Applied Information Technology
1. Introduction
Why information systems / ICT?
→ Business models change. Fototaart, Hellofresh, United Wardrobe etc. Many of these start with a
smart idea and some entrepreneur-minded students.
→ What about privacy / legal / ethical issues? General Data Protection Regulation. Changed a lot of
stuff. Lot of discussion about it.
→ Security threats. For instance, Dutch corona test data were easily hackable and sold; Whatsapp
scams; Zoom security issues.
→ Technical challenges, or simply: things that go wrong. For instance, belastingdienst kan plannen
niet uitvoeren door aanhoudende ict-malaise.
2. Business model
Business model definition
A simple business model is a set of descriptions of:
1) Products and services that you will provide
2) A description of the business process(es) required to make and deliver those
3) A description of your customers + what value your products / services have to them (value
proposition)
4) Resources that you will need (ingredients, machines)
5) Supply chain partners that need to be involved (e.g. suppliers)
6) How this will generate revenue + profitability (financial viability)
Initial questions for your PM’s business model
• Where is it located, how is the logica of its organization?
• How to characterize the target population?
• Are there different market segments in this population?
• How to create value for your customers?
• How to ensure revenue?
• What strategies to choose? (Porter)
• What ICT-related sources of inspiration can you use?
Porter’s competitive forces
model
• Threat of new entrants →
easy to copy idea and do
the same?
• Threat of substitute
products or services → easy
to replace with other
product?
• Buyer power → standing in
line and waiting for you or
not?
,• Supplier power → relation, do you have power there or not?
Porter’s value chain model
Primary part is the bottom half. On top secondary activities: take care of. Personell and keep track of
technology development.
Porter’s strategies for competitive advantage
Cost leader: sell for the cheapest price as
possible. They are cheap.
Differentiation
Innovation: keep doing this.
Operational effectiveness
Customer oriented
Important: business strategy – information
technology alignment.
E-Business and E-Commerce
E-commerce= the process of buying, selling, transferring or exchanging products, services, or
information via computer networks, including the internet.
• In ‘pure E-C’, both product and delivery is digital; also partial E-C.
E-business= broader, also including servicing customers, collaborating with business partners,
performing electronic transactions within organization
Types of E-commerce
• Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
,• Businenss-to-Business (B2B)
• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) – Ebay, marktplaats
• Business-to-Employee (B2E) – intranets, travel tickets, benefits
• E-government
• Government-to-Citizen (G2C) – deliver information and public services to citizens
• Government-to-Business (G2B) – similar to B2B, but different context
Which one do you think has the majority of E-C volume (money)? → B2B
E-commerce business models
Technology
Identify items through standardized Ids → car license plate, WUR card, barcode,
GPS location identification, codes on packages (sending and delivering).
Barcodes, scanners, RFID
• Barcodes – Traditional barcodes for article identification or longer barcode
which captures more information.
• Two dimensional matrix codes – QR code, can capture even more information
• RFID – chips that pass by antennas. Can be active (send out signals
themselves) or passive. For instance car key.
Barcode: numbers can stand for things. Seperations in code. Agree that the first
part stands from origin, location or something else. Agreed information pieces.
Barcode represents it.
, What is an important difference between handling barcodes and handling RFID? → biggest
difference is that you need visual scanning for a barcode. RFID are scanned automatically.
Sensors
• Tech automated eyes, ears, noses, touch, etc. (senses) of a supply chain
• A device, module, or subsystem whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment
and send the information to other electronicsd.
• Continuous or discrete measurements, e.g. temperature trajectory vs. Shock
• Active or passive: need or don’t need a power signal
• Offline or connected, increasingly wireless
• Smart or ‘dumb’: including or excluding local data storage/processing
Trends: artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence / intelligent systems: making systems intelligent. Computer systems / devices.
• Commercial applications of artificial intelligence (AI)
• A subfield of computer science that studies human throught processes and re-creates their
effects via machines (computers, robots)
• Intelligent sytems “make decisions by themselves”
• Fingerprint
• Intelligent behaviour – behaviour by a machine that, if performed by a human being, would be
considered intelligent
• What is intelligent behavour? Ability to learn, ability to process natural language (speak, hear,
read, write), ability to process vision (see, recognize)
• Google Translate, talk to TV
Artificial intelligence: applications
Lots of tasks were computers will be
better at during or lifetime.
