Information, in a broad sense, is structured, processed and organised information designed for a particular purpose. It gives context to other data and helps decision making. For instance, a single consumer’s sale in a restaurant is information it becomes information when the company is able to identify which dish is the most popular or least common. A business can use information science to categorise their customer into different groups so that they can segment them. For instance, if a business sells cars to young women aged 18 34, they can segment them into “young woman” and “old woman” groups.
Information can be used in many different ways in a business. It can describe an item, people or a concept. For example: “The product is highly marketable”. “The target audience is highly targeted”. These are just some of the ways in which information can be used.
Information can also be used to make decisions. In organisations, information technology has become a very important part of how business is done today. Companies have been using computers to process information and make a decision over the years. Computers have also become a part of our everyday lives. They can be used to process information, to process traffic and even to process our emotions. With the advent of the internet, people are able to access enormous amounts of information at the click of a mouse.
So how does information get used in our everyday lives? Some of the obvious ones are our telephone directory, maps, web browsing and emailing. However, you may not be aware that some businesses use information technology on an even bigger scale. For instance, retailers use data to locate your nearest outlet or order a product from the internet. Some supermarkets even print your shopping list for you so that you do not have to go out to buy things.
You probably already know that some companies use IT to make their websites more user-friendly. Some use software to create customer databases. This information is stored in a database that is often linked with CRM software. This type of software can be used to manage all the aspects of an individual or company’s website. It can be used to keep track of customers, manage inventory and even to print information directly onto items.
There are many ways to use information technology in our daily lives. In fact, it is likely that this will become an essential part of how we do things in the future. Experts believe that in ten to twenty years we will all be using some form of computer based technology. We will all have access to online information. It is likely that in the future we will also be able to connect to our computers from anywhere around the world.