Module A

Introduction to IT and Computer Systems

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a technology which refers

computer systems (such as computer hardware & storage), software (such as
applications and databases) and systems for communication of information (such
as networking devices and technologies) that combined allow people and
organizations to interact in the digital world.

Computer

An electronic device that stores, retrieves and process data and can be
programmed with instructions.

Functions

Input data: Computer inputs data for further processing

Store data: Computer holds the information before and after processing.
Process data: Computer performs prescribed mathematical and logical operations
on the information at high speed,
Output data: Computer sends the result out to the user via some display method.

Information Technology

Information technology is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve,

and exchange all kinds of electronic data and information. Information technology
is combination of people, hardware, software, communications networks, data
resources, policies and procedures that stores, retrieves, transforms and
disseminates information.

Importance and use of ICT

 High speed
 Available anytime
 Available anywhere
 Accuracy
 Memory
 Diligence
 Interfacing

Electronic Banking

Electronic Banking is modern banking techniques using which a Bank customer

can avail banking services without going to a bank branch physically and without
assistance of any bank officials. The electronic banking services:

ATM

ATM or Automated Teller Machine is used mainly for withdrawal of cash by a

bank customer using his debit, credit or prepaid card.

The ATM is equipped with a personal computer which communicate with a

central server of the bank for checking PIN, updating account balance and finally
instructing the cash dispenser to dispense cash.

Bank customers can avail following services from ATM Network:

 Cash withdrawal
 Payment of utility bills
  Fund transfer from customers own account to another account in the same
bank or with another bank
 Checking account balance
 Printing mini statement

Cash Dispenser Machine

A cash dispenser is a machine built in to the wall of a bank or other building,

which allows people to take out money from their bank account using a special
card. In other words, cash dispenser is an unattended machine that dispenses
money when a personal coded card is used.
Cash dispenser means an ATM with restricted functionality of dispensing Cash
only
Cash Recycling Machine (CRM)

There are ATM machines which can accept bundles of money, count the money
supplied in different denominations and check for fake notes. Additionally these
ATMs can deliver the same money received from one customer to other
customers who come to the same ATM later on for withdrawing money. These
types of ATM machine are called cash-in cash-out ATM or Cash Recycling Machine
(CRM).

POS terminal

A point-of-sale (POS) terminal is a hardware system for processing card payments

at retail locations. The advantages of the GPRS POS terminals are as follows:

The merchant does not require a PSTN connection for use of the POS terminal.
The customer does not require to handover the card to the merchant which can
lead the card to be duplicated.
The customer does not require to come to the cash counter for insertion of his
PIN at the PIN PAD of the POS terminal.
It can be used by a small floating shops who sales the goods in different places
such as residences, parks, rail stations etc.

Internet Banking

Internet Banking is a way of performing some banking activities through internet

from home or office. This is also termed as Online Banking.

sms Banking

sms banking is a way of performing some banking activities by sending sms from
mobile phone.
Alert Banking

Alert Banking is a system which sends a sms to the customer when a debit or
credit transaction occurs in the customer’s account.

IVR

IVR or Interactive Voice Response is an automated system where a customer can

call from his land phone or mobile phone and interact with the machine pressing
digits to perform some banking services. These services may include obtaining
information such as balance inquiry or do transactions such as fund transfer and
activate/deactivate a debit, credit or prepaid card.

Advantages and disadvantages of Electronic Banking

Advantages
 Any branch banking
 No location boundary
 Virtual participation
 No hassle of carrying physical money
 No need of instrument for transaction
 No involvement of branch officials
 Any time banking

Disadvantages
 Security
 Cost of communication infrastructure
 Dependency of device
 Presence of knowledge
 Maintenance cost
 24*7 support personnel
Mobile Financial Services:

Mobile Financial Services (MFS) is a banking system using which a registered

mobile holder can deposit (cash-in), withdraw (cash-out) money from an agent
and perform other transactional activities. Example: Bkash, Nagad, Rocket etc.

Agent Banking:

The concept of Agent Banking was initiated by the Central Bank of Bangladesh in
2015 where all the transaction will be authorized by pressing finger prints in a
device. All kinds of banking transactions except foreign exchange transactions are
allowed in Agent Banking. Agent outlets are licensed by the respective banks in
the rural area which on behalf of the bank perform the transactions.

e-Commerce

e-commerce is buying and selling of goods and services over internet.

m-Commerce

M-commerce (or mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and
services through wireless handheld devices such as cellular telephone and
personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Computer Hardware

Generations of Computer

1st Generation (1951 – 1958): Characteristics: Use of Vacuum Tube or Vacuum

Valve, Big in size, Capability to store program and information, Use of Magnetic
Drum, Punch Card and Magnetic tape. Example: ENIAC, MARK, IBM-650.
2nd Generation (1958 – 1965): Characteristics: Use of IC (Integrated Circuit), Use
of transistor instead of Vacuum Tube, Small in size, introduction of ACCII code,
development of high-level language like COBOL, FORTRAN and ALGOL. Example:
IBM-1620, CDC-1604, NCR-300.

