Question

Give an example of a information system and identify its components and objective.

Answer 1

Firstly, we need to know what is information system:

Information System:

Information systems (IS) are formal, sociotechnical, organizational systems designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information.

In a sociotechnical perspective, information systems are composed by four components: task, people, structure (or roles), and technology.

A computer information system is a system composed of people and computers that processes or interprets information.The term is also sometimes used in more restricted senses to refer to only the software used to run a computerized database or to refer to only a computer system.

Such information systems play a crucial role in our day-to-day life. Let us understand this system with the help of an example:

In our daily life, artificial intelligence systems (Expert Systems) mimic human expertise to identify patterns in large data sets. Companies such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google, etc. use artificial intelligence techniques to identify most relevant data to us.

Like usually makes very accurate predictions of people that you might know or went with to school. They use the data that we provide to them, the data that our friends provide and based on this information make predictions of people that we might know.

Amazon uses artificial intelligence techniques to suggest products that you should buy also based on what we are currently getting.

Google also uses artificial intelligence to give us the most relevant search results based on our interactions with Google and our location.

Components Of Information Systems:

The main components of information systems are:

1.Computer hardware and software,

2. Telecommunications,

3. Databases and data warehouses,

4. Human resources, and procedures.

The hardware, software, and telecommunications constitute information technology (IT), which is now ingrained in the operations and management of organizations

All above components combine together to make an efficient information system. In the case of expert systems, computer hardware like keyboard and mouse provide input, softwares manage information, telecommunications establish communication between users/devices/organisation, database and datawarehouse store bulk of data for information processing, human resources and procedures help in efficient management of information for further planning and better execution of any business or organisation.

Objectives of an Information System:

An Information System aims to support operations, management and decision-making.

An information system is the information and communication technology (ICT) that an organization uses, and also the way in which people interact with this technology in support of business processes.