Digital literacyデジタルリテラシー is the ability to understand and make full use of IT tools and data to suit the purpose of work or problem solving.
It is also called information literacy情報リテラシー with almost the same meaning, and it covers not only operating devices but also finding the information you need, judging it, and turning it into results. Even after a system is introduced, it will not be put to good use unless the people using it have this ability, so organizations raise it through training and by providing examples to follow. EUC (end-user computing), in which staff in user departments handle data themselves, is also a way of working built on this ability.
AnalogyA kitchen fully stocked with knives and a stove still produces no meal if nobody can cook. Providing the tools and training people to use them are separate jobs.
How to rememberLiteracy originally means the ability to read and write. Think of it as reading and writing, carried over to digital tools.
Exam points
ExamInformation literacy情報リテラシー is a user-side ability: using IT to gather information and apply it to work or problem solving according to the purpose.
ExamMeasures to raise literacy リテラシー are education and support that help users themselves strengthen their ability to make use of information.
ExamEUC is a way of using information systems in which people in the user departments themselves handle systems and data for their own work.
The digital divideデジタルディバイド is the gap that arises between people who can use IT and people who cannot.
Gaps tend to appear, for example, in areas where devices and network connections are hard to obtain and among generations unused to operating devices. If the gap is left alone, the further government procedures and similar services move online, the worse off those who cannot use them become.
AnalogyJust as a home far from the station makes commuting and shopping harder, people far from a way onto the internet get left behind by convenient services.
How to rememberDivide means to split. Picture society split into those who can use IT and those who cannot.
Exam points
ExamThe digital divideデジタルディバイド is a social phenomenon in which the difference between people who can and cannot use IT shows up as gaps in available information and in opportunities in daily life and work.
Mix-upAccessibilityアクセシビリティ is the degree of design and care that lets anyone use something without difficulty, and it works to narrow the gap by increasing the number of people who can use IT.
Gamificationゲーミフィケーション is a method of bringing game elements such as points and rankings into non-game activities to motivate people.
When progress is visible and achievements earn rewards, people find it easier to keep going. It is used to get employees settled into a new system, to keep customers coming back, and to build habits around health or study.
AnalogyA sticker chart that gives a child a star every morning makes them want to keep showing up. It uses fun to create a reason to continue.
How to rememberThe word is game plus -ification, meaning 'making into'. Reading it literally as 'turning into a game' helps it stick.
Exam points
ExamThe aim of gamificationゲーミフィケーション is to use game mechanics to motivate people and keep them taking action.
Cost-effectiveness analysis費用対効果分析 is an evaluation that compares the costs spent on a system with the benefits it brings in money, to judge whether the investment is worth it.
Item
Example amount
Initial investment
18 million yen
Annual benefit
9 million yen
Annual operation and maintenance costs
3 million yen
Net benefit (9 − 3)
6 million yen/year
Payback period (18 ÷ 6)
3 years
A typical indicator is the payback period回収期間, found by dividing the investment by the net benefit per year. The net benefit is the benefit minus the operation and maintenance costs incurred every year after go-live, and if operating costs fall compared with the old system, the savings also count as benefit.
AnalogyWhen switching to an energy-saving fridge, you work out how many years of lower electricity bills it takes to recover the price difference. It is the same calculation.
How to rememberCost-effectiveness sets cost against effect. Picture the two placed on either pan of a balance.
Exam points
ExamPayback period 回収期間 = investment ÷ annual net benefit. The net benefit is the benefit minus operation and maintenance costs, with operating cost savings and new profits added to the benefit.
ExamWhether an investment pays off 採算 depends on whether the total profit over the whole evaluation period exceeds the acquisition cost plus the maintenance costs for that period.
Maintenance costメンテナンスコスト is the cost that keeps arising every year for maintenance so that a system can stay in use after go-live.
Handling failures, modifications for law revisions or business changes, software updates, and maintenance contract fees all fall under it. The longer a system is used, the larger the cumulative amount grows, so cost-effectiveness is judged with this cost included, not only the initial cost.
AnalogyA car keeps running only if you keep paying for inspections, servicing and new tires after you buy it.
How to rememberMaintenance comes from a word meaning to keep something going.
Exam points
Mix-upMaintenance costメンテナンスコスト recurs after go-live and is counted separately from the initial cost 初期費用 paid once at introduction for development or purchase.
A user satisfaction survey利用者満足度調査 asks the people who actually use a system about their level of satisfaction through questionnaires and similar means, and uses the results for evaluation and improvement.
Scores and comments are collected for items such as ease of use, response speed and screen clarity, then tallied to pinpoint where complaints concentrate. Repeating the survey while the system is in operation also shows whether satisfaction rose after changes were made.
AnalogyIt works like a hotel asking guests to comment on the rooms and service, then using the feedback for the next renovation or staff training.
Exam points
Mix-upCost-effectiveness analysis費用対効果分析 measures in money whether an investment pays off, while a user satisfaction survey利用者満足度調査 measures how users perceive the system.
Cost-effectiveness analysis vs. User satisfaction survey
Aspect
Cost-effectiveness analysis
User satisfaction survey
Key differenceWhat it measures
Whether the investment pays off (money)
How users perceive the system (level of satisfaction)
Main inputs
Figures such as investment, benefit and operating costs
The system lifecycleシステムライフサイクル is the entire flow of a system from planning through development and operation until its disposal.
Planning
Requirements definition
Development
Operation and maintenance
Disposal or renewal
Once its role ends, the system is retired or rebuilt as a new one.
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The stages can be divided, for example, into planning, requirements definition, development, operation and maintenance, and disposal. Operation and maintenance continue long after development ends, so costs and benefits are estimated across the whole life of the system.
AnalogyA house is not finished once it is built: you repair it while living in it, and eventually it is rebuilt or torn down. This idea plans that whole life together.
How to rememberA life cycle originally describes the stages of a living thing. Picture a ring that runs from birth to death.
Exam points
Mix-upThe system lifecycleシステムライフサイクル does not mean only the development period; it also covers operation and maintenance after go-live and the final disposal.
Disposal and renewal of legacy systemsレガシーシステムの廃棄・刷新 means retiring an existing system that has long run on old technology, or rebuilding it as a new one.
A legacy systemレガシーシステム is an existing system whose internals have grown complex through years of modifications, with fewer and fewer people able to handle its old technology, so maintaining it takes much effort and money. The longer it stays in use, the more its maintenance costs pile up and the slower it adapts to new business needs, so disposal or renewal is decided in a planned way.
AnalogyIt resembles deciding whether to keep repairing an old machine whose parts are no longer made or to replace it, by weighing the cost and effort involved.
How to rememberLegacy means inheritance. Think of property handed down to you that becomes a burden if kept as it is.
Exam points
Mix-upRenewal 刷新 differs from maintenance 保守, which fixes defects in an existing system or adds functions to it; renewal replaces the system itself.
Key points
Use of a system is promoted both by educating users and by motivational techniques such as gamification.
The payback period is the investment divided by the annual net benefit (the benefit minus operation and maintenance costs after go-live).
Post-introduction evaluation continues through the operation and maintenance period, and its results inform decisions on improvement or renewal.
An aging legacy system needs more and more money and effort to maintain, so disposal or renewal is decided in a planned way.