Influence of IT on Our Lives - Essay Example

Information Technology The entire 20th century was marked by a continuous alliance between various industries in the development of computers, electronics and information theory. The word 'Information Technology' was first heard in the 1970's and since then it has effectively crept into every nook and corner of our lives. What is Information Technology Information Technology (IT) is the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware. In short, IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit and retrieve information, securely.1 Sheltering information has been at the center of all industries and concerted efforts have been made in order to conserve the critical data that gives an edge in today's globally influenced economies. IT has seriously influenced our lives and its impact is being felt on medicine, business, engineering and now even on the activities of governments. It is being increasingly utilized to ease the way in which work is undertaken and at the same time to simplify the activities of information manipulation and preservation. In this fast paced world demands are increasing with expanding populations and shrinking time frame has placed huge constraints on governments, which finds itself strangled in the dominance of technology. The need of the hour therefore is to expand the role of IT in the public sector and to make use of the precise technologies at the right time. Implementation of Information Technology by the UK Government Debates have been held throughout the past decade to analyze the role of IT implementation in the UK governance. In the meantime continuous research has been conducted by UK administration and a number of developments have been made that marked the expansion of IT in the UK's Public sector. Huge budgets have been streamlined towards this issue and the first step for IT enhancement was the development of an online portal that was aimed at providing information to the UK nationals through other web links. Unfortunately the idea was not successful with the English population but it registered the foundation for public sector IT development in the country and it was followed up by the launch of an entirely functional website in 2004.These websites have aimed at automating tasks such as billing and tax paying, and have helped UK citizens in saving the most valued resource of time. A number of accusations have been made regarding the insufficient utilization of resources and UK government has been charged for blindly depending on the wave of Information Technology instead of focusing on the needs of the people. In a report published by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) UK, the government was advised to ensure that IT innovation was lead by the needs of the public rather than by blind faith in technology. A number of recommendations were also made and the government was primarily asked to concentrate on issues like service quality, user satisfaction and time saving. A Manifesto for a Digital Britain has been adopted that are structured around policies of modernizing, recognizing and delineating in order to modernize Britain's public institutions and economy. Various developments have hence been made that are focused on providing the right things to the public these include the vehicle licensing website, the chip and spin technology and the congestion charge to enable automation of the public sector. Chip and PIN Chip and PIN is the name that has been taken for the new EMV Card Payments System designed to supplement and ultimately substitute magnetic stripe payment cards in Europe. It was designed by Europay, Mastercard and Visa, and the specifications for this new technology are managed by EMVCo, a company specially created for that purpose. Chip and PIN has been regarded as the biggest change that has occurred to the payment methods and it is being claimed to be the simplest ways of payment. Congestion Charge The London congestion charge is a fee for some motorists entering the Central London area. As of 2006 it is the largest city to have adopted a congestion charge model. The model makes use of CCTV cameras to record the exit and entry of vehicles. Moreover it makes use of the infra red technology to identify the number plates on cars, the system on the backend then checks these number plates with the list of the payees and if a vehicle has not paid for it is caught and fined. This has been a great success and has helped in greatly reducing congestion within London at the time when it was being considered as the biggest threat. Central Role of Information Systems in Organizations With the onset of technology, Information Systems have revolutionized the way in which businesses were previously undertaken. Businesses have been broken down into simpler units and each entity is operated by a different kind of system that is aimed at optimizing the tasks at each level. The main challenge faced by the managements have thus been to select the best from a variety of information systems in order accurately meet their objective and effectively automate the ways in which chores are done. Moreover investment in an information system is a sunk cost, which if not efficiently managed may result in the huge disaster for the firm. According to the modern theory, businesses are in operation to satisfy customers in addition to making profits. Information systems supplement organizations in attaining this objective. From the functional perspective information systems automate and effectively control all the business procedures including Sales and Marketing, Manufacturing, Finance and Accounting and Human Resources. In the meantime Information Systems have also helped the businesses in maintaining Supplier Chain and also to Customer Relationship Management to reap the competitive advantage which is very significant in order to exist within the market. "IT organizations must have the confidence to make key decisions on new technology if they are to move from being a business enabler to a business contributor and play a central role in the future of business strategy," said Peter Sondergaard, global head of research at Gartner. This highlights the facts that the role of the information system is to assure the running of the business rather than only serving as the information provider. This has led to the increased use of smarter Information systems at the organizational levels that not only ensure the provision of information but at the same time make necessary recommendations for improvement. In today's high demanding environment an organization whether it is in the private sector or government needs to clarify its objectives in order to fulfill the extensive demands from customers, shareholders and stakeholders. This important aspect is fulfilled by the use of Information System that eases the provision of information unlike the traditional file based system where information retrieval was the most critical part. Information Systems have enabled organizations to make key decisions facing organizations regarding consumer demands, competitors' strategies, how to develop commercial performance, raise business up-time, raise productivity per employee, improve client service and satisfaction, decrease business and security hazards, reduce operational costs, fulfill with multiple regulations, and keep employees happy and encouraged Many analysts believe that despite the expanding role of Information system in business and ongoing developments the key feature of human involvement cannot be replaced by a computer. And the blessing of the human mind would continue to rule the machine in years to come. IT Structures and Emerging