What is the main purpose of an information system?
Written by Jeanne Lourdes S. Subrado
Reviewed by Dr. Reuben J C. Los Baños, Ph.D.
In today’s digital age, information systems now handle tasks we used to do by hand. These systems store, collect, process, and disseminate information through computer-based tools. As you read this article, your device is an information system designed to access data like this easily!
These systems aim to aid in processing data more efficiently than manual methods. For instance, the machine you see at the cashier counter helps process the customer’s total payment, leading to quick accommodation of all consumers. It establishes a fast-paced environment and improves customer satisfaction.
Another example is the apps or software you use to encode documents. These systems store data and allow access at any time and place. Sending someone a link to the papers automatically grants access which addresses the concern of having to physical travel to send it.
Therefore, its usage is cost-effective and flexible!
Why is it important to study information systems?
The rise of technology pushes us to learn the system since our surroundings are operated mainly by it. It is essential to study its concepts to understand how it will help you, learn to balance its pros and cons, advance your career, and help in further innovation and development.
- To understand how it will help you
Some manual tasks, such as shopping, banking, and payments, are now operated digitally. Online payments allow payment transactions through the comfort of our electronic devices.
One way of making online payments is by linking your bank account to online shopping apps, which helps with fast and instant transactions. It will not require you to pay face-to-face once your order is delivered.
- Balance the pros and cons
In correlation to the first point, online payments are beneficial when the transaction location is far. Yet, it may fall at risk due to identity theft, where outsiders use your data to withdraw money from your bank account.
However, it’s important to note that security measures are present during online payments; reviewing its drawbacks helps decide which is best and safe for your needs.
- Career opportunities
Most jobs seek technology experts, primarily because most companies rely on technology. Information systems are vital in producing productivity in the workplace. Knowledge of these systems widens your career and opportunities, including IT and business.
Studying its fundamentals can help enhance your knowledge of the field, improve time efficiency, and establish a well-rounded environment with your career path.
- Innovation and development
With the current knowledge and inventions, we have the strength to improve information systems to address problems further. An example is connected inhalers in healthcare to help patients remember and track dosage to maintain a healthy schedule. Further innovations may help save lives in the future.
What are the benefits of information systems?
Information system automates manual processes, improve productivity and flexibility, streamline processes, and are cost-effective.
- Automate manual processes
Manual data processing is time-consuming, yet machines help in minimizing this problem.
For example, cash registers effectively accommodate all customers quickly. The cashier doesn’t need to add all the services or products you bought manually; the machine will automatically generate the total cost of your payment, saving time and speeding up the process, creating a manageable market workflow.
- Improve productivity
Information systems allow you to perform several tasks at a time. Some hospitals offer appointment websites so patients don’t have to travel to get an appointment from the secretary. Patients can feasibly book an appointment and travel when it’s their turn for check-ups, which maximizes time and energy.
Moreover, health workers can benefit from it, helping them focus on other tasks and simultaneously manage different objectives.
- Flexible
Encoding data using applications and machines allows you to update your work anytime. It is also open to changes while encoding, compared to manual methods, where you must rewrite or erase your errors.
These systems are also accessible to others. You can access your work on other devices or machines as well!
- Streamline processes
Since data is digitized, monitoring each process is easier and more convenient.
In clinical laboratories, medical technologists store patient data in a computer where patients’ medical history is stored. Based on their medical history, each shows whether the patient’s condition has improved or worsened.
This way, it is also beneficial for the health worker to track the state of numerous patients in the hospital.
- Cost-effective
Google Meet is an example of an application that hosts a digital meeting if members cannot attend physically. It reduces travel costs, and members can quickly participate in the meeting anywhere through their devices.
Additionally, encoding documents through software and applications reduces costs since you don’t have to buy pens, papers, staplers, and other materials to write the document. You will encode the document and automatically access it through your device.
What is the most important characteristic of an information system?
While information systems offer several traits, how you use them determines their most important characteristic. Yet, one common characteristic is automation. The primary goal of creating the system is to lessen the cons of using manual methods in our everyday lives.
Since data is automated, it processes information quickly, addressing the drawbacks of manual processing like time consumption, minimized flexibility, less security, and cost.
For healthcare, security is a top priority in protecting the personal data of patients and the hospital. Banks must also achieve the accuracy of their monetary values to gain reliability.
What the organization lacks defines the vital traits needed for the system.
