COLLEGE OF INFORMATICS

DEPARTEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Introduction to Information Systems and Society

Chapter One
Information Society and Information Economy

1
 Outlines
1.1. Information Society and Information Economy
➢Overview of Information and Society
✓Data vs. Information
✓Definition of Information Society
➢The Historical Background of Information Society
➢Characteristics of Information Society
➢Origins and causes of Information Society
➢Definition of Information Economy
1.2. Technology and Society in the Information Age

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 Information Society and Information Economy
Overview of Information and Society
Data vs. Information
❖ Data:- Data is raw facts and figures.
➢ Data is the product of symbols or representations of an event or facts about the world,
like number, letter, pictures, lines graphs, etc.
➢ Data represents facts or figures obtained from experiments or surveys, used as basis for
making calculations or drawing conclusions.

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 Cont…
➢ If we are given a certain data, we can associate it to different things and give it different
meanings.
• e.g. 1: If we take number "5", it can be associated with
✓ Cardinal number and has one meaning
✓ A number greater than 4 and less than 6 with another meaning
• e.g. 2: If we take the word "time" it will have different meaning when it is associated
with different things:
✓ "being on time" -refers to punctuality
✓ "time never stops" - refers to the indefiniteness of time

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 Cont…
• Therefore:- Data without a context has no meaning
➢ But this doesn't mean that data are useless. They are the elements that are inputted,
stored and manipulated by the computer.
➢ The validity of a data (how far they reflect the reality or represent the real world) is very
important. They are valid as far as they accurately represent the real world.
➢ Invalid data is due to a correctable error (e.g., spelling error) or due to a conceptual
mistake (e.g., “Earth is the center of the Universe”).

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 Cont…
❖ Information
➢ When does data become information?
When you put a whole lot of data together that is related to one subject it yields
information.
e.g. Take a telephone book, it is developed by bringing different data together (Name,
Address and Telephone number)
➢ In other words:
(sets of data) + (relational connection among data sets) = information
➢ Information processing by computers refers to the storage, retrieval, creation or
rearrangement of relationships among data.

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 Cont…
➢ What we perceive or understand is the relationship between pieces of data, or
between pieces of data and other information.
Therefore,
Data + understanding of relationship = information
➢ Information is data that has been given a meaning by way of relational connection. This
relational connection converts data into information.
➢ In computer system for instance, a relational database makes for information from
the data stored within it.
➢ Information is data with context. Therefore, information is context dependent.

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 Cont…
• Examples:
1. If we take 1000 and 5%, they don't give meaning but within the context of bank account
1000 can represent the principle and 5% can be the interest rate. When the data is within
context it becomes meaningful and represents information.
2. If we put data on people's smoking, habits together with data on lung cancer, we can
produce information about the risk of smoking.
3.A red traffic light is a form of data. The meaning we attach to this data (i.e., STOP) is the
information.
➢ From the human side, information can be stored in the mind or jotted down on a piece
of paper.
➢ From the computer side information is a useful organization and selection of facts (data).
It involves relationships among facts (data).

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 Cont…
❖ Knowledge
➢ Knowledge is the understanding that you have for given information. With that
understanding you’ll be able to use the information for you benefit.
When does information becomes knowledge?
➢ Once you spend some time interpreting and understanding a body of information,
then you have knowledge.
For example:
Information is available in encyclopedia; this information becomes knowledge when we
understand what it means or how to apply it.

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 Cont…
➢ Information becomes knowledge when one is able to understand the patterns that
exist within information and their implication.
Example:
If the humidity is very high and the temperature drops substantially, the atmosphere is
unlikely to be able to hold moisture so it rains.
Understanding such a pattern that provides a high level of predictability as to what will
happen next represents knowledge.
Therefore, knowledge= Information + understanding of the pattern.
This pattern:
✓ Has a feature of implied reputability and predictability
✓ Embodies consistency and completeness of relations
✓ Has a tendency to be more self-contexualizing (able to create its own context)

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 Cont…
There are two types of knowledge:
I. Formal knowledge: which is in the form of written information. It is consciously
known and communicable as a set of procedures.
II. Informal/Tacit knowledge: is usually acquired through experience, is often
unconscious, and is difficult to put in to words. For example, describing how to
ride a bicycle is difficult (how can you explain about locating a center of gravity?)

