One booking, five worlds
You book a dentist, a hotel room, a school trip, a theatre seat and a train. Each one is a booking system.
Every sector keeps data about people, things and time. The systems look different, but the same few ideas repeat. Spot them and you can read any sector.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | A group of organisations that do a similar kind of work. | Education or retail |
| Information system | A system of people, software and data that stores and uses information. | A booking system |
| Booking system | A system that gives out time slots or places. | A GP appointment |
| Inventory | The list of items an organisation holds, and how many. | Boxes of gloves |
| EHR | An electronic health record: one patient's health history, kept on a computer. | A patient file |
| CRM | A customer relationship management system: it keeps customer details and past contact. | A loyalty scheme |
| SaaS | Software as a service: you use software on the internet and pay by subscription. | Online email |
| Digital transformation | Changing how an organisation works by using digital tools. | Moving paper forms online |
| UX/UI | User experience and user interface: how a product feels to use and what the screen looks like. | Clear buttons |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can name the main systems each sector uses and what data each one holds.
Starter: spot the system
Have a go
Starter: spot the system
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Education and health
| Sector | Place | System | Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education | School | Booking | Courses, timetables |
| Education | College | Booking | Rooms, staff |
| Education | University | Inventory | Lab stock |
| Education | School | Reporting | Attendance, results |
| Health | GP surgery | Booking | Appointments |
| Health | Hospital | EHR | Patient history |
| Health | Dentist | Inventory | Medical supplies |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Hospitality, retail and technology
| Sector | Place | System | Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitality | Hotel | Booking | Reservations |
| Hospitality | Restaurant | CRM | Loyalty cards |
| Hospitality | Theatre | Social media | Feedback |
| Retail | High street shop | Inventory | Stock to refill |
| Retail | Online shop | Online retail | Orders, suggestions |
| Technology | Software firm | SaaS | Subscriptions |
| Technology | Digital support | UX/UI | User feedback |
| Technology | Infrastructure firm | Digital transformation | Upgrade plans |
| Technology | Cyber security firm | SaaS | Alert logs |
| Retail | High street shop | Social media | Promotions |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Why health data has standards
A patient may see a GP, then a hospital, then a dentist. Every system must understand their record.
So health uses standards: agreed ways to name and format data. Without a standard, one system might put the day first and another the month first. Then a date is confusing or wrong.
Try it: count systems by sector
select sector, count(*) as systems
from uses
group by sector
order by sector;
-- Try it: change count(*) to count(distinct system).