An ICT System and its Components

The use of technology for the input, storage, processing and transfer of data and the output of information.

• 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).

ICT systems are those where the output from the system goes directly to a human being or into another ICT system.

• 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 a supermarket,
• A system that monitors the life support machines in a hospital,
• A system that tracks all flights landing and taking off from an airport.

Any system involves input, processing and output.

Input: The alarm wakes you up; Process: Your brain tells you to get out of bed; Output: You get up.

• People
• Data
• Procedures
• Software
• Hardware
• Information.

1. People: are the source of the data, even systems that run automatically need the software programmers to set the data up.
2. Data: which is entered by people for processing; such as 25,000 gas meter readings, or 10,000 students module results.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Information: the output of all the processing from the ICT system, bills are presented for the gas company's customers.

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.