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 Cont…
❖ Wisdom
➢ Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge in order to solve a problem. After gaining
knowledge, wisdom is used to meet new situations and hence is the ability to imagine the
consequences of our actions for ourselves and for others.
➢ It is an asset for good judgment that we acquire through experience.
➢ It is accumulated knowledge gained through a combination of:
→Academic study
→Personal experience
→It comes from the ability to synthesize (combine) various streams of knowledge.

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 Cont…
➢ Wisdom is the ability to understand the fundamental principles that govern the
patterns representing knowledge. This understanding enables us to know what the
knowledge itself is.
➢ Wisdom deals with the future and it incorporates vision.
➢ Based on wisdom it is possible to create the future rather than grasping the present and
the past.
➢ An individual with wisdom normally has enough experience and perspective to identify
patterns and trends so that various bodies of knowledge can be put in context,
combined and applied appropriately.

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 Cont…
The following diagram can summarize the above discussion.

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 Definition of Information Society
•A society
✓is a grouping of individuals, which is characterized by common interest and may have
distinctive culture and institutions.
✓In a society members can be from a different ethnic group.
▪ A society may be a particular people, such as the Saxons, a nation state, such as Bhutan, or
a broader cultural group, such as the Western society.
▪The word society may also refer to an organized voluntary association of people for
religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purpose.

➢Information society is a social system in which the economy is highly

dependent on gathering, processing and transmission of information.

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 Information Society
 It is characterized by:-
• high degree of computerization, which serves as source of information
• large volume of electronic data transmission.
• Economic profile dominated by:
➢ industries and occupations related to information production and distribution. E.g., news
media (BBC, CNN), Google, Yahoo Mail(millions of emails are distributed by Yahoo).
 Information society consists two major processes:-
(i) Production:- Innovation and wide-scale production of Hardware, Software.
(ii)Consumption:- High level of consumption of information due to:- wide adoption of
information and telecommunications technologies: PCs, Telephones, TVs, etc.
➢Information society denotes society at an advanced stage of development and
it is also stated as Post-Industrial Society.

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 Information Society
❖Martin (1995)
“Information Society is a society characterized by rapid growth and use of information,
widespread exploitation of varied information sources; a society where people know and
appreciate what information they need, where to get it, how to get the information, and in the
end, how to use it.”
❖Definition by Webster (2002)
• It is possible to identify 5 ways of distinguishing an information society.
• Technological (technological innovation and diffusion);
• Economic (economic value);
• Occupational (occupational change | knowledge worker);
• Spatial (space | information flows);
• Cultural (the expansion of symbols and signs).

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 The Changing Society: The Historical Perspective
➢Changes is the very essence of a growing society.
➢Changes can be visible in life styles of people, their living environments, mode of
production of goods and services, places of work, education and training, culture and in
many others.
➢However, changes in society that are drastic in nature have been identified with three major
epochs of history, generally referred to as:
• The pre-industrial agrarian society:- most people were engaged in the extraction
activities of agriculture fishing and mining. The social structure was fairly simple,
Ownership of land provided the power base.
• The industrial society:- has been organized around energy as the main source for tile
production of goods and services on a mass scale. The majority of the work force was
engaged in the manufacturing activities and the distribution of the outputs.
• The post-industrial society which is evolving currently:- has been emerging slowly but
surely in the last 3decades.

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 Characteristics of Information Society
❑ 3 Main Characteristics of Information Societies
• First, information is used as an economic resource.
• Organizations are using information to:
• increase their efficiency,
• stimulate innovation, and
• increase their effectiveness and competitive position.
• Secondly, it is possible to identify greater use of information among the general
public.
• People use information more intensively in their activities as consumers:
• to inform their choices between different products,
• to explore their entitlements to public services,
• exercise their civil rights and responsibilities, and
• to take greater control over their own lives.