3rd Generation (1965 – 1971): Characteristics: Introduction of Mouse as input

device, Small in size, reduction of price, Introduction of VDO unit and Printer as
output device, use of secondary memory, invention of BASIC language, word
processing and other applications. Example: IBM-370, PDP-II.

4th Generation (1971 – to date):

Characteristics: Invention and use of Microprocessor, Semi-Conductor memory,
ROM, RAM, PROM, EPROM, Higher capacity of storing information, Development
of operating systems like DOS, MAC, Windows and Unix, development of various
application software and programming languages, development of Super
Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop and Personal
Computers. Example: PC, Sever and Laptop of various brands such as IBM,
Compaq, HP, Sun, Dell, ACER.

Types of Computer

Based on the nature of jobs, the Computer can be divided into following three
types:
1. Analog Computer
2. Digital Computer
3. Hybrid Computer

Analog Computer is used for special purposes such as measuring pressure and
temperature, supply of petrol in petrol pumps and determining price, and
controlling speed of a vehicle or Airplane.
Digital Computer works in line with the principles of mathematics. It works using
binary systems, i.e., using 1 and 0. The Computers we use at home and office are
all Digital computers.

Hybrid Computer collects data from various systems using analog process, but
processes the data in digital system.
Based

Based on size and capacity, Computers (or Digital Computers) can be divided into
four types as under:

1. Super Computer
2. Mainframe Computer
3. Mini Computer
4. Micro Computer

Super Computer is very powerful. It requires less time to complete mathematical

processes. Super computer is used in scientific research, for processing of large
volume of data, for controlling missile, space research, design of nuclear plant.
CRAY-1, Super SxII, CYBER-205 are the example of Super Computers.

Mainframe Computer is very large in size. Connecting many small computers into
it, many people can work together in a Mainframe Computer. It is used in large
organizations like Banks, Insurance Companies and Universities. IBM4300,
UNIVAC 1100, NCR 8370 are the example of Mainframe Computers.

Mini Computers are smaller and less costly than Mainframe Computers. Many
people can also work in a Mini Computer together using terminals connected to
it. Relatively smaller Banks, Insurance Companies, Industries, Educational
Institutions and Research Organizations use Mini Computers. IBM S/34 and NCR
S/9290 are the example of Mini Computers.
Microcomputers are very small, cheap and widely used computer. As
microprocessor is used in this type of computers, they are termed as
Microcomputer. Only one person can work at a time in a Microcomputer. For this
they are also known as Personal Computer or PC. Microcomputers are used at
home and office for personal and official purposes. They are also used for
entertainment purposes like playing games, viewing video, listening songs, and
browsing internet. IBM PC, Apple PC and Macintosh PC are the example of
Microcomputers.

Computer Hardware and Devices

The devices of a computer may be divided into five parts, like:

 Input devices
 Output devices
 Processing devices
 Memory devices
 Special devices

Input devices

 Keyboard
 Mouse

Output devices

 Monitor
 Printer
 Speaker
 Plotter
Processing Devices

The devices used for processing of supplied information, data and instructions in a
computer are called Processing Devices. CPU or Central Processing Unit is a
processing device used in computer. The speed and capacity of processing of a
computer depends on its CPU.

The functionalities of a CPU are stated below:

1. CPU sends controlling and time determining signals to all parts of the
computer.
2. Send and receive data between memory and input/output devices.
3. Receive data and instructions from memory.
4. Decode the instructions.
5. Perform mathematical and logical activities.
6. Run program from computer memory.
7. Coordinate between input and output devices.

Based on the architecture, a microprocessor can be divided into 2 groups like CISC
processor and RISC processor.

CISC or Complex Instruction Set Computer is a microprocessor which uses

microcode. Microcode consists of some instructions (software program) which
work from inside the chip. As this type of microprocessor run by software, they
are normally slow. Examples of CISC microprocessor are: 8085, 8086, 8088,
80286, 80386SX, 80386DX, 80486SX, 80486DX and Pentium of Intel, 386DX,
486DX of AMD, 6800, 68000, 68040 of Motorola.

