8. Methods of improving timeliness

The previous examples show that the time at which information is received is often as critical as its accuracy.

There are technical and non-technical ways of improving information timeliness.

Improve physical channel

The automated share dealing example earlier, shows that the physical method of exchanging messages can be improved in terms of timeliness. In this instance it was improving the transatlantic cable performance.

In a way this technical improvement is the story of communication - we started in ancient times with messengers running from one point to another. Then post came along, then telegraph, radio, telephone and finally computer networking. Now messages can travel around the world in far less than a second.

Improve company procedures

You may have a splendid internal email system to exchange information between departments. But if there is no one at the other end to handle the information then it comes to nothing.

Company procedures are put in place so that the information flows smoothly through the company.

Real time updates

The Air Traffic Control example illustrates that some information needs to be updated as it happens i.e. in real time. With this in mind, technical systems are put in place to support this requirement.