Pros and Cons of Introduction of Information Technology - Essay Example

Pros and Cons of Introduction of Information Technology Introduction: Information technology covers the entire spectrum of information and communication technology and services, however most of the users might not be interested in the information technology as such but the benefits and services it can offer. In a broad definition the information technology covers the full range of production, distribution and consumption of informatics across all the media. The present day information technology is not only limited to the above functions but it is also interesting to know that the computer technology has already been introduced into various sectors and activities (Wilson, 1998) Lombardo (1997) suggest that the society although is transforming in a fundamental way, information revolution is part of the general phenomenon involving multiple and interdependent causes such as human values, culture, ways of life, science and economy and therefore accelerating changes in the entire fabric of human existence. Since economy, education, society, psychology, religion, education and science and technology are reciprocally interconnected, the change in one directly influence the change in other. In the current paper, the evolution of information technology and the affect of introduction of Information technology on various spheres of human life have been studied. The impact of information technology on some of the common features such as productivity, health and democracy has been studied. The advantages and disadvantages of introduction of information technology in these areas have also been discussed. Evolution of Information Technology: The invention of mechanical computer by Charles Babbage, an English mathematician in 1822 opened the door for modern computing. During 1840’s the electrochemical age made a steep progress and thus the conversion of information to electric impulse harnessed the computing and later Herman Hollerith made an electromechanical computer in the year 1880. Howard Aiken, a research scholar at Harvard University made first modern computer in 1942 that was 8 feet tall and 51 feet long and it is known as first generation computer (Kumar, 2003). In the year 1948, first high speed general computer called as ENIAC (Numerical integrator and computer) was developed by the researchers at United States. It was having many vacuum tubes and it was having large size. Transistors were developed in the year 1943 and these were later introduced in the computers during 1960s. These transistors were having many advantages over the traditional vacuum tubes such as less power consumption, more accurate and 100 or 1000s transistors could be accommodated in computers (Dhamma, nd). Since the last 35 years transistors in modern computers have been replaced by ICs and due to small size of ICs, now compact systems are available. These computers now have multitasking, algorithm based chips. Computers of human type are being replaced by neuron type chips or these are also known as neural networks (Dhamma, nd). The information technology have been used in many spheres during the last 35 years after discovery of ICs and some of these include education and training system, industrial sectors, e-governance, employment and improvement in social sector (Dhamma, nd) Introduction and Pros and Cons of Information Technology in productivity: Rise or increase in productivity is necessary to increase the living standard of every household or business and all the countries therefore are much concerned about it. Information technology has become an integral part of our living and almost all the people take it granted that computers or information technology can raise our standard of living and productivity in our workplace, however the huge investment put in information technology should also be considered while talking about productivity (Lee and Wei, 1998). Actually in the past few decades we have seen an enormous rise in investment in information technology sector as every government, intellectuals and people around the world believed that computer information technology is the key to the future. Although specialists of information technology believes in Moore’s theory that the operational ability of investment spent on computers can be doubled in eighteen month, however at the same now more and more people are becoming skeptical about the actual benefits of the increasing investment and (Lee and Wei, 1998). The objective of investment in information technology are aimed at reducing manpower and increasing productivity, however the automation so far has been carried out only on low value added processes and significantly there is no saving in manpower instead more IT professionals are hired. The automation are either not carried out or are unsuccessful in main economic activities such as marketing or sales. The other big factor in the way of increasing the productivity is the time spend by the employees on learning the software, solving the computer problems and preparing a fancy report or document (Lee and Wei, 1998). Lee and Wei (1998) have tried to elaborate the relationship between the information technology and productivity. According to the statistics, the enterprises in US alone has spent a total of 21.3 hundred billion dollars and a total of more than $50 billion US dollars have been spent on all hardware, software, internet and other support in US in 1996, the corresponding productivity rise is minimal and un-proportionate. With