ICT and society

Introduction

ICT is constantly changing and advancing as scientists and engineers create new technologies for us to use and enjoy.
For example in the last 50 years these technologies have become commonplace
Personal Computers
Mobile Phones
The Internet
Medical scanners
Satellites
Lasers
CD and DVD
Television
Car electronics
Credit cards
And so on. Imagine what our society was like back in the 1950's compared to today.

Entertainment

ICT is everywhere in the modern UK home. It has affected the way we go about our daily lives.
For example, entertainment. ICT has provided many ways of whiling away an hour or two
Multi-channel digital television

There are now many digital channels to choose from - you can either use the Freeview service or choose to subscribe to a satellite service. These services also include dozens of 'radio' channels such as Radio 1,2,3 and 4.
Good points: Choice - There are so many transmission channels now available, that broadcasters create special interest channels to attract an audience e.g. Sports, Science, Cooking, Travel and so on
Bad points: Quality - With so much 'air time' to fill, it is hard for broadcasters to find good quality material to fill all those hours of viewing.
Stories:
TVs and PCs 'take over US homes
Computer games
In recent times, computers have become so powerful and low cost that many of us play computer games for entertainment. You can buy specialised games machines that hook up to a television.

or you can use the Internet to play online games with thousands of other people who are also online with you.

Good points: Very involving and good fun to play with your friends
Bad points: Can be so distracting that 'real life' relationships and demands on your time can suffer. Addictive - there have been news stories reporting that gaming can be a very serious problem for some people who are not able to balance this form of gaming with 'real life'.
Stories:
Online worlds draw gamers closer
Malaysia gamers face night curfew
'My life as an online gamer'
Music.
Back in the 50's there were vinyl records and the radio. There were no affordable recording methods. Today we listen and gather our music in a number of new ways.
The invention of the Compact Disc made a huge leap in sound quality - no more hiss crackle and pops that the old vinyl records suffered from. We are able to record our music straight on to a computer. We can pay for a music track in an online music store and download it to our personal MP3 player.
Good points: Many ways of listening to our music - on the move or through our living room Hi-Fi.
Bad points: The music industry is so concerned about illegal copying that Digtial Rights Management (DRM) methods have become common. These sometimes cause a problem when trying to listen to perfectly legal music.

Family life

Generation gap
ICT technology moves at such a pace that older generations may be 'left behind'.
Today, ICT is taught as a core subject in schools, so the technology is very familiar to schoolchildren. Not so for older people, who have less opportunity to use the technology available.
Research shows that nearly a third of parents and grandparents had been encouraged to surf the net by a child aged between 13 and 16.
'Silver surfers'
Those older people who have embraced the internet and made it part of their life are called 'silver surfers' by the media.
For example, some people have a serious illness to cope with, such as cancer. And they have turned to online diaries called 'weblogs' to share their experience with others.
Silver surfers, as a group, have a lot of money to spend and so advertisers are making great efforts to attract them to their products.

Stories:
Surfing the long wave

Managing family life
Here is a quote from a news article on how the internet is changing the way we manage family life
Women in Scotland are increasingly using the internet to help them manage their lives, researchers have found.
Online shopping was said to be one of the most popular uses, with 40% of women questioned admitting to feeling more independent by using the internet.
We can now do many chores online if we wish. For example food shopping is simple with most of the big supermarkets having an online store. Once an order is placed, it will be delivered by van within an agreed time slot.. Other specialist shops can supply organic food and direct-from-farm produce.
Stories
Kids to teach elderly net skills Busy women turn to the internet

digital divide

The Digital Divide
This term is used to describe the fact that not everyone in Society is able to take advantage of new technologies such as the Internet or mobile phone technology.
Another term used to describe the Digital Divide is "Social Exclusion"
Poverty
It costs money to buy a computer, then it costs more to subscribe to an Internet Service Provider. If you are poor , it becomes a luxury you cannot afford.
Efforts are being made to provide homeless people with Internet and Mobile phone access.
Homeless people who want to apply for jobs can use a mobile phone number as a contact point.
An e-mail address could be the first step to finding a permanent place to live, by enabling people to receive information about long-term living places while moving between hostels.
The government has invested heavily in providing public access computers in our libraries, so allowing any citizen to make use of the internet.
Stories
Call to give Homeless Broadband

computer literacy

Being able to type and use a computer is fast becoming as basic a skill as reading or writing. This is called 'computer literacy'. Many of the benefits of ICT derive from being able to use a computer and so those who can't are at a disadvantage. Some of the reasons for not being able to make use of a computer and the Internet are:
• the need for being able to read and write • language issues;
People who speak languages other than the main European and Asian languages may also be left behind because most of the Internet makes use of just a small number of languages.In India, efforts have been made to help illiterate citizens with this problem by developing the 'Simputer'
http://www.simputer.org/
Quote from the web site above: The Simputer is a low cost portable alternative to PCs It has a special role in the third world because it ensures that illiteracy is no longer a barrier to handling a computer.
Many Community projects are underway to help people become computer literate.
Another project supported by the United Nations is the 100 dollar computer. Nicknamed the green machine, it can be used as a conventional computer, or an electronic book. A child can control it using a cursor at the back of the machine or a touchpad on the front.
It is powered by a wind-up crank so it can be used even where there is no electricity.
Stories
UN debut for $100 laptop for poor
Simputer for poor goes on sale

Computer Literacy and Work.
Many types of jobs now expect you to have some level of computer skills. For example
being able to type - if only with two fingers!
being able to use basic Office applications,
being able to use email.
Those people who cannot do these things are immediately at a disadvantage

counrtry

A quote from a recent news article in 2006:
"According to a report carried out by the Welsh Consumer Council in 2005, 56% of the Welsh population has no access to the internet at home or at work."
And it is predicted that 90% of all new jobs require some knowledge of technology.
Most cities are well served with excellent communication and computer networks, this is because there are plenty of customers living close together to pay for services.
But in the countryside there are fewer people and they live in widely scattered communities.
This makes it difficult for companies to make any profit, as there are relatively few people to cover the cost of setting up networks.

