THE CONCEPT OF DIGITIZATION

THE CONCEPT OF DIGITIZATION AND ITS IMPORTANCE

                  

Digitization is a process that has both symbolic and material dimensions. Symbolically, digitization converts analog signals into bits that are represented as 1s and 0s. Digitization therefore produces information that can be expressed in many different ways, on many different types of materials, and in many different systems. Theoretically, almost any material with two easily differentiated states can be used to store and communicate digitized signals, including silicone transistors, punch cards, or atoms.

This has motivated many scholars to highlight the immaterial quality of information generated through digitization, while emphasizing the material systems or transistors on which that information is housed. That being said, it would be a mistake to ignore that digital information is ultimately stored on and communicated through the physical orientation of material transistors as bits. While digitized information is not limited to a specific set of materials, it is still, in the final instance, grounded in the configurations of materials. It is this way in which digitization mediates between the material and the immaterial that makes digitization a unique process

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Just as digitized information can be represented on any set of transistors, all forms of data such as alphanumeric text, graphics, still and moving pictures, and sounds can be digitized. The fundamental process is one in which all signals are chopped into little pieces and encoded as strings of 1s and 0s. While this process can be applied to almost any type of information, this conversion process occurs through very specific technical mechanisms and requires specific technical infrastructures that alter the original signal itself.

                      

Being stripped of errors, repetitions, and static allows digitized information to be easily stored and transferred, permitting the easy manipulation and display of these data. Digitized information also affords data compression,that allows for controlled storage in large volume. That is to say, in being easily manipulated, digital data provides users with additional control over information. This additional control affords users the agency to shape their own experiences of it. In other words, digitization permits an expansive degree of interactivity between user and information. This is, perhaps, most forcibly stated in legal school document broad idea of digital technologies supporting a democratic form of remix culture.

By changing processes from analog to digital, many organizations are no longer limited to geographical boundaries. If you want to have a global reach however, it is important to do it right the first time; therefore, I recommend that you properly understand what you want to achieve, and then plan and manage your digitization programs properly. Digitization helps your business grow at a fraction of the cost. A proper digitalization plan can help reinvent processes, improve quality and promote consistency.

When all your information is in digital form, your ability to secure your organization’s knowledge drastically increases because you can manage access and level or rights and security for each user, no matter where in the world they are, and you can change it as needed. Most digital storage technologies of today also have audit trails which give you the ability to see who did what to each file.

By Burugi Maria

   BAPRM 42538