Why do organizations need an information system?
Information systems help manage information, secure data, send and collaborate meetings and documents, provide service to the public, manage the workforce more efficiently, and improve time consumption in organizations.
With its aid, service is accurate and readily available, with accurate decision-making, planning, and results.
- For healthcare, it assists in achieving data management and efficiency, considering the daily heavy load of patient data.
CT and MRI scans in the health setting detect certain diseases and injuries. Electrocardiograms (ECG) are also essential to evaluate the heart’s rhythm.
- For businesses, it is used to carry out and manage operations, interact with customers, achieve better customer service, and compete in the marketplace, leading to productivity.
- It helps corporations reach their potential customers with targeted messages over the web, process financial accounts, and manage the workforce.
- The government uses it to provide services cost-effectively to citizens and gather taxes.
What is an example of an information system?
Some examples include devices, navigation systems, point-of-sale (POS) systems, e-wallet systems, digital goods and online services, medical devices, online shopping and banking, fitness trackers, and document editing apps.
- Devices
Smartphones, laptops, smart watches, tablets, and televisions are standard devices we use every day.
Smartphones are one of the most portable and readily accessible devices, containing almost everything you need, from communication, calendars, social media, e-books, streaming services, weather apps, flashlights, and calculators.
According to 2024 global statistics, approximately 7.21 billion smartphones are present worldwide, which accounts for 90% of the 8 billion global population. Additionally, 7.69 billion smartphone subscriptions are expected by 2027, with over 95% of teens gaining access to cellphones currently.
With most people owning smartphones, many can access information systems daily with this portable device. However, it also has its drawbacks among users, one of which is phone addiction.
Since information is easily accessible online, it is difficult to lift the addiction to our smartphones. More importantly, social media usage increased throughout the years, with 51.8% of people using social media apps because of boredom. The cons of using smart devices are due to their easily accessible traits.
- Advanced navigation system
Application software like Google Maps checks your location and directs your desired destination. It is available on smartphones and desktops, offering various features such as street view language-friendliness and providing essential details of your desired location.
Since Google Maps shows details of your desired location, it encourages users to visit places that interest them by seeing the provided contact information, images of your business, and time of opening and closing. Lastly, you can also leave a review for other users to see.
- Point-of-sale (POS) system
This system assists customers in paying for products and services automatically from the store or market. An example is the machine (cash register) that cashiers use when you make a payment. It helps process payments and print receipts.
It ensures accurate processing of data by tracking payment records and reducing errors. It manages the pay scheme much more efficiently and promotes customer satisfaction in the workforce.
- E-wallet systems
E-wallets or digital wallets store money electronically. These systems offer bill payments, money transfers, online shopping, and overseas transactions like PayPal. Another typical example is Gcash, a digital wallet system among Filipinos.
It’s a safe way of transaction if you have a problem carrying large amounts of money or transferring bills in different locations. By using your desired devices, you can manipulate the usage of your money with the comfort of your device.
- Digital goods and online services
Digital goods include music and e-books, while online services include Google Chrome.
For students, e-books are helpful because they don’t have to buy physical books to access learning. E-books are cost-efficient alternatives since they are primarily free online.
- Medical Devices
CT and MRI scans help identify treatment and diagnosis by viewing your internal body structure. These are vital improvements in the healthcare field as they satisfy the goal of patient care and provide adequate help for the lives of those suffering.
- Online shopping
These system were helpful during the pandemic since people were not allowed to go outside. Examples are Shoppee, Shein, Amazon, and Lazada which serves as digital alternatives for physical stores.
The advantage of using this is that product prices are sometimes much lower compared to physical stores. However, the system will still include the shipping fee in your payment.
This system is a quick and easy way to find items not seen in physical stores. Yet, it will take weeks or months (if overseas) to arrive.
- Online Banking
This system allows you to perform bank transactions on the internet. It’s a convenient way of transacting money from the comfort of your home or any location without going to the bank. You can also link your bank account when shopping online, so you don’t have to pay physically.
- Fitness trackers
This system monitors your fitness schedule and determines if you have major or minor improvements based on past sessions. Examples are workout apps. The system is also available on your devices; it is a convenient way of monitoring health issues if you’re dealing with one.
- Document Editing App
Google Docs, WPS, and Word-Processing software store and manage documents digitally. Compared to pen and paper, you can edit, add images, spell-check, and update your records anytime. You can easily connect your documents to other systems or devices, making it a flexible alternative to manual methods.
