Globalization - Video conferencing saves money on
flights and accommodation. ICT has not only brought the countries and people
closer together, but it has allowed the world's economy to become a single
interdependent system. This means that we can not only share information
quickly and efficiently, but we can also bring down barriers of linguistic and
geographic boundaries. The world has developed into a global village due to the
help of information technology, allowing countries like Ireland and China who
are not only separated by distance but also by language to share ideas and
information with each other.
Cost effectiveness - It feels free to send an email
(although it isn’t); it’s without doubt cheaper than phone calls. ICT has also
helped to automate business practises, thus restructuring businesses to make
them exceptionally cost effective. This, in turn, increases productivity making
the business more profitable; that usually means better pay and less strenuous
working conditions.
Greater Availability - ICT has made it possible for
businesses to be automated giving clients access to a website or voicemail 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. This means that a business can be open anytime, anywhere,
giving a customer the capability to make a purchase from different countries
thus making it easier and more convenient. It also means that you can have your
goods delivered right to your doorstep from places that you would never have
had access to before.
Bridging the cultural gap – Greater access to
technology has helped to bridge the cultural gap by helping people from
different cultures to communicate with one another, and allow for the exchange
of views and ideas, thus increasing awareness and reducing prejudice.
Creation of new jobs - Probably, the best advantage of
ICT has been the creation of new and interesting jobs. Computer programmers,
Systems analysts, Hardware and Software developers, and Web designers are just
some of the many new employment opportunities created with the help of ICT.
Education – Computer’s along with their programs and
the Internet have created educational opportunities not available to previous
generations. Information is freely available to any and all with an internet
connection. Unemployment - Replace "advances in
technology" for "increased productivity" and the primary change
from a labour-intensive to a technology-enabled economy can be explained. While
information technology may have streamlined the business process, it has also
created job redundancies, downsizing, and outsourcing. ICT can make someone
more efficient at their job; a company can therefore employ less people to
complete that job. For example: In a factory, skilled technicians and machinists
can be replaced by computer-controlled robots which can work faster, for longer
and more consistently or large companies who used once employed many typists
they can now be replaced by one person using a word processor.
Privacy - Though information technology may have made
communication quicker, easier, and more convenient, it has also brought along
privacy issues. From cell phone signal interceptions to e-mail hacking, people
are now worried about their once private information becoming public knowledge.
An example of this could be the embedding of microchips n virtually everything
you buy, wear, drive and read, allowing retailers and law enforcement to track
consumer items — and, by extension, consumers — wherever they go, from a
distance.
DISADVANTAGES
Lack of job security – Experts in a wide variety of
fields believe that ICT has made job security a big issue, since technology
keeps on changing nearly every day. This means that individuals need to be
constantly studying or at least keeping up with changes in their profession, if
they want to feel secure in their jobs to be secure.
Overriding Cultures - While ICT may have made the
world a global village, it has also contributed to one culture consuming
another weaker one. For example, it is now argued that teenagers in the US
influence how most young teenagers all over the world now act, dress, and
behave. Languages too have become overshadowed, with English becoming the
primary mode of communication for business and everything else.
BY ALPHONCE BHOKE BAPRM 42527
No comments:
Post a Comment