the introduction and huge investment in the information technology, the corresponding output or benefits are not as expected and there are various reasons for the low output or productivity. We need to look after all the prevailing situations and specific area where we need to improve productivity. We will also have to find out that the investment required for upgrading our systems every year is necessary and beneficial for us as well as we will have to open the new and challenging areas such as sales or marketing so that the information technology is beneficial for increasing productivity of entire country. Introduction and Pros and Cons of Information Technology in Health: The use of computer or information technology in health care system is continuously growing. It has already been well established and understood that the information technology has a potential to improve the quality of health care but at the same time it also raises ethical and social issues (Marckmann and Godman, 2006). It is therefore necessary to understand all such social and ethical issues that are associated with the information technology. The information technology has given lots of new diagnostic tools to the health care industries such as ultrasound, computer topography and digital X-ray. The easier and faster reliability of these diagnostic tools has made the diagnostics quite simple and the dedicated tools can now deliver the required report digitally quite fast and therefore the diagnostic as well as treatment of patient has been accelerated. Some of the other positive benefits of information technology include the telemedicine where an expert recommends medicine on the basis of digital information received (Hagemeister, 2006). However the negative aspects include the quest of money by any physician and thus in an electronic billing system the upgrade or downgrade the diagnostic code might lead to higher personal income to a physician (Markmann and Godman, 2006). The diagnosis is converted into a computer code that necessary requires some skills and in some cases some essential contents are restricted so the impression in the mind of physician is altered and that could lead to a misinterpretation of the computer code and that could influence the initial diagnosis. For some of the diagnosis the health insurance companies pay a good remuneration and therefore sometimes keeping the interest for financial benefit the diagnosis are also altered (Hagemeister, 2006). Although there are lots of benefits and advantages of information technology in health care industries but at the same time it has some negative affects on health care industries also and these includes the misinterpretation of digital codes by the physician, over billing patients through electronic billing systems by physician for their own financial benefits and other social and ethical issues. The advantages and disadvantages of information technology for healthcare industry therefore should be assessed keeping in mind all the above mentioned facts. Introduction and Pros and Cons of Information Technology in Democracy: According to CIPE (1998) the Internet has become a source to influence local and national politics and through the service provided by local websites, citizens in most of the developed countries have access to the bill summaries, floor activities or their current status. More and more government departments and senators and other representatives are promoting citizen participation by integration of their governing process. CIPE (1998) has further analyzed that in some of the poor countries or developing countries due to poor infrastructure facilities people are either not able to access the government functioning and other relevant material through Internet and therefore information technology has no significance for them. It is further elaborated that most of the countries are trying to build strong information technology infrastructure and in the coming years more and more information can democratically be shared among people. Conclusion: Although we have seen that there are enormous benefits of information technology in all spheres of life whether it is democracy, health care or productivity, however we should realize that there are some disadvantages with the system also. The pros and cons of information technology as mentioned earlier should be weighed correctly. References: Dhamma (n.d.). Evolution of Information Technology [online]. US : Opendb.net available from [Assessed 20 April 2007] Hagemeister, Dirk Thomas (2006) “Software must not manipulate the physicians:” The IT challenges to Patient Care. International Review of International Ethics, 5(9), p. 6-12. Kumar, Vipan (2003) Evolution of Information Technology and its Emergence in India. Nistads News, 5(2), p.14-17. Lee, Amy H.I. and Wei, Chiu-Chi (1998). Computer and Productivity [online]. Australia: IJCIM. Available from [Assessed 20 April 2007] Lombardo, Tomas (1997). The Impact of Information Technology: Learning, Living and Loving in the Future [online]. US: the Labyrinth available from [Assessed 20 April 2007] Marckmann, George and Goodman, Kenneth W. (2006). Introduction: Ethics of Information Technology in Health Care. International Review of International Ethics, 5(9), p. 2-5. Wilson, Ernet J. (1998). Globalization, Information Technology and conflict in the second and third worlds-“A critical review of the Literature” [online]. New York: Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Available from [Assessed 20 April 2007] Read More