RISC or Reduced Instruction Set Computer is a microprocessor in which less

number of instructions sets are used. It is not software based, rather hardware
based and as such faster than the CISC processor. Banks normally uses RISC
processor-based computers as its main database server in the data center. Unix is
normally used as operating system of such RISC servers. For example, AIX is used
as operating system for IBM RISC servers, Sun Solaris for SUN RISC servers and HP-
UX for HP RISC servers.

Memory Device

Memory devices are the devices where the computer temporarily or permanently
stores the data before, during and after processing. The memory devices can be
categorized into 3 groups: Primary or Main memory, Cache memory and
Secondary or Auxiliary memory.

Primary or Main memory

The memory directly connected to the CPU is called Primary or Main Memory. It is
used to store program, data, instructions and result during execution. RAM and
ROM are the example of such memory.

RAM: RAM stands for Random Access Memory. Computer read all the relevant
data, program and instructions from the input devices or permanent storage and
writes into the RAM for processing. RAM has the following characteristics:

1. RAM is volatile in nature

2. It is a read-write memory
3. During processing the information stay in RAM
4. If power fails, all the information removes from the RAM.

ROM: ROM stands for Read Only Memory. ROM stores a program called BIOS
(Basic Input Output System). List, position and specification of all the devices of a
computer are recorded into the BIOS. Computer at the time of startup recognizes
all the devices with the help of BIOS. The characteristics of a ROM are as under:

1. ROM is a permanent main memory.

2. The information in the ROM can only be read, can’t be modified.
3. The programs required to startup a computer are stored permanently in the
ROM
4. If power fails, the information at ROM does not vanish.

Secondary or Auxiliary memory

The memory which is used to store the user program and information
permanently is called Secondary or Auxiliary memory. Examples are: Floppy Disk,
Hard Disk, Compact Disk, Magnetic Tape, Pen Drive etc.

Floppy Disk: A light and small disk which is produced by putting a magnetic layer
on a thin plastic sheet is called Floppy Disk. The information and program are
stored in Floppy Disk. Normally floppy disk is used to transfer information from
one computer to another. Floppy disks are of two sizes – 3.5” and 5.25”. The
device used to read and write information from/to floppy disk is called Floppy
Drive. Floppy Drives are also available in two sizes – 3.5” and 5.25”.

The capacity of the 3.5” floppy disk is 1.44 MB and that of 5.25” floppy drive is
360 KB. Due to invention of Pen Drive, the use of Floppy Drive has become
unpopular.

Hard Disk: A hard disk is connected inside the computer box using screw and data
& power cables, and has much higher capacity and speed than the floppy disk.
The data and programs are normally kept stored into the hard disk.

Compact Disk: Compact Disk is called CD in short. CD is used for recording or

storing data, program, song, game, video etc. and also for transferring data from
one computer to another.

Magnetic Tape: Magnetic Tape is a plastic reel covered with iron oxide and
wrapped in a cassette. Magnetic Tape is used for backing up useful data from
hard disk to the tape. This ensures that the data will be available in case of
damage of the hard disk.
Pen Drive: A Pen Drive is a data storage device which is physically much smaller
than a floppy disk but can store mush higher capacity of data like 2GB, 4GB, 8GB
and up to 256 GB. A Pen Drive is also called as USB flash drive.

Cache memory

A special memory placed with the CPU or main memory to increase speed of
processing is called Cache Memory. Cache Memory can be classified into two
types – Internal Cache and External Cache. Internal Cache is placed inside the
microprocessor whereas the external cache is placed on the mother board as IC
(Integrated Circuit).

Special Devices

Special devices are devices used to interconnect input, output and memory
devices. System Box, Mother Board, Power Supply Unit, UPS, Stabilizer are the
example of special devices.

System Box: A box where the mother board, hard disk, floppy disk, CD drive and
power supply unit are connected using screw and cable, is called System Box.
Many people wrongly call the system box as CPU.

Mother Board: A device which is connected to the system box using screw and
which has various slots over which the CPU (processor), ROM and RAM are
connected directly, is called Mother Board.

Power Supply Unit: A Power Supply Unit is the component that supplies power to
the other components in a computer.

UPS: UPS stands for Uninterrupted Power Supply. UPS is an electrical apparatus
that provides emergency power to a computer when the input power source fails,
thus protect Computer from sudden shutdown. The UPS can be of two types –
Online UPS and Offline UPS. Online UPS has zero transfer time and used with
servers, while the offline UPS has a transfer time of 5-10 ms.