Why are people the most important part of an information system?
People are the most crucial part since they are the ones who input and interpret data, operate and manage it, and ensure ethical considerations when using the system.
- Input and interpret data
In any information system, they don’t automatically encode the data independently. They are responsible for processing the data input only, and the people will interpret it.
For instance, Google Meet will not automatically host the meeting for you. You have to input the necessary data to make the meeting, and Google Meet will process and start the meeting.
Since people are the ones who input the data, errors and misinterpretations are not caused by the information system but by a mistake in data input. That’s why it’s essential to have well-trained professionals operating vital systems such as medical devices to ensure accurate interpretations of data.
- Operate and manage
People are also responsible for ensuring that these systems do what they should. They are accountable for fixing malfunctions and ensuring they operate well when used.
- Ensure ethical considerations
Data privacy is one of the crucial ethical considerations. Humans must ensure that such systems are used responsibly without abusing user’s privacy and data. People are the ones who operate security management among systems.
In healthcare, there have been numerous cases where workers take advantage of their work to gather patient data and commit fraudulent actions. Security and reliability depend solely on the people’s intentions since they can ensure that data is protected.
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The main purpose of an information system is to help people collect, store, and manage information. It allows users to organize data so they can find what they need quickly and easily. This helps in making better decisions at school, work, or in business. An information system also helps people share information with others in a simple and fast way. Overall, it makes work more efficient, saves time, and improves the way we solve problems.
From what i’ve understand, the main purpose of an information system is to help people to collect, store and manage information that allows users to organize and or retrieve data easily.
Having a secure data is really important because it helps us ensure that the protection of our data is secure considering nowadays a lot of people is using the internet on their daily lives and it it also helps us improve our daily lives like homework or business works and more. Overall, it helps us save time and it’s very efficient considering our time today.
To explain this article in simple terms, it is that information systems make life easier by doing things faster than we can manually, like storing, processing, and sharing data. Learning how this works helps us use them safely and wisely, especially since they can help with jobs, healthcare, and daily tasks. Moreover, these systems let us pay bills online, meet with people from far away, and even save lives through medical tools, as indicated. But no matter how smart the system is, it’s people who make it work. We put in the data, fix the problems, and make sure everything is done responsibly. That’s why understanding and using information systems properly is so important in today’s world. This article is really informational. I really learned a lot.
From what i learned, having information systems is important as it improves the efficiency on different aspects in our life, whether by school, work, or just the everyday mundane task this can make different task less tedious. On the other hand, having an information system is an important factor to this ever growing digital age where everyone can utilize and implement on their day to day activities. By learning how to use and implement this in our activities, we can improve the quality and efficiency of our different task, it is also a great help to the management when dealing with a huge population everyday. Nevertheless, having an information systems is helpful and important now that we are on the digital age.
The rise of technology nowadays pushes us to learn how to navigate technology properly or how to use it in a proper way. In our generations it is very important to know the negative and positive aspects of technology and how we can use it for example in research. It is very important for us to understand this properly because right now everything that is needed such as paying our expenses we used to pay online banking or using gadgets. For me the main point of using technology nowadays is to lessen the hassle such as we usually do in manual ways in our daily lives. On the other hand, the information system plays a big role in managing datas, collective meetings and announcing public information without telling it to everyone manually. Overall information system makes our everyday life more convenient.
Health Information System makes our lives easier, it helps with our daily tasks that we usually do manually. Usually, processing data takes time. It is not productive, but, with the help of HIS, we can collect, store, manage data, disseminate, and secure information more effectively and efficiently. We can use HIS not only at work, but also in school, and in every other task we have. Overall, HIS has a big contribution in our world today, so it is important to use health information system wisely.
Living in an era of technological advancements, it is only natural for us to use technology to aid us in some way. Especially in healthcare, a field in which organizing data, and ensuring its security is of utmost importance. Although we often take these technologies for granted, this article serves as a reminder of how useful information systems can be and how much they need to be appreciated.
The primary goal of this information system statement is to provide a benefit to each student by collecting, managing, and storing information. Information systems do exist lately. The sentence that I read has helped me better comprehend what an information system is. It also gives me background information on the fundamental purpose of information systems, as well as the potential to advance my career and contribute to future innovation and progress.
