Chapter 1

Information and communication

technologies:

evolution and revolution

SESSION OBJECTIVES

●Introduce technological concepts

●Establish a level of understanding of ICTs

●Appreciate the key elements of the technological revolution

●Increase awareness of technological developments and some

major trends

●Establish a level of understanding of terminology and critical

issues

●Demonstrate that ICT developments have a profound impact on

organisations

●Explore the relationship between the Internet, Extranets and

Intranets

●Discuss the growth of the online population and the issues

related

to it

●Identify the need for integrated managerial solutions within the

business strategy context

INTRODUCTION

●ICTs enhance the ability of organisations to: Manage their resources

Increase their productivity

Communicate their policies and market their offerings

Develop partnerships with all their stakeholders

(consumers, suppliers, public sector organisations,

interest groups etc)

●ICTs enable organisations to: Expand geographically

Co-ordinate their activities regionally, nationally and globally

Facilitate expansions, mergers, acquisitions & growth

Operational expansion is also assisted through enabling

management of more resources

oThomas (1988) philosophically suggests that technology

consists of “society's poll of knowledge concerning the

industrial, mechanical and practical areas".

oPeppard (1993) defines IT as the enabling mechanism which

facilitates the processing and flow of information in an

organisation and between organisations, encompassing the

information the business creates, uses and stores, as well as

the technologies used in physical processing to produce a

product or provide a service.

oRunge and Earl (1988) includes telecommunications in ITs and

proposes that "telecommunication networks provide the

information highways over which new products and services

can be offered, thereby redefining concepts of customer

service, opening up new arenas of innovation and altering the

economics of distribution".

Defining Information & Communication Technologies

(ICTs)

ICTs cover the entire range of electronic tools,

which facilitate the operational and strategic

management of organisations by enabling

them to manage their information, functions

and processes as well as to communicate

interactively with their stakeholders for

achieving their mission and objectives.

Information Communication Technologies

include a combination of Hardware, Software,

telecommunications, netware, groupware and

humanware.

Defining Information & Communication

Technologies

(ICTs)

●Enable effective data processing & communication for

organisational benefit

●Offer opportunities & challenges for suppliers in all

industries

●Support development & maintenance of organisational

competitiveness and competitive advantage

●Provide enormous capabilities for consumers

●Support integrated systems of networked equipment and

software

●ICTs are becoming more affordable & user friendly

Contribution of

Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs)

●Hardware: Physical equipment such as mechanical, magnetic,

electrical, electronic or optical devices (as opposed to computer

programmes or method of use).

●Software: Prewritten detailed instructions that control the

operation of a computer system or of an electronic device.

Software co-ordinates the work of hardware components in an

information system. Software may incorporate standard software

such as operating systems or applications, software processes,

artificial intelligence and intelligent agents, and user interfaces.

●Telecommunications: The transmission of signals over long

distances, including not only data communications but also the

transmission of images and voices using radio, television,

telephony and other communication technologies.Source: Adapted from Gupta (1996); O’Brien (1996); Laudon and Laudon (2002); Werthner and Klein (1999);

Halsall (1996)

Information & Communication Technologies

(ICTs)

Terminology

●Netware: Equipment and software required to develop and

support a network or an interconnected system of computers,

terminals and communication channels and devices.

●Groupware: communication tools, such as email, voice mail,

fax, videoconferencing that foster electronic communication and

collaboration among groups.

●“Humanware”: the intellect required for the development,

programming, maintenance and operation of technological

development. Humanware incorporates the knowledge and

expertise pool of the societySource: Adapted from Gupta (1996); O’Brien (1996); Laudon and Laudon (2002); Werthner and Klein (1999);

Halsall (1996)

Information & Communication Technologies

(ICTs)

Terminology (continued)

●Boundary: Clear distinction between internal and external

elements. Internal elements are controllable by organisations

●Environment: External elements to the system including

assumptions, constrains and inputs to the system

●Inputs: All resources imported to the system including data,

material, supplies, energy

●Outputs: Products and resources of the systems in various

formats including reports, documents, displays, announcements

provided to the environment of the system

●Components: Activities or processes within a system that

transform inputs to outputs

●Interfaces: Point of contact between system and its

environment

●Storage: holding areas used for the temporary and permanent

storage of informationSource: Based on Martin et al (1999); Turban et al (2002)

Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs)

Characteristics

Information Systems &

Management

●Information Systems

“interrelated components working together to collect, process,

store and disseminate information to support decision making,

co-ordination, control, analysis and visualisation in an

organisation” (Laudon and Laudon, 2002; Turban et al, 2002)

●Information Management is responsible for providing

information technology & communication services &

resources for:

- products and services

- operations

- management

- control activities

- co-operative work of an organisation

it overlooks Information Technology and Information Systems

& ensures that they are co-ordinated

The 4 Stages of ICT Evolution

●DATA PROCESSING - 1960’s o Improved operational efficiency by automating information based

processes

●MANAGEMENT OF INFORMAION SYSTEMS (MIS) - 1970’so Increased management effectiveness & efficiency by satisfying the

organisational information requirements

o Information systems were used primarily to address the needs of

internal management and co-ordination

The 4 Stages of ICT Evolution (Continued)

●STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (SIS) 1980’s

- Improved competitiveness, changing the nature or conduct of

business

- Integrated ICT networks were used to:

- Achieve organisational strategic objectives

- Enhance performance

- Co-ordinate activities across functional & business unit lines

- Support interaction with external entities

●NETWORK ERA - Late 1990’s

- Intra- & Inter-organisational networks proliferated

- Local & wide area networks

- The Internet, Intranets and Extranets

- Revolutionised communication

- Enabled multi-level integration & efficient collaboration

●The Internet is a global protocol of communication

●Provides window to the world

●Supports a wide variety of different tools &

functions

●Enables communication & sharing of data globally

●Web pages contain text, graphs, animations,

sounds & videos and multimedia information in a

networked environment

●Supports a global networked environment

●Wide implications for societies, communities and

organisations

The Information Superhighway

Global Systems - Internet

The Information Superhighway

Internal Systems - Intranets

●“Closed", "secured", “controlled” or "fire-walled"

networks within organisations or individual

departments

●Enable organisations to improve internal

management at all levels

●Integrate all internal functions and maximise

efficiency

●Share media-rich data and processes

●Allow partners to interact electronically

●Enhance interactivity & transparency between

organisations

●Link & share data and processes to format a low cost &

user friendly electronic commerce arrangement

●Empower co-operation between partners

●Enable a certain degree of transparency and

interactivity

●Enhance efficiency, productivity & effectiveness without

compromising on security and confidentiality

The Information Superhighway

Partner Systems - Extranets

The Information Superhighway

New ICT Developments

●Ambient Intelligence

●Interoperability and interconnectivity

●Digital Television

●Wireless applications oCellular Phones - GSM

oWireless Application Protocol (WAP)

oNTT DoCoMo’s I-mode

oThird generation (3G) mobile technology

oUniversal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)

oBluetooth

A New Wave of Technological Evolution

Source: After Werthner and Klein

(1999)

Lines of technological

evolution

A New Wave of Technological Evolution

●Information Technology introduces improvements to enhance:

- speed - interoperability - reliability - adaptation

●Major ICT Developments:- eCommerce through iDTV and the mobile devices- object-orientated relational databases - software evolution driven by ‘intelligent applications’- data mining & knowledge management- user friendly interfaces - WYSIWYG- intelligent geographical information systems

●Integration of all applications to enable interoperability on different platforms & through different media

●Advanced cryptography can improve on-line security