Voltage Stabilizer: A Voltage Stabilizer is an electric regulator designed to

automatically maintain an output of constant voltage level irrespective of
variation in input voltage. The Voltage Stabilizers are used with Computer System
to protect the computer from sudden fluctuation of voltage.

Computer Software:

Computer is a machine which can’t work itself. To start and make the computer
operative, a computer program is required. After the computer is made operative,
another set of specific programs are required to perform a specific task. Such
programs are collectively known as computer software. Computer software can
be divided into two types – System Software and Application Software.

System Software

The Software used to start the computer and make the computer operational is
called System Software. The Operating Systems are popular System Software. The
functionalities of an Operating System are as mentioned below:

 To make the computer active and usable

 To communicate between hardware and application software
 To accept and execute the instruction of a user
 To fetch a program into the main memory and process it
 To control the activities like writing, storing and reading data to/from Disk.

Application Software

A program used to perform a specific job using a computer is called Application

Software. For example, Word Star, Word Perfect and MS Word are used for typing
or word processing; Lotus 1-2-3, Quattro Pro, MS Excel are used for calculation or
spread sheet analysis; Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and
Firefox are used for web browsing; Out Look, Messenger and Eudora are used for
e-mail checking, Power Point is used for presentation; Auto CAD is used for
Engineering drawing; SPSS is used for statistical analysis; Access, SQL Server and
Oracle are used for data manipulation and storage.

Programming Language

The program which is used for writing a General Purpose Program or an

Application Specific Program is called Programming Language.

 C / C++
 Java
 Assembly language
 COBOL
 FORTRAN
 BASIC / BASICA / Q-Basic / Quick Basic
 Visual Basic
 .Net
 HTML
 FoxPro / FoxBase / dBase

The programming languages can be divided into three types:

 Low-Level Languages
 High-Level Languages
 Object Oriented Languages
Low-Level Language

Low-Level languages are languages where the computer programs are written
using machine code (binary or hexadecimal codes) or mnemonic code. Low-level
language consists of two computer languages – Machine Language and Assembly
Language.

Machine Language: During the initial stage of development of Computers,

programmers had used machine code, i.e. binary and hexadecimal codes for
writing computer program. These computer programs which use machine code
from writing a specific user programs are called Machine Language.

Assembly Language: In Assembly Language, instead of machine code such as

binary and hexadecimal codes, mnemonic codes are used. For example, assembly
language programs use SUB to perform a subtraction operation.

High Level Language

A high-level language (developed using assembly language) is very user friendly.

It’s syntaxes are very similar to English language. A high-level language is used by
computer programmers to develop an application specific computer program.
The following are the example of high=level languages:

 COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language)

 BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)
 FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator)
 C
 PASCAL
Object Oriented Language

Object Oriented Language is language that supports the idea of bundling

instructions and data into a set of programming code - called an object. The
object can be used repeatedly throughout the program. The technique of writing
a computer program using an object oriented language is called Object Oriented
Programming or OOP. An OOP has the following three characteristics:

a. Polymorphism

Polymorphism means different objects respond distinctively to the same

message. For example, when we send the same message – “Speak” to a cat
object, a dog object, and a cow object, each of one respond appropriately. The cat
purrs, the dog barks, and the cow moos.

b. Inheritance

Inheritance means that the language gives us the ability to extend or enhance
existing objects. The child object created from the parent object will get all the
properties of the parent object and also it can have its own properties.

c. Encapsulation

Encapsulation means that the data and instructions for variables are wrapped up
together and treated as a unit. The blueprints for these variables are called
classes and the units are called objects.

The example of object oriented language is C++ and Java.

Database Management System

A database is a computer program used to store and manipulate data. In a

database, the data is kept at row and column as under:
 Column 1 (Account No ) 2 (Name of 3 (Account Balance )
Row Customer)

1 S101 Ornab Alinur 5000.00

2 S102 Abrar Rahman 3010.00
3 C101 Aminul Islam 2505.00
4 C102 Raiyan Islam 4017.00

Database Management System (DBMS) is a system which not only stores data,
but also provides Data Description Language (DDL) and Data Manipulation
Language (DML) for the users to create facilities for storing data and manipulation
of the stored data.

According to Graham Taylor, the DBMS is a general set of programs designed to

link with the application programs of the various users and departments, and the
database itself. It controls access (who can use it) and includes facilities for data
independences, integrity and security.

DBMS is very useful for a bank. The balance and transactions are recorded into
the DBMS. Oracle, DB2 and SQL server are three widely used DBMS in banks.

The officer who is engaged for planning, organizing and controlling a DBMS is
called Database Administrator (DBA). A DBA is responsible for security and
availability of data in the DBMS.

