Information and Communications Technology

Information technology has been around for a long, long time. Basically as long as people have been around, information technology has been around because there were always ways of communicating through technology available at that point in time. There are 4 main ages that divide up the history of information technology. Only the latest age (electronic) and some of the electromechanical age really affects us today, but it is important to learn about how we got to the point we are at with technology today (Brady & Elkner, 2011).

The pre-mechanical age is the earliest age of information technology. It can be defined as the time between 3000B.C. and 1450A.D. We are talking about a long time ago. The mechanical age is when we first start to see connections between our current technology and its ancestors. The mechanical age can be defined as the time between 1450 and 1840. A lot of new technologies are developed in this era as there is a large explosion in interest with this area. The electromechanical age can be defined as the time between 1840 and 1940. These are the beginnings of telecommunication. The telegraph was created in the early 1800s. Morse code was created by Samuel Morse in 1835. The telephone (one of the most popular forms of communication ever) was created by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The first radio developed by Guglielmo Marconi in 1894. The electronic age is what we currently live in. It can be defined as the time between 1940 and right now. The ENIAC was the first high-speed, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems. This computer was designed to be used by the U.S. Army for artillery firing tables. This machine was even bigger than the Mark 1 taking up 680 square feet and weighing 30 tons - HUGE. It mainly used vacuum tubes to do its calculations (Brady & Elkner, 2011).

The term "information technology" evolved in the 1970s. Its basic concept can be traced to the World War II alliance of the military and industry in the development of electronics, computers, and information theory. After the 1940s, the military remained the major source of research and development funding for the expansion of automation to replace manpower with machine power (Unknown, 2008).

Now a days, the era of modern technology in the world wherein communication technology is very far behind as compare before especially in the industrialized countries. The advancement of technology is very fast, making the phase of life very fast as well. Through ICT, work of the individuals become easier and faster with less time, effort and minimize cost.

According to the recent research findings, using ICT, education enhanced the quality of in several ways: by increasing learner motivation and engagement by facilitating the acquisition of basic skills, and by enhancing teacher training. It’s also transformational tools which, when used appropriately, can promote the shift to a learner-centered environment (Mohanty, 2011). For online business, there is a huge saving on overheads, no costly warehouse space, rent, and heating or employee facilities. The shop has arrangement for ‘just in time’ delivery from its suppliers and a list of customers name, address, purchases, likes, dislikes and suggestion can be built up at absolutely no cost and used to improve the service provided (Healthcote, 2003).

A good way to think about ICT is to consider all the uses of digital technology that already exist to help individuals, businesses and organizations use information. It covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form and is concerned with these products. Importantly, it is also concerned with the way these different uses can work with each other. (Unknown, 2008).

According to the European Commission, the importance of ICTs lies less in the technology itself than in its ability to create greater access to information and communication in underserved populations. Many countries around the world have established organizations for the promotion of ICTs, because it is feared that unless less technologically advanced areas have a chance to catch up, the increasing technological advances in developed nations will only serve to exacerbate the already-existing economic gap between technological "have" and "have not" areas (Rouse, 2005). However, the increased efficiency and automation brought about by ICT can also cause job losses, especially in manual roles and the manufacturing sector (Walton, 2014).

Bibliography

Brady, W., & Elkner, J. (2011). Introduction to Information and Communication Technology. Retrieved December 4, 2014, from Free Software Foundation, Inc.: http://openbookproject.net/courses/intro2ict/history/history.html

Healthcote, P. (2003). 'A' Level of ICT. Retrieved December 5, 12, from books.google.com.ph: http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=e3F8Sv2yKUcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Mohanty, R. R. (2011, February 19). Introduction to ICT. Retrieved December 15, 2014, from blogspot.com: http://ict-adv-disadv.blogspot.com/

Rouse, M. (2005, September). ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies). Retrieved December 4, 2014, from http://searchcio.techtarget.com/: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/ICT-information-and-communications-technology-or-technologies

Unknown. (2008, November 9). ICT and Singapore's Education System. Retrieved Decemper 4, 2014, from https://wiki.nus.edu.sg: https://wiki.nus.edu.sg/display/cs1105groupreports/History+of+ICT

Walton, A. (2014). Advantages & Disadvantages of Information & Communication Technology. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-information-communication-technology-66948.html