Topic 1 Role of ICT

Capabilities and Limitations of ICT

ICT has become an integral part of almost all commercial and other enterprises:

·        Very fast processing (essential in banking)

·        Vast storage capacity

·        Rapid search and combination of data in many ways.

·        Instant response

·        Accurate results

·        Rapid communication between individuals and organisations

·        Improves a company image.

  Question 1  How does ICT improve a company’s image?                  ANSWER

All of these provide organisations and individuals with rapid access to high quality information that they can use in planning and decision making.  Twenty years ago, it might well take a fortnight to make an enquiry and get an answer.  Now it can be done in a few minutes.

  Question 2   What is meant by high quality information?  ANSWER

ICT is very effective in allowing instant feedback on levels on commodities, e.g.

·        Funds in bank accounts

·        Availability of seats in aeroplanes

·        Stock levels in a chain of supermarkets

·        Keeping track of books borrowed from a library.

  The diagram below shows the instant feedback available from an on-line booking system.  In this example there is one seat left on the flight.  It is booked instantly by a customer.  Shortly after (it could be a fraction of a second later), a request for the seat comes for another customer.  The computer has filled the seat and the customer is told that the flight is fully booked.  Then the computer can allocate our second customer a seat on the next flight.  There is a slight possibility that the two requests come in at exactly the same time.  This is unlikely, but there are mechanisms to prevent double-booking.

In a library, the system can provide information on:

·        Borrowers names and addresses

·        What books they have

·        Which are overdue

·        Location in other libraries of books that readers order.

  The computer can also:

·        Issue overdue notices

·        Provide information for borrower enquiries.

·        Provide the necessary information for auditing, planning, and purchasing.

·        Provide better security.

·        Save staff time by releasing them from repetitive paper based tasks.

Question 3 Explain how a supermarket might use its ICT resources to ensure that stocks are kept up.  ANSWER

ICT systems also have drawbacks:

·        Introduction of ICT systems can lead to a lot of extra work, especially if the system is none-too-reliable (as in the early days), and manual back up records have to be kept.

·        Employees find themselves redundant

·        New or redesigned accommodation.

·        Faults in the software can lead to chaos, which can bring the organisation to a halt.  This is often a problem in bespoke or specialist software written for the particular organisation by a software house.

·        Inadequate hardware can cause communication logjams.

·        Failure of a computer system means a catastrophic loss of investment, i.e., it’s a damned waste of money!

Major failures of ICT hardware and software have damaged the public image of the organisations and led to not a few scandals.

 

Working with ICT

The arrival of ICT on a wide scale has been a quiet revolution.  Only thirty years ago, there were no “Hole-in-the wall” machines outside banks.  To get cash, you had to queue in the bank and write out a cheque, then the bank clerk would dole out the money.  Long distance telephone calls had to be connected manually by the operator.  There were no computer games (but it could be argued that people did much more practical things).

  When ICT was first introduced, there was a lot of worry about thousands of people being made redundant:

·        Those doing routine work such as filing in offices

·        Assembly line workers

In reality more jobs have been created by computers:

·        Call centres depend on extensive databases

·        Printing and publishing companies have burgeoned

·        Many people make their living in software and maintenance of computer systems.  The rapidly evolving nature of ICT systems ensures that equipment that is two years old is past its sell by date, and that which is ten years old is positively antediluvian!

Question 4 How has ICT altered the pattern of employment? ANSWER                              

The nature of work has changed:

·        Accountants use spreadsheets

·        Secretaries use word processing packages that save the need to retype pages of script if text needs modification.

·        Engineers can produce much more accurate drawings with CAD packages rather than manual techniques.

·        Maintenance of records takes up less time and space.  A company’s records can be accommodated in a couple of drawers rather than a room full of filing cabinets (and the data accessed in a fraction of the time).

·        Expert systems are databases of knowledge and expertise of prominent people in their field.  For example, a doctor can access the database for help in diagnosing an unusual illness.

