Special: Get the information

There's a lot of talk about management, architecture and analysis of information. But how do these relate to our day to day communication and comprehension of information?

On the right a simple image of day to day communication is drawn. It all starts with thoughts in our mind. When we like to share that thought with someone else, we formulate our thought using language, that we phrase with our voice. This message is received by the other person(s) and interpretated. The result is a thought in the mind of the receiver, that has meaning to the receiver. This thought is added to the individual information of the receiver, which can lead to another thought, that is phrased and responded. This cycle is repeated until both are satisfied with some shared information.

Communication and information

The figure on the left shows how the communication and information can be captured in informationplanning, architecture and organization.

The communication is related to the information exchange in business processes. Information is captured from the business objects that are involved in performing the business processes.

The communication relates to the presentation level of the technology, where information is implemented in the logic and data of information systems.

Modelling communication and information

The Unified Modelling Language (UML) is useful as formal language to describe communication (use cases) and information (classes).

The business architecture and organization can be described using the UML as well.

A formal commonly used language, such as the UML, ensures that business and information products can be translated well into the technology domain and back.