Internet and related terminologies:

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the
standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is
a network of networks.
WWW

The World Wide Web, abbreviated as WWW and commonly known as the Web, is
a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. With a
web browser, one can view web pages that may contain text, images, videos, and
other multimedia and navigate between them by using hyperlinks.

Hypertext

Hypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with

references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access,
usually by a mouse click or keypress sequence.

Hyperlinks

Hyperlink is a reference to a document that the reader can directly follow, or that
is followed automatically.

Web browser

A web browser or Internet browser is a software application for retrieving,

presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web.

Web Page

A web page or webpage is a document or resource of information that is suitable

for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and
displayed on a monitor or mobile device.

Difference between Internet & WWW

the Internet and the World Wide Web are not one and the same. The Internet is a
global data communications system. It is a hardware and software infrastructure
that provides connectivity between computers. In contrast, the Web is one of the
services communicated via the Internet.

URL

Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that

specifies where an identified resource is available and the mechanism for
retrieving it. The best-known example of a URL is the "address" of a web page on
the World Wide Web, e.g. http://www.google.com

E-mail

Electronic mail, commonly called email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging

digital messages across the Internet or other computer networks. Originally, email
was transmitted directly from one user to another computer. This required both
computers to be online at the same time. Today's email systems are based on a
store-and-forward model. An email message consists of two components, the
message header, and the message body, which is the email's content.
 Questions

1. What is the difference between the terms “Information Technology” and

“Information and Communication Technology”?

2. Define Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

3. Banking service is now available anytime. How ICT contributed to this?

4. Banking service is now available anywhere. How this become possible after
implementation of ICT in Banking?

5. Narrate importance of use of ICT in Banking.

6. Name five electronic banking systems and define them.

7. What are the differences among ATM, CDM and CRM?

8. Name some components of an ATM and mention their functions.

9. How ATMs brings freedom to the customers?

10. Mention five functions of an ATM.

11. What is an ATM booth?

12. What kind of dispute may arise of a CDM? How banks mitigate this?

13. Describe steps of withdrawing money from ATM.

14. Describe various components of a POS terminal.

15. How GPRS POS terminal is different from a dial-up POS terminal?

16. How a bank earns from a POS terminal installed at a merchant?

17. Describe how payment is made using a POS terminal.

18. How Internet Banking works?

19. What banking activities a customer can perform using Internet Banking?

20. Can a customer receive cash from Internet Banking? Why?

21. Mention a few differences between sms and Alert Banking.

22. Mention two syntaxes for any two functions of sms banking.

23. Describe some advantages and disadvantages of Electronic Banking.

24. What is online banking or Any Branch banking? Mention advantages and
disadvantages of online banking.

25. What is a MFS? Name a few remarkable MFS in Bangladesh.

26. When MFS started its journey in Bangladesh and which bank stated it?

27. What are the services a MFS operator provides in Bangladesh? Name 5
most used services which approximate amount of transactions through each of
the services held in Feb, 2022.

28. As per the MFS policy, how much share a bank shall hold in the MFS?

29. In relation to e-commerce, define the following: Cart, Payment gateway,

Acquiring and Issuing Bank, PIN, CVV, CVC, Payment Association, Authorization,
Settlement, Nostro account, NPSB.
30. Describe process flow of payment in ecommerce.

31. Describe settlement process for ecommerce trasactions.

32. What is a computer? Who is the father of computer?

33. Describe different generation of computers.

34. Different types of computer are Analog, Digital and Hybrid. Describe each
of them.

35. Based on size & capacity, computer can be divided into Super, Mainframe,
Mini and Micro computers. What are the differences among them?

36. Why micro computers are also called as PC?

37. Name five input devices and 3 output devices. Describe printer, keyboard
and mouse.

38. Differentiate between a dot matrix and a laser printer.

39. What stand for CPU? What is its use in computer?

40. What are CISC and RISC processor? Which processor is used in a high-end
IBM server?

41. Narrate characteristics of each of the Main, Cache and Secondary memory.

42. What are differences among Floppy disk, Hard disk, CD and Pen drive?

43. What is a mother board?

44. Why an UPS is used with a computer?

45. What are the differences between a system software and application
software?

46. What are the functionalities of an operating system?

47. Why a database is used along with a program?

48. Describe the following: a) DBA, b) Backup c) Database Management

System

49. Define the followings: a) Internet, b) IP, c) DNS, d) Hyperlink, e) URL, f)

email

50. Identify differences between IPv4 and IPv6?

51. What is World Wide Web? What is the basic difference between www and
Internet?