Semiotic Pronation in Information Technology

Information is not random data, it is structured, organised and processed information. It gives meaning to data and allows effective decision making. For instance, a single customer’s sale in a restaurant is statistical data this becomes information if the company is able to pinpoint the most popular or lowest priced dish. But how then does the process of information work? How does information change into knowledge?

Information must be considered an informational equivalent of a system. For information systems to work, the relationships between the parts are well established; that is, the structure of information makes it clear how and why something exists. For information technology to work, the processes of transformation of information form the informational equivalent of a physical entity. This is pragmatics, the study of what has already been done.

In the study of information technology, the relationship between the users and the tools they use is central. The tools create new information systems and the users reconfigure existing information systems to make them better. However, information systems are also created by users through their applications and communication. Communication takes the form of internet networks, intranet, intranetwork, wireless networks etc., and these all work together via common protocols and reference frames. This relationship of information technology and communication is the basis for the work of information systems architects who are charged with preserving the relationship between information and its corresponding technologies.