Upon reading the article, I learned more about how information systems play an essential role in today’s ever-accelerating world. In business, education, and healthcare, and even in government, information systems serve as an information flow and communication management support structure. They are no longer mere data storage tools, but systems that aid decision-making, facilitate communication, and enable organizations to adapt and survive. I came to understand that behind every seamless operation—be it in business, learning, or healthcare—there lies a well-structured system governing data movement. Information systems are not only essential for organizational efficiency but for dealing with accelerated technological changes in the current digital age. Overall, their only objective is to render information more valuable, timely, and available to the correct purpose.
This more opened my eyes to how important it is to be familiar and utilize these systems properly in any future profession.
From what I understood, an information system is something that helps make our work easier and faster using technology. Instead of doing things by hand, like writing documents or counting money, we can now use computers, apps, and machines to do those tasks quickly. It’s important to learn about it because most of the things we do now like shopping online, paying bills, or even studying are done through systems like these. It also helps us in our future jobs because many workplaces use technology every day. I realized that even if systems are smart, they still need people like us to use them the right way, input the correct data, and make sure everything is safe and honest.
While reading the article, it gave me a better understanding of the main role of health information system is in improving the way we manage the information and also access it. The health information system helps make our tasks more organized and efficient. By learning on how to use the system and applying it in our everyday life, it can improve the quality and speed of our work.
This article stood the idea of how advanced our technology has become today. It became our driving source for almost all the things we do. From buying clothes to managing our payment bills, information systems have made tasks faster, easier, and more reliable. I’ve realized that we depend so much on these systems because they help us save time, be organized, and even cut down costs. The text also made me understand that people, not just machines, play the most important role in making these systems work properly. It reminded me of how crucial it is to use these tools responsibly, especially when handling sensitive data like in the medical field. Truly, Information systems have transformed everyday tasks and industries, showing that responsible use of technology is key to progress.
What I understood from this article is that information systems are very helpful especially to our everyday tasks. Rather than doing everything manually, we are able to process data much easily with the help of these information system. Considering the place we are currently living in right now, we can say that information systems are very helpful in every way. One example of this is the bank or atm transactions where one can withdraw money and can check balances everywhere and anytime. Online banking is quite common right and one example of this is gcash where we can send and receive money online, making it less hassle because we don’t need to go to the bank to send money. Another example of how information systems help us is through online shopping. It all started during pandemic where online shopping got so popular. Through these online shops, we are able to buy products without going personally to shops. We just wait for it to be shipped and be delivered to our houses. Another example is online learning where we can use different kinds of applications and platforms to submit assignments, answer quizzes and even meet virtually. We can also find e-libraries that provide different kinds of e-books that are accessible. Information systems are truly fascinating and helpful. I cant imagine a life without these things.
This lesson made me realize how much we rely on information systems in our daily lives, like using phones, online banking, or apps for school. They save time, reduce costs, and make things more convenient. But I also noticed that these systems are not perfect—there are risks like data privacy issues or errors if people input wrong information. That’s why people are still the most important part, because they guide and control how the system is used.
Understanding the purpose of information system is vital in our everyday life since we are living in a modern era, and these contribute greatly to our daily activities. Banking and online payment, for instance, are examples of information system. While these make our lives more accessible and convenient, they also come with certain risks, such as data privacy breaches. Nevertheless, this article provides valuable and informative insights about the topic.
This article explains how an information system helps collect, process, store and share data so an organization can make better decisions, improve operations and serve customers more effectively.
The primary goal of an info system is streamlining old-school methods by using tech that simplifies gathering, handling, saving, or sharing details. Instead of paperwork, computers take over – helping things run smoother while being easier to reach when needed. You’ll find these setups everywhere now: think stores swiping cards, banks moving money online, teams editing files together remotely, or just messaging coworkers. They turn slow, hands-on jobs into quicker, adaptable ones that save cash over time. Looking closer shows how common they are – in phones, offices, clinics, even city services. Automation speeds up routines while cutting down mistakes. Productivity jumps, teamwork gets simpler, costs drop. But keeping data safe and correct matters a lot, especially where trust is key. People still play a big part – not only feeding systems accurate inputs but also running them properly and watching out for ethics like personal privacy. Folks gotta get how info systems work if they wanna keep up in a world run by tech – this stuff affects jobs, how services reach people, even daily life ease. The write-up here sticks to a school-style flow: it kicks off with a main point, adds explanations that back it up, then wraps up by repeating the core takeaway.