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 Characteristics of Information Society
• The third characteristic of information societies is the development of an
information sector within the economy.
✓The function of the information sector is to satisfy the general
demand for information facilities and services.

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 Origins and causes of Information Society
❖Factors determining the arrival of Information Society
1) Shifts from an industrial economy to an Information Economy; that is
to say that in industrial economy capital as the strategic resource, while in
Information Economy information is the strategic resource.
2) A telecommunication based information service infrastructure.
3) A high degree of computerization, large volumes of electronic data
transmission and employment of Information Technology.
4) Characterized by the fact that the rapid and convenient delivery of
needed information is the ordinary state of affairs

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 Definition of Information Economy
✓From Manufacturing to Knowledge Production.
✓Information economy or new economy is a knowledge and idea based economy where
the keys to job-creation and higher standards of living are innovative ideas and
technology embedded in service and manufactured goods.

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 Major Characteristics of the New Economy
❖The amount of knowledge contained in products and services is increasing strongly
➢The net stock of intangible capital (knowledge, innovative ideas, R&D)
has grown faster than tangible capital (building, transportation, road and machinery)
➢A greater share of the value of tangible capital is based on intangible inputs
▪E.g. economy of the USA.
➢Innovation is more important than the mass production
➢More investment is being made to buy new concepts or the means to create them
(education and research)
➢Intellectual capital as a strategic factor

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 Major Characteristics of the New Economy
❖Convergence
▪ In the new economy the success factor lies in the mix between computing,
communication and content industries
▪ The difference between what we see on our TV and what we see on our PC is
vanishing.
❖Digitization
▪ More and more tangible goods are becoming immaterialized
through digitization:
• Ex. Movies, publications, pieces of music being converted in to 0’s and 1’s or
bits.

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 Major Characteristics of the New Economy
❖Disintermediation
▪ Elimination of middlemen between producers and consumers.
(e-commerce), i.e., customers can directly access producers via their websites.
• Agents like wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and brokers have no value.
• Drastic decline in transaction cost
• Technology facilitates the exchange of information between a supplier and his
final customer

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 Major Characteristics of the New Economy
❖Globalization
▪ National boundaries becoming more and more open
• The scope of competition become global
• Hyper competition: the most adaptive, sharp and fast organization survive
• Extensive collaboration in business

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 Major Characteristics of the New Economy
❖Immediacy
▪ Speed:
• fast changes in innovation and
• speed at which we accomplish tasks
▪ Innovation
• Old economy:
• New economy:
▪ The speed at which we do transaction:- Purchase orders, invoices, bills, checks, etc.
can be sent and received electronically and instantly processed in the receiving
companies’ computer. This process is known as EDI (Electronic Data Interchange).

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 1.2. Technology and Society in the Information Age
❑Technology
➢ Technology is the process by which humans modify nature to meet their
needs and wants.
➢ Technology refers to the processes and products by which humans have
coped with and changed their environment throughout history. (It refers
not only to the sophisticated machine of the 21st C, but also to the
rudimentary stone tools of the early man).

Classes of technology: - With the current level of development the uses of

the term have increased to the point where it now encompasses a number of
“classes” of technology.

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 Classes of Technology
1. Technology as Objects: Tools, machines, instruments, weapons, appliances -
the physical devices of technical performance.
2. Technology as Knowledge: The know-how behind technological innovation.
3. Technology as Activities: What people do - their skills, methods,
procedures, routines.
4. Technology as a Process: Begins with a need and ends with a solution. It is
the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to
practical tasks. It is the process of solving a problem.
5. Technology as a Socio-technical System: The manufacture and use of objects
involving people and other objects in combination.

