• data ≥ information.

• Information theory: relevance is a logical construct: (Note that S&R do not address this notion of information)
  • Tautologies: e.g., All crows are black or not black.
  • Redundancies: 

    	Capacity	Coal	Cooling	Develop
    1	Large	No	Water	Yes
    2	Medium	Yes	Water	No
    3	Medium	No	Air	Yes
    4	Large	No	Air	Yes
    5	Small	No	Air	No
    6	Small	No	Water	No
    7	Medium	No	Water	Yes
    8	Small	Yes	Air	No
    9	Medium	Yes	Air	No
    10	Large	Yes	Air	Yes

    
    

    Capacity	Small			Medium				Large
    Cooling	Water	Air		Water		Air		Water	Air
    Coal	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
    Develop	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
    	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

    Problem: The above data set contains 10 decision rules to determine whether or not to develop a specific type of power plant. Each rule specifies three conditions to be tested: capacity (small, medium or large), whether or not the plant is coal fired and the type of cooling (water, air). Must we test all three conditions all the time?

    Capacity	Small	Medium				Large
    Cooling	-	Water		Air		-
    Coal	-	Yes	No	Yes	No	-
    Develop	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
    	1	2	3	4	5	6

     

    Capacity	Small	Medium		Large
    Coal	-	Yes	No	-
    Develop	No	No	Yes	Yes
    	1	2	3	4

     

• Epistemology: Relevance is an empirical construct: information reduces future uncertainty (similar to S&R's notion of information).
  
• Problem: Can you spot the information (relevant data)? Monty Hall Puzzle:

• The value of information:

• Information may not be accurate:
• Precision.
• Reliability.

• Information must be timely.
• Information should be checked: Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC).

 

• Heylighen et al.: "...however complex or diverse the world that we experience, its organization can be described by concepts and principles which are independent from the specific domain at which we are looking."

• von Bertalanffy: "A system is an entity which maintains its existence through the mutual interaction of its parts."
• A system is a conceptualization of reality. !!!System is a cognitive (human) construct.!!!
• Elements.
• Relationships.
• Structure.
• Systems are dynamic; i.e., they have behavior.
• State.
• State transitions: S_t+1 = S_t + Δ
• State space.
• Environment and boundary.
• Inputs transfer messages (information or energy) from the environment or from elements to other elements.
• Outputs transfer messages (or energy) from the elements to other elements or to the environment.
• Open systems accept input from the environment; closed systems do not.
• Systems have no inherent boundaries and hence are not inherently open or closed (Hence, Heylighen's insistence on domain independence).
• Systems which change their behavior patterns as a consequence of their openness are adaptive systems.
• Feedback: an input to an element as a response to a previous output by the same element.
• control elements: elements whose input is under control of a decision maker.
• An element can be a system by itself (subsystem).
• An element modeled as if it has no structure (elements & relationships) is a black box.

• Problem: Can you model a standard heating system consisting of a thermostat (itself consisting of a heat-sensing device such as a thermistor, a set point and a switch), a furnace, rooms, raditors or air ducts, etc.? Does the system have feedbacks? Does it have control elements?
• Second Law of Thermodynamics: The entropy {S=kLnW} of a closed system never decreases and increases whenever possible (the entropy page).
• Careful; the interpretation of entropy as 'disorder' is entirely a human interpretation.
• To maintain or decrease entropy, a system must use energy; i.e., increase entropy elsewhere.
• Problem: does the concept of entropy apply to information systems? How?
 

• O'Brien (2001): "a group of interrelated components working together towards a common goal by accepting inputs and producing outputs in an organized transformation process." (p. 40).
• Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS):
• "A system, whether automated or manual, that comprises people, machines, and/or methods organized to collect, process, transmit, and disseminate data that represent user information."
• "Any telecommunications and/or computer related equipment or interconnected system or subsystems of equipment that is used in the acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of voice and/or data, and includes software, firmware, and hardware."
• "The entire infrastructure, organization, personnel, and components for the collection, processing, storage, transmission, display, dissemination, and disposition of information."

• Jessup/Valacich (2003): "Information systems are combinations of hardware, software and telecommunications networks that people build and use to collect, create and distribute useful data, typically in organizational settings."
• Stair & Reynolds (p. 15): "a set of interrelated elements or components that collect (input), manipulate (process) and store, and disseminate (output) data and information and provide a feedback mechanism to meet an objective."
• Problem: Can you do better? (keep in mind: less is often better).
  

• Transaction processing systems.
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

• Management information systems.
• Decision Support Systems (DSS).

• Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS).

• Executive Information Systems (EIS).

Activity	Time step	Frequency	Uncertainty
Operational	short	high	low
Managerial	medium	medium	medium
Executive	long	low	high