Turing test: during the turing test, the human questioner asks a series
1. Introduction
Why information systems / ICT?
→ Business models change. Fototaart, Hellofresh, United Wardrobe etc. Many of these start with a
smart idea and some entrepreneur-minded students.
→ What about privacy / legal / ethical issues? General Data Protection Regulation. Changed a lot of
stuff. Lot of discussion about it.
→ Security threats. For instance, Dutch corona test data were easily hackable and sold; Whatsapp
scams; Zoom security issues.
→ Technical challenges, or simply: things that go wrong. For instance, belastingdienst kan plannen
niet uitvoeren door aanhoudende ict-malaise.
2. Business model
Business model definition
A simple business model is a set of descriptions of:
1) Products and services that you will provide
2) A description of the business process(es) required to make and deliver those
3) A description of your customers + what value your products / services have to them (value
proposition)
4) Resources that you will need (ingredients, machines)
5) Supply chain partners that need to be involved (e.g. suppliers)
6) How this will generate revenue + profitability (financial viability)
Initial questions for your PM’s business model
• Where is it located, how is the logica of its organization?
• How to characterize the target population?
• Are there different market segments in this population?
• How to create value for your customers?
• How to ensure revenue?
• What strategies to choose? (Porter)
• What ICT-related sources of inspiration can you use?
Porter’s competitive forces
model
• Threat of new entrants →
easy to copy idea and do
the same?
• Threat of substitute
products or services → easy
to replace with other
product?
• Buyer power → standing in
line and waiting for you or
not?
,• Supplier power → relation, do you have power there or not?
Porter’s value chain model
Primary part is the bottom half. On top secondary activities: take care of. Personell and keep track of
technology development.
Porter’s strategies for competitive advantage
Cost leader: sell for the cheapest price as
possible. They are cheap.
Differentiation
Innovation: keep doing this.
Operational effectiveness
Customer oriented
Important: business strategy – information
technology alignment.
E-Business and E-Commerce
E-commerce= the process of buying, selling, transferring or exchanging products, services, or
information via computer networks, including the internet.
• In ‘pure E-C’, both product and delivery is digital; also partial E-C.
E-business= broader, also including servicing customers, collaborating with business partners,
performing electronic transactions within organization
Types of E-commerce
• Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
,• Businenss-to-Business (B2B)
• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) – Ebay, marktplaats
• Business-to-Employee (B2E) – intranets, travel tickets, benefits
• E-government
• Government-to-Citizen (G2C) – deliver information and public services to citizens
• Government-to-Business (G2B) – similar to B2B, but different context
Which one do you think has the majority of E-C volume (money)? → B2B
E-commerce business models
Technology
Identify items through standardized Ids → car license plate, WUR card, barcode,
GPS location identification, codes on packages (sending and delivering).
Barcodes, scanners, RFID
• Barcodes – Traditional barcodes for article identification or longer barcode
which captures more information.
• Two dimensional matrix codes – QR code, can capture even more information
• RFID – chips that pass by antennas. Can be active (send out signals
themselves) or passive. For instance car key.
Barcode: numbers can stand for things. Seperations in code. Agree that the first
part stands from origin, location or something else. Agreed information pieces.
Barcode represents it.
, What is an important difference between handling barcodes and handling RFID? → biggest
difference is that you need visual scanning for a barcode. RFID are scanned automatically.
Sensors
• Tech automated eyes, ears, noses, touch, etc. (senses) of a supply chain
• A device, module, or subsystem whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment
and send the information to other electronicsd.
• Continuous or discrete measurements, e.g. temperature trajectory vs. Shock
• Active or passive: need or don’t need a power signal
• Offline or connected, increasingly wireless
• Smart or ‘dumb’: including or excluding local data storage/processing
Trends: artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence / intelligent systems: making systems intelligent. Computer systems / devices.
• Commercial applications of artificial intelligence (AI)
• A subfield of computer science that studies human throught processes and re-creates their
effects via machines (computers, robots)
• Intelligent sytems “make decisions by themselves”
• Fingerprint
• Intelligent behaviour – behaviour by a machine that, if performed by a human being, would be
considered intelligent
• What is intelligent behavour? Ability to learn, ability to process natural language (speak, hear,
read, write), ability to process vision (see, recognize)
• Google Translate, talk to TV
Artificial intelligence: applications
Lots of tasks were computers will be
better at during or lifetime.
Turing test: during the turing test, the human questioner asks a series
