If you’re taking steps to install a technological solution, it’s crucial that you control the terminology to make the best decision.
This knowledge will allow you to understand the characteristics of each platform, compare different options, and eventually make the most of the alternative you choose.
There are certain basic concepts that you should know if you’re involved in deciding to adopt a technological solution.
Managing these terms will make it easier for you to understand the different tools since you will be speaking the same language as the suppliers.
You will be able to grasp what advantages the technological solution offers your academic institution and its unique features or limitations.
It refers to a person’s experience when interacting with a product (software, website, etc.). It’s all the factors and elements involved in a person’s contact with a platform or a specific device.
As a result of the experience, the user gains perception, which might be influenced by its expectations or previous experiences.
Confusing this concept with usability is common. However, usability means the ease by which the user uses a tool to achieve a particular goal. Situations may arise in which the product is usable but does not give the user a great experience.
It involves taking advantage of the benefits of technological tools to allow people to focus on more important and valuable tasks. In other words, intelligent automation provides software or machines with the necessary capabilities to do repetitive tasks.
Therefore, the use of human resources is optimized, and people can focus on jobs that require greater reasoning, creativity or judgment.
In fact, data shows it allows employees to increase their productivity according to a study by McKinsey.
In summary, it mitigates repetitive tasks, enables the analysis of large amounts of data, and facilitates the identification of trends that were impossible to detect before.
Commonly referred to intelligent automation, artificial intelligence (AI) is not only about implementing software that responds to rules and pre-programmed steps; it also carries out tasks more "intelligently" and makes decisions for which it was not explicitly programmed. It is a broader term.
Artificial Intelligence encompasses a set of software, logic, computer science, and philosophy disciplines that allow functions to be performed that used to be considered exclusively human, such as perceiving the meaning of a written or spoken language, learning, and recognizing facial expressions etc.
Machine Learning is a field of Artificial Intelligence and refers to automatic learning. In other words, the ability of technology to learn without being explicitly programmed to do so.
How is this achieved? Mainly by programming technology with examples to identify patterns in data so that it can then act predictively.
It is the protection of data in Internet-connected systems. The increased flow of information on the web makes networks more vulnerable. Consequently, all data that goes through the Internet is susceptible to attacks.
As a result, measures taken by organizations to protect themselves are known as cybersecurity. According to data from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Chilean companies spent US$195.7 million on this item in 2017 and everything indicates that this figure is growing.
It refers to connecting all kinds of devices to the Internet, mainly everyday items that usually work without access to the network. For example, home appliances and vehicles.
The application of this type of technology has expanded rapidly beyond the home, positioning itself as an area of interest for many productive industries. For example, the use of drones to check and oversee regions areas affected by a pest in the farming industry.
It is the large volume of data - structured and unstructured – that immerses a business on a day-to-day basis.
This information can be analyzed to obtain insights that lead to better decisions and strategic business actions. It can be extracted from different sources, such as commercial sales records, results collected from scientific experiments, or real-time sensors used in the Internet of Things.
Cloud migration is a trend that gains more followers every day. It is the process in which companies transfer their data to a cloud computing environment (a global network of servers).
This space, which is not physical, allows users to store and manage data, and run apps, among other functions. Companies usually migrate to the cloud to obtain more flexibility and security, reduce costs, and improve the performance of applications and services, among other reasons.
The main advantage is that files are stored online and can be accessed from any web-connected device and not only from a specific computer, making records available from anywhere.
Besides, Mobile IT adds services to its users. In the case of educational institutions, it allows students and teachers to access their grades, payments, courses, and digital texts from their mobile phones.
For example, u-planner has a mobile application that combines the Internet of Things through the use of sensors for the automatic registration of student attendance.
For the digital transformation of your educational institution, you must immerse yourself in the issue and bring yourself up to speed on new technology.
You can make better decisions if you manage key concepts about this process. By speaking the same language as your suppliers, you will be able to ask questions and fully understand what’s on offer.