Dimension of information

Information may be understood to have various dimensions. However, for our purpose, the following dimension of information will be of interest.

•         Economic dimension,

•         Business dimension, and

•         Technical dimension.

•      Economic dimension: This dimension of information refers to the cost of information and its benefits.

Cost of information: It may include

•         Cost of acquiring data,

•         Cost of maintaining data,

•         Cost of generating information, and

•          Cost of communicating information

The cost is related to the response time required to generate information and communicate it. For systems with low response time, cost is high.

Value of information

Before a particular piece of information is acquired, decision-makers must know its value. In decision theory, the value of information is the value of the change in decision behavior because of the information. The change in the behavior due to new information is measured to determine the benefits from its use. To arrive at the value of new information, the cost incurred to get this information is deducted from the benefits.

•         Business dimension:

•         Information can also be understood from its business dimension.

•         Different types of information are required by managers at different levels of the management hierarchy.

•         Managers at different levels are required to perform different functions in the organization.

•         Technical dimension:

•         This dimension of information refers to the technical aspects of the database.

•         Various aspects of the database, which are considered under this dimension, include the capacity of the database, response time, security etc.