What is the Meaning of ICT and What are the Advantages of ICT

Meaning   of  ICT

Information Technology (IT) as the name suggests deals with the technology  that is used to handle information. It concerns with the storage, communication   and processing  of information.  The IT has become a key to the survival  of the business  houses.  Information  Technology in its fully convergent form, encompassing  various  modes  of information  delivery, such as printed  media, radio and television, computer  and  internet,  into one integrated   environment   provides  an unique  opportunity   to touch the lives of everyone, overcoming  earlier divisions. Computer  is one of the major components  in Information Technology. Its application  has penetrated   every  sphere  of existence  of modem   man: Airlines, railways, weather  forecast medical  diagnosis,  entertainment,   banking …. the list is endless.

India’s capabilities  in the field of Information  Technology  provide  not only an opportunity   to participate vigorously and effectively in a globalizing world, but also to use it as a major vehicle for all- round socio-economic development   of the country. To ensure  the benefits  of an IT-based knowledge   economy  India  needs  to adopt  the two  fold strategies:(i) a number  of steps to ensure that the Indian IT industry  grows at a fast pace in consonance with international  trends: and (ii) to intend  to take all possible measures  to ensure  that the benefits of his technology are meaningfully  felt by the common people and reach to even in the remotest  parts of the country.

Advantages     of  ICT

1. Periodicals:  Advantages   of periodicals  are as follows  :-

(i) These  are  the  mirrors   of the  current  political,  economic,  technical,  social  and  other scenarios  of the nation,  region or world.

(ii) These are very costly (the price of a good magazine  starts at Rs. 50 a piece);

(iii)  These  are available  at cheap  rates  if the subscription   mode  is adopted  by the reader (many magazine  publishers  are offering freebies too); and

(iv) These are full of information  that can be used.

2. Newspaper:   Advantages   of newspapers   are as follows  :-

(i)   These have  multiple  (secular)  content;

(ii) These can be read  by individual   without  distractions   (introvert  people  love them) (iii)  They consume  tonnes  of paper;

(iii)  They give flexibility  of publication   to the publishers;

(iv) They are a lucrative  business  in every  nook  and  corner  of the globe; and

(v)  They are cheap,  at least in the developing   countries  of the world.

3. T.V. and Radios:  Following  are the advantages   of TV and Radios.(i) They give latest  sets information   to the audiences;(ii)   They entertain  par  excellence  (TV is a paragon  of entertainment   the world  over);(iii)  They are cheap(iv) They are passive  media  (you can use them  even while  eating  popcorn);(v) They can effect healthy  changes,  especially  in the contexts  of community   medicine, education,  national  polity, environment,   ecology, dogma  removal  etc.); and(vi)  They are dynamic  in the sense that new content  is disseminated   through  them  almost every fortnight.

4. Computers:  Advantages   of computers  are as follows

(i) It has high  speed. 

 All the operations  in a computer  are caused by electrical pulses. ·We all know  that electricity  travels  at the speed  of fight, computers   too can perform  innumerable  operations  in just 1 sec. The processing  speed  of a computer  is generally  measured  in nanoseconds.    By the time an average  person  takes to read  the contents  of this page, the earliest model of the IBM microcomputer would  add together  a million numbers and still have some time to spare. You can imagine what would  be the speed of the latest models  of computers  running  100 times faster.

(ii) It has large storage  capacity. 

Computers  have very large storage capacity. The contents of around  two hundred   sheets  of A4 size paper  can be stored  on a small floppy  disk, which  is not even half the size of one sheet of paper.  What would  typically  need large storage  cabinets  can be stored  on a small floppy  disk, which  is not even half the size of a lunch box. Famous  reference  works  like the “Encyclopedia   Brittanica”  and  “Oxford Dictionary  of English” occupies many large shelves in library. But today, they are stored in optical  disks that are less in both  size and weight.  While this in itself is impressive, computers  also provide  very quick and easy access to all the data.

Apart from storing text, today’s  computers  are also capable of storing picture and sound in digital  form, which  means  that  even movies  and music can be stored  and  sent to places quickly in the form of CD.

(iii)  Its Accuracy

Computers   have many  check circuits built  in and  so normally  they do not make  mistakes.  Errors in computing  are generally  due to human  negligence  rather  than technological  faults. We have to always remember  the fact that a computer  is unintelligent and has to be given precise instructions  and correct data to carry out its operations.  If the instruction  is faulty or might mean more than one thing or if the data is wrong,  the result coming  out of the computer  too would  be wrong.  This phenomenon   of wrong  output  due to wrong  input of instructions  and / or data is termed  as Garbage  In Garbage In Garbage  Out or GIGO in computer  jargon.

(iv)  Its Diligence

Computers,  being machines,  do not suffer from fatigue  and lack of concentration.  If five million  calculations  have  to be performed,   a computer  can perform  the 5 million  calculation  with  same  accuracy  and  speed  as it performed   the first calculation.

(v)  Its Versatility.  Computers   can perform  a wide  range  of jobs with  speed,  accuracy  and diligence. In an organisation,  it is quite likely that the same computers  are used for diverse purposes   such as accounting,  generating  pay-slips,  keeping  track of manager’s   appointments,  play  games  during  the recreation  hours.

5. Movies:  Following  advantages   of movies  are considerable.

(i)   They entertain the masses;

(ii)   They educate  them;

(iii)  They make  them  patriots;  and

(iv)  They give them  reprieve  (a pleasant  escape)  from realities  of life.