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 How can the technology satisfies human needs?
❖The physical world contains resources that we use to satisfy biologically and
socially defined needs.
❖Through the process of technological innovation, societies have developed
new tools to deal with the physical world.
❖For instance the tools are used to solve problems in the areas of:
❑Food and shelter, those are basic to our biological needs.
❑economic production and distribution, that are central to human interaction
within a society,
❑War and peace, another important element in human interaction

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 Cont…

Since computer is one of the tools, we can ask how computer use satisfies or
frustrates individual need.
• The physiological requirements of human beings are not usually directly met
by computers. However, computers indirectly contribute to the production
and distribution of clothing and food.
• In relation to social requirements (safety and sense of love and
belongingness): Computers act on this level of need through their effects on
institutions and relationships (e.g. creating virtual community).
• The environment can be thought of as presenting us with a set of problems of
subsistence and survival and providing us with materials for the solution of
those problems.

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 The physiology and psychology of the human/computer interaction

• What is Ergonomics?
➢ Ergonomics is the study of physical relationship between people and their
work environment.
➢ Ergonomics became common in the 1990s as a result of the wide application
of computers in offices and due to the negative impact caused by the use of
this technology.
➢ Ergonomics has sub-fields:
Hardware Ergonomics
−User-equipment related problems including work station design
Software Ergonomics
−Problems in communication with the computer
People ware Ergonomics
−Psychological impacts of computer use

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 Cont...
➢ The physical and psychological problems caused by the computer use can be
solved by designing an ergonomically correct equipment, furniture,
facilities, and man-machine interfaces.
➢ The goal is improving:
Health condition
Efficiency
Comfort
Safety
➢ Therefore, ergonomics is concerned with designing the job environment to
be suitable for the worker
➢ The economic implication of Ergonomics are:
Medical cost reduction
Less absenteeism
Higher productivity
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The physiology of the human/computer interaction
• Use of a computer is a physical activity involving:
➢ hands, eyes, ears, and body.
• Computer use causes physical stress or damage due to:
i. Static effort
➢Expended by keeping the body in an upright position and in
maintaining the position of the shoulders and the neck. (prolonged
posture/prolonged state of muscle concentration).
➢The muscles are not permitted to relax and it may imply a constrained
posture.
ii. Dynamic effort
➢ Expended by the muscles of the hand, fingers and wrist.

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 Cont…
The major physiological problems that occur as a result of the human/computer interaction are:
Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSIs)
Reading Assignment: -
Back and Neck Pains

Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS)

About these problems and
solution to the above problems
The psychology of the human/computer interaction
•The stresses experienced by computer users are not only physical but also psychological.
It is mainly cased by:
•Computer anxiety
•Addictive use of the computer (Internet addiction)
•Frightness of the integration of a man and a machine.
•Response time
•Noise from printers or from computer power unit

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 Social Interactions among Computer (ICT) Users
❑ Group of people communicate through computers
❑ The social interaction takes place electronically rather than face-to-face

❑ Social interactions are linked by the common interests of its members.

❑ How are computers used for interaction?

➢ The interaction is made through online network applications such as:

 E-mail
 Discussion forums (list of messages are available on the internet and people interact by
replying the messages)
 Newsgroups(A public place in the world wide web where messages are posted for public
consumption and response)
 Chat rooms (chat room' is simply a web page which can display typed messages in real
time)
 Nature of computer mediated interaction

→Absence of physical, face-to-face or human to human contact

→The interaction brings together people geographically and sociologically unrelated to
each other.

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 Computer Aided Conversation and the Problem of Trust
→As we have discussed before, the nature of conversation between people has
been changed due to the computer-mediated communication.
▪ E-mail
▪ Video-conferencing, etc. Problem of Trust has developed due to this
new trend of communication. In a computer mediated conversation you
communicate with people:
▪ Whom you have never met/known.
▪ From different cultural background
▪ Whose native language is different from your own
▪ Misinterpretation of intention
▪ Difficulty in evaluating the intention of the speaker

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 The End of Lecture One

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