1. An ICT System & Its Components
Key Concepts
Content and Amplification
1. What is ICT?
The use of technology for the input, storage,
processing
and transfer of data and the output of information.
2. What is a system?
Any system involves input, processing and output.
3. What is an ICT
system?
ICT systems are those where the output from the
system goes directly to a human being or into
another ICT system.
4. Any ICT system is
made up of
components
The components are:
• people
• data
• procedures
• software
• hardware
• information.
1. What is ICT? Information and Communications Technology. It covers the computer hardware; the
software programs; and the communications that occur between more than one different
computerised device. (Device: a piece of hardware).
Examples:
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Hardware: a computer, a printer, a digital camera, a digital tv decoder, a keyboard, a scanner,
a touch screen monitor.
Software: a word processor, a database, a web browser, a video player.
Communications: the Internet, digital radio, networks, gps, mobile 'phone, instant messaging.
(GPS: Global positioning system).
2. What is a system? A system is the way something is done, for example: what system do you have
from the time you wake up in the morning until the time to leave the house for college? If we think in
terms (as we will investigate later) of Input Process and Output. How could we break the system
down?
Example: Input: The alarm wakes you up; Process: Your brain tells you to get out of bed; Output:
You get up.
(You can complete this activity independently and compare your systems).
3. What is an ICT system? If a system is a way of doing something, then an ICT system is doing it
with ICT. As seen above there can be many different systems that achieve the same goal in the end.
Most of these system are used in Business.
Examples:
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a system that pays Child Benefit to parents,
a system that records all available stock required for IKEA,
a system that records and calculates all the pay for teachers in a school,
a system that records all the details of the personnel who work for ASDA,
a system that monitors the life support machines in a hospital,
a system that tracks all flights landing and taking off from Heathrow airport.
All of these systems will have an Input, a Process, and an Output.
Input: the capturing or entering of Data into an ICT system. see Selection and Use of Input Devices
and Input Media. Go up to the examples of What is ICT?, can you name the Input devices? Input
involves the data being turned into a form that can be understood by the computer. This is usually
known as encoding the data.
Process: the computer calculation or sorting of the input data, other actions could be presenting,
arranging, converting etc.
Output: the displaying of the results of the processing onto a format that can be read/used by
humans. Not all systems need to produce an output every time. A monitoring system may not produce
an output at all if there is no need to inform a human. If however there is a need the output could be in
the form of an alarm. All information systems produce output.
4. The Components of an ICT System. There are six components to any ICT system, we have
introduced some of them above.
1. People: are the source of the data, even systems that run automatically need the software
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
programmers to set the data up.
Data: which is entered by people for processing; such as 25,000 gas meter readings, or
10,000 students module results.
Hardware: the physical devices that are needed to enter the data, to process the data, and
to display the information in the most appropriate format. The hardware will include a
keyboard or scanning device to enter the data, a microprocessor to calculate the readings into
the amounts due, and a printer to print off bills to send to customers.
Software: the program that stores data such as names and addresses, and different rates
and charges, that when readings are entered instruct the processor to produce the results of
the calculations.
Procedures: are the ways in which tasks should be done as directed by the management of
an organisation. This will include how data is to be used, how systems are developed to suit
the required outcome. All administration runs using pre-determined procedures.
Information: the output of all the processing from the ICT system, bills are presented for the
gas company's customers.
People: are at the end of the process, as the information is assessed, and used to determine
whether the process continues if satisfactory or is amendedif it needs improving. Knowledge
is information and a set of rules. Using the information presented decisions can be made,
knowledge workers are engineers, doctors, managers etc. Computers may be programmed to
make decisions based on the outcome of raw data entered.