AIN3701 EXAM PACK 2024
QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
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ST U D Y U N I T 1
Data and the computerised
information system process
Jelonek (2017) posits that data, information and knowledge have always played a critical
role in business. Companies need new solutions for data processing and analysis as
the amount of various data that can be collected and stored is ever increasing, Following
the 4 Vs (volume, variety, veracity and velocity) of big data, which we learnt about in
AIN1501, organisations use data and analytics to gain valuable insight to inform better
business decisions. In all this, cloud computing technology simplifies the time-
consuming processes of hardware provisioning, hardware purchasing and software
deployment, and revolutionises the way computational resources and services are
commercialised and delivered to customers. Cloud computing technology shifts the
location of this infrastructure to the network so as to reduce the costs associated with
the management of hardware and software resources. This means that the cloud
represents the long-held dream of envisioning computer as a utility, a dream in which
the economy of scale principle helps to effectively drive down the cost of computing
infrastructure (Sakr & Gaber 2014).
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1.1 Introduction
In AIN1501 we learnt amongst others that the world’s most valuable
resource is no longer oil, but data, and that companies have had a rapidly
growing volume of data which is sourced from different areas of the
business. In the relevant study units 1, 2, 3, 6 and 11 (UNISA 2022),
the basic principles that would help you understand and contextualise
applications were provided as follows:
a. Study unit 1 provided you with the foundation of how organisations use information
systems to manage their information, reduce uncertainties and costs, and increase
revenues and service delivery.
b. Study unit 2 was about information systems (IS) as a tool that handles the flow and
maintenance of information which supports the business operations, and identified
four components being people, equipment, procedures, and data. It also covered
the principles relating to the Accounting Information System (AIS) implementation
in an ERP environment and decision-making.
c. In study unit 3, you learnt about the characteristics of information.
d. In study unit 6, you learnt that Big Data is a term referring to the collection of data
which is so large that it becomes difficult to store and process using traditional
databases and data processing applications. It described data sets so large and varied
that they are beyond the capability of traditional processing.
e. Lastly, key to study unit 11, was to create an understanding of how society is
becoming more dependent upon computer and communications technology, where
many would argue that we have left the industrial age behind, and the information
age has taken over. Enterprise systems were described as commercial software
packages that enable integration of transactions-oriented data and business
process throughout an organisation. This included Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP), software and related packages, such as advanced planning and scheduling
sales force automation, product configuration among others. The intention was to
ultimately create an understanding that information is used by different
organisations for different purposes.
In this study unit, we will first provide an understanding of the concept of digitalisation of
the economy, the use of Big Data technology, and the role of data in an organisation. We
will then look at the types of data input, processing and output and typical processing
systems and also learn about some of the methods used to process data into
information in an organisation.
The learning outcomes of this study unit are as follows:
• Distinguish between the different methods of data input, data processing and
information output.
• Apply database terminology, applications and structures.
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The following icons are included in this study unit:
ICON DESCRIPTION
This icon indicates that you need to self-reflect.
This icon indicates that you need to do some critical thinking.
This icon illustrates an activity you must complete.
This icon indicates that you need to refer to AIN1501.
1.2 Digitalisation of the economy
According to Sadyrin, Syrovatskay and Leonova (2021), the digitalisation of the
economy, as the main direction of technological and economic development,
determines a qualitatively new level of work with information and data. But the
avalanche-like growth of the generated data leads to the need to develop new analytical
tools that allow organisations to structure and systematise large arrays of
heterogeneous data and use them in the formation of management decisions. Working
with Big Data and technologies, powerful computing resources has to operate with huge
amounts of information in real time. An estimated 84 per cent of enterprises believe
those without an analytics strategy run the risk of losing a competitive edge in the
market. Currently, Big Data is widely used in the financial sector, but mainly in tasks
related to the need to accumulate and process large volumes of statistical information,
in simulation modelling, in predictive analytics, in the field of marketing and in
visualisation of analytical data. At the same time, the leaders in the implementation and
application of digital technologies are large companies of the national and international
level, which have the necessary resources and funds for this. Industries that have
adopted the use of big data include financial services, technology, marketing, and
health care, to name a few. The use of big data in the practice of economic entities
belonging to the segment of medium and, moreover, small business is difficult and
expensive in terms of the possibility of independent organisation of storage, processing
and protection of information, as well as the development of the necessary analytical
tools and data management systems. However, in the future, with the development of
digitalisation and the creation of national databases and digital platforms at the state
level, built using cloud technologies and blockchain, many economic entities can gain
access to previously inaccessible resources and use the advantages of working with
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