But in the UK, great efforts have been made to enable broadband access to even the most remote village.

Stories
Half of Wales 'has no web access'
Communities get broadband access

Developing

Developing countries
There is a 'Digital divide' between rich and poor countries. In the UK it is taken for granted that the electricty supply works, that a telephone system is in place. But there are many poorer nations that do not have these things to any extent..
ICT can be very useful in developing countries. For example, farmers are able to check the prices they may get for their harvest before setting out to market.
Health messages can be sent by text if a mobile phone system is in place.
Many organisations are setting out to help break down the digital divide between nations.
This lady in Bangladesh was able to purchase a single mobile phone by borrowing from a bank.
She was then able to sell phone calls to the rest of the village, who were able to contact family and friends from afar.
She is called the 'telephone lady' by the villagers and one of the first things she bought with her new income was a bicycle for her son so he could get to school.

Stories
The article below has personal views on the Digital divide from people around the world.
Is technology leaving you behind?

communication

Communication technology has advanced at an incredible rate over the last 40 years. For example these have become commonplace.
Mobile phones
Satellite and Undersea cables.
Internet
Email
Instant Messaging
Texting
Video Conference
24 hours rolling news.
This has changed the way people in our Society talk or communicate with one another. Sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. The next two pages describes each these.

benefits

Friends and family , no matter where they are on the planet, people can talk to one another if they have access to the right technology. For example there is a very busy Internet cafe set up at the base camp of Mount Everest!
Story:
High Hopes for Everest Internet Cafe

Travel and the Environment: Video conferencing and email have reduced the need for business travel, this has allowed people to have more time at home with their families rather than being stuck in an airport somewhere. Less travel also means less pollution, as fewer cars and aircraft need to be used.
Story:
Airlines sport their green colours

Education and Training: Video conferencing and remote control of another computer has allowed teachers and trainers to run lessons from far away. For example, an International corporation located in the UK may want to train their staff located in Thailand on a new computer application. Normally, the Thai staff would have to come to the UK for training. But now, the UK office sets up a video link with the Thailand office, they also set up remote control of the PCs in Thailand and they run the training course directly from the UK. Everybody wins.

Working anywhere: Being able to access the company network from anywhere means that people are no longer tied to the office, they could just as easily work from home. Because of this, home working ('Teleworking') is becoming more common.
Also, people working for international corporations can travel from country to country on business and yet settle down to a fully networked local office desk and work as it they are in their home office.
Story: Working from home trend gathers pace
World Awareness: The 24 hour news networks brings us events from around the world as they happen. This means that as a Society we can react almost immediately. In natural disaters such as the Boxing day Tsunami, massive aid from nations from around the world was brought to bear within hours. Wars, crimes, tragedies, celebrations are much closer to us than they were 50 years ago.
Quote from the story below: "There was such a huge impact immediately [that] people acted immediately," said Helen daSilva, a spokeswoman for Oxfam America. "The numbers have been incredible."
Story:
Internet aids Tsunami recovery

Social connections:
From the story quoted below:- Research has shown that over 60 million American citizens turn to the Internet when they need career advice, helping people through an illness or finding a new house.
It shows that the Internet has become a cornerstone when searching for vital information. The thing to be really careful of though, especially on health matters, is how accurate is the information? Just because a 'fact' appears on a web page somewhere, does not mean that it is true. Good judgement is even more vital as you try and sort out the dross from the good information.
Story: Internet serves as 'social glue'

issues

Laziness: Having all these methods of communicating has a tendency to make people lazy. They may no longer bother to talk face to face, instead they send an email to a work colleague only a few feet away. Some organisations have even introduced 'email free days' to encourage people to actually talk to one another!
Family members, each playing or working on their own computers may actually send Instant Messages to each other in the same house rather than talk to one another.

Stories:
Email makes people lazy
E-mail ban for council staff

Distraction:
At home: With so much available to entertain us, there is less need to actually sit around the dinner table and talk to one another, so technology can have a negative effect on family relationships.
At school: text messaging during lessons are a distraction and so this has a bad effect on learning.
Stories:
Txt Means Goodbye to Hello

Unfit people: Being able to communicate with colleagues from a desk means that people just don't walk around enough to keep fit. So eventually, having a growing population of unfit people may impact on their health and the National Health Service.

Crime:
Items such as Mobile phones are very expensive items and so they tend to encourage theft and other crimes.
Quote from the story below: "Flashing your mobile phone is just like flashing your wallet. "We are urging youngsters in the Borough to be discreet, particularly when using their phone in public.
Story:
Cards aid mobile phone security

CONCLUSION
As with most technologies, there is always a blend of good and bad effects on society. But for a technology to succeed, it must show an overall benefit for people. It is always a balance.
This web site has tried to show you the advantages and disadvantages that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has brought to society.