Technologies A number of changes in the structure and layout of the Information Systems have occurred with the improvements in Information Technology. These changes have all been aimed at improving operations and to maximize performance. The initial phases of IT were dominated by mainframe computers that had centralized processing abilities while pc's at the client end operated as dumb terminals. This Centralized system enabled information retrieval but any manipulation of data was not allowed and a central authority managed data. Such a structure limited client's power, but with the passage of time processing abilities were distributed even to the client end and the arrangement was made more sophisticated. Improvements were also made to the topology or the layout of the pc's so as to reap maximum advantages, various topologies such the bus, star and ring have evolved and out of these Star is considered as the most effective and user friendly arrangement having the least risk of failure. Technology is in continuous transition and various have emerged that have speeded up the rate at which information is transferred. These technologies include the WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, BioChip and the Infra Red. Such changes have shrunk the global distances and have helped Knowledge users to use the information weapon effectively and to their advantage. Moreover these technologies have also addressed the all important issue of security and the data flowing through these technologies is fast and safe. Internet in the Information Age The early phase of the 20th century had not even conceived of being exposed to a technology that would enable communication to any part of the globe with the least cost possible, equip with the information as soon as it is released and help learn strategies of competitors without having to move out into the market. Internet a blessing of the 20th century is one of the main drivers of globalization. The implication of internet and its impact cannot be limited to any single walk of life as it has crept into the life of each and every person irrespective of age, creed, country, religion and social status. Internet has transformed communication and has eased the process of information transfer. The common uses of internet include email, the World Wide Web, Remote access, collaboration, information sharing, streaming media and Voice Telephony. Internet is often used interchangeably with the IT due to its immense role in promotion and development of the ways in which information was traditionally perceived. From the business point of view internet has opened new gates of opportunities for organizations and the advantages offered by it range from providing mere organizational information to the consumers to doing entire trade online. Separate departments are now being maintained for controlling E-business activities such as buying raw materials and selling of finished products are being increasingly carried out through the organization's websites. Internet enables management to make key decisions by offering an access to the market situation, competitor strategies and global trends. Consumer satisfaction, which is at the core of today's business, is being attended with the help of internet by allowing customers the convenience of shopping from home and avoiding the pain of visiting physical stores. The Internet has subsequently revolutionized shopping-for example; a person can order a CD online and receive it in the mail within a couple of days, or download it directly in some cases. Moreover customers are equipped with the catalogue prices of related products and have the freedom of choosing the product that offers the best terms. Marketing perspective of business has also been efficiently supplemented by the internet. As it has become a large market for companies; some of the biggest companies today have developed by taking advantage of the proficient nature of low-cost advertising and business through the Internet; also known as e-commerce. It is the fastest way to spread information to a vast amount of people simultaneously. The Internet has also greatly equipped personalized marketing which allows a company to market a product to a precise person or a specific group of people more so than any other promotion medium. Examples of personalized marketing include online communities such as MySpace, Friendster, Orkut, Facebook and others which thousands of Internet users join to publicize themselves and make friends online. Many of these users are young teens and adolescents ranging from 13 to 25 years old. In turn, when they advertise themselves they present interests and pastimes, which online marketing firms can use as information as to what those users will purchase online, and advertise their own companies' products to those users. Internet has replaced the door-to-door marketing to a great extent through emails and instead of spending money on hiring professional salesman, a well versed persuasive marketing message is sent to millions and millions of physically dispersed people. This is no way trying to undermine the role of human in marketing as after all the persuasive message is written by a human being but the advantage offered by the internet is that it facilitates business to target customers that would have difficult and extremely expensive to reach through other advertising means. Internet's impact has not been limited to corporate sector only but its benefits have been reaped even by other sectors of the economy including the private and the public sector. Public sector organizations have garnered various efforts to improve their reputation and to increase customer convenience and ultimately satisfaction. The facilities offered via internet include payment of utility and credit card bills, instructions on car driving, submission of identity card application, voting for elections etc. To sum up internet has added zeal to the lives of people and has enabled them to have more time for leisure, at the same time it has aggravated worldwide competition and the battle for global market leadership. Conclusion Information Technology has been continuously influencing our lives and dragged us into the age territorial constraints and physical boundaries have been eliminated. This world we live in has been contracted into the long conceived idea of a global village full of opportunities. The advantages offered by advancing technology cannot be rejected but effective management of resources is extremely significant in order the opportunity costs attached with it. Bibliography 1. Harrison, K. "The Role of Technology in Business." Ebiz Insider guide to business and IT. 05 Nov 2006. Role Modellers Ltd. 11 Jul 2007 http://www.ebizq.net/topics/tech_in_biz/features/6694.html 2. Magnusson, P. "The Internet Revolution History and Significance." SICS 1997. 11th Jul 2007 http://www.sics.se/psm/ar97/ 3. IPPR, "UK Government Needs to Refocus on Public." eGovernment News Policy and Strategy 18th July 2005. eGovernment news. 11th Jul 2007 http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/chapter/351 4. Grieves, C. "Business Assurance and the changing role of IT." Ebiz Insider guide to business and IT. 02 May 2006. Touch Paper 11th Jul 2007 http://www.ebizq.net/topics/tech_in_biz/features/6860.html 5. Liebow, M. "The New secret of success in Bridging Business and IT" Ebiz Insider guide to business and IT. 21st Aug 2005. Global Services Division. 11th Jul 2007. http://www.ebizq.net/topics/tech_in_biz/features/6208.html 6. Sohn, E. "Internet generation. Science News for Kids" 2006. 11th Jul 2007 http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20061025/Feature1.asp Read More