) can be defined as ‘a set of interrelated components that collect,manipulate ,store and disseminate data and information and provide a feedback mechanism to meet an objective . ‘
Meaning that an IS(information system) is needed for an organisation to reach cetain goals such as increasing profits and reduce costs.
And so the key to an organisations suscces or failure deopends highly o the information it has,but in lue of that the information it has will not be of any value if it cannot help the organisation or its cystomers to reach given objectives.there fore the value of an ifomation systems lies in tis ability to provide the right information at the right time to the right people.
So how do we identify valuable information?
Good question there are characteristics that help us to pin point valuable information ,without these characteristics it would be usekess to say that the information is valuable.
· Accessible :It should be easily accessible by aithorised users
· Accurate:Should be error free
· Flexible:should be usable in various fields or departements
· Economical: should be economical to produce
· Complete :Should conatain all important facts
· Relevant: should be in line with the field or scope of the orgsanisations objectives
· Reliable: it can be trusted by its users
· Secure: should be safe from unautorised access
· Simple: it should be simple and not overly complex and straight to the point ,keeping in mind that too much information will result in an overload
· Timely :it should be delivered when it is needed
· Verifiable: it can be checked to ensure correctness
Fundamentals of Information Systems By Ralph Stair, George Reynolds
In summary we can conclude that an information system is a set of correlated parts that collect valueable information making it accessible to the right people at the right time inorder to allow these people to meet certain objectives.Information is the back bone of an organisation like the fuel in a care it keeps it running. One true fact here is that Organisations cannot function without information.So in actual fact over money information does make the world go round.
