ICT applications
How ICT is used in communication, modelling, control, schools, booking systems, banking, medicine, expert systems, retail, recognition systems and satellite systems.
📌 Key points
- Communication applications include newsletters, posters, flyers, websites, multimedia presentations, mobile phones and VoIP (voice calls over the internet).
- A computer model simulates a real situation (e.g. weather forecasting, traffic flow, building design) so "what if" questions can be tested safely, quickly and cheaply; a model is only as good as the data and rules it uses.
- Computer-controlled systems such as robots on a production line work 24/7 with consistent quality, but are expensive to set up and can lead to job losses.
- School management systems record attendance and registration, track learners' performance and create timetables.
- Online booking systems (flights, cinemas, concerts) show available seats in real time and update immediately, which prevents double booking, and can issue e-tickets.
- Banking: ATMs, electronic funds transfer (EFT), chip and PIN, contactless payments and internet banking; at a shop, EFTPOS transfers money from the customer's account to the shop's account.
- Expert systems (e.g. medical diagnosis, car fault finding, mineral prospecting) have a knowledge base, a rules base, an inference engine, a user interface and an explanation system.
- Retail: POS terminals scan barcodes, the stock database is updated automatically and new stock is reordered when the level falls to the reorder level.
- Recognition systems include OMR, OCR, RFID, biometrics and ANPR (automatic number plate recognition, using OCR to read number plates, e.g. in car parks).
- Satellite systems: GPS uses signals from satellites to work out a receiver's position; satnav uses GPS to give directions; GIS shows layers of data on a map; communication satellites carry TV, phone and internet signals.
📖 Key terms
- Computer model
- A computer representation of a real-life system used to test "what if" scenarios.
- EFT
- Electronic funds transfer: moving money electronically from one account to another.
- Expert system
- A system that uses knowledge and rules from human experts to give advice or a diagnosis.
- Inference engine
- The part of an expert system that applies the rules to the facts to reach a conclusion.
- ANPR
- Automatic number plate recognition: cameras and OCR software read vehicle number plates.
- GIS
- Geographic information system: displays different layers of data on a map.
✏️ Worked example
Describe how a supermarket's computer system keeps stock up to date when an item is sold.
- The barcode on the item is scanned at the POS terminal.
- The barcode number is looked up in the stock database to find the price and description.
- The stock level for that item is reduced by 1.
- The new stock level is compared with the reorder level.
- If it has reached the reorder level, an order is sent automatically to the supplier and a flag is set so it is not ordered twice.
ICT applications questions are scenario-based: use the words from the scenario (e.g. "the patient", "the seat", "the barcode") so the examiner can see your answer is applied, not generic.
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