 

Question 5 Write down three ways in which the nature of work has changed due to ICT, giving an example of each one.  ANSWER

With the help of ICT, people do not have to work in the office at all.  They can do their work at a terminal at home, and submit their work to the office through a telephone line.  This is called teleworking.  It has advantages:

·        Easier to concentrate at home than in a noisy office (?)

·        No commuting is needed.

·        Greater flexibility to do work around home and family commitments.

·        Cost savings by employers.

·        Teams of teleworkers can be made in different locations

·        Recruitment can be from a much wider geographical area.

·        People can work outside standard office hours.

There is a downside:

·        There can be difficulties in management of a workforce that’s not in the office.

·        There can be a lack of a corporate identity and ethos

·        Employees can feel isolated and miss out on the social life of an office.

·        Employees might not be able to get help when they need it.

·        Work can encroach on family life, or children can be a distraction.

 

Workers can be open to exploitation, and unions cannot easily operate to help an employee in trouble.

 

Question 6 Explain two advantages and two disadvantages of teleworking.  ANSWER            

Some companies have moved much of their operations from expensive offices in London to cheaper parts of the country.  Some organisations can do a lot of their routine work with employees who live abroad.  London Underground has its daily data processing done in India.  BT are now using employees in India for directory enquiries.

Question 7 Explain the advantages that a company might gain by moving its call-centres abroad.    ANSWER

  The shape of businesses is changing:

·        More people are going into business by themselves

·        Larger organisations are becoming less hierarchical, with employees working more in groups needing less supervision.

·        The use of problem-solving skills, ability to use initiative and familiarity with ICT is increasingly important in recruitment.

·        Many people now use the Internet for contacting companies and doing business with them.

Question 8  Discuss how business has changed under the impact of ICT.  ANSWER

 

Social Impact of ICT

ICT has become increasingly used in education:

·        Datalogging experiments.  One is shown in the picture.

 

 

·        Computer modelling

·        Interactive learning (what you are doing here)

·        Presentations using PowerPoint

·        Word-processing to produce student notes, and worksheets with a much more professional appearance.

·        Students increasingly use word-processors in essay writing and projects.

·        Multimedia and Internet resources are used widely for research.

Question 9 List two advantages and two disadvantages of using ICT in education.  ANSWER

Banks have always been leaders in the use of ICT:

·        Telephone and Internet banking

·        Cash-point machines

·        Debit cards have made cheque writing an infrequent event.

·        Magnetic Ink Character Recognition speeds up the clearing of cheques.

·        Credit cards used to make telephone and Internet purchases.

·        Salaries and bills are paid automatically by direct debit.

·        Smart cards.

Many people shop on the Internet.  You can make purchases at any time from any point in the world.  Some organisations will deliver to your door.  However there are drawbacks:

·        Goods are delivered by couriers and that can take a long time.  It is often quicker to go to a shop and take the goods away with you.

·        You cannot inspect or ask about the goods before you buy.

·        Many people are concerned about security of credit card details.

·        Orders can be lost, even though the money transaction has not.

·        Fraudulent trading is made easier.

Question 10 List two advantages and two disadvantages of using the Internet to shop.  ANSWER

 

Computers and Society

As a society, we have become very dependent on the use of computers.  Although the benefits are many, there are some drawbacks:

·        Some people become obsessed and this can damage their social relationships.

·        There is a substantial proportion of the population that still do not have access to ICT, and there are worries about an information underclass.

·        People feel threatened by the burgeoning of computers

·        Information has been misused by a variety of individuals and groups who disseminate loathsome material on the Internet, such as extremist propaganda or pornography, or use the information for criminal activity.

·        Some people spread malicious programs such as viruses, Trojan Horses, and worms that make a damned nuisance of themselves in people’s computers, wiping out vital files.

·        The millennium bug was a very real threat, with fears of major computer failures.  In the event, Saturday 1st January 2000 was not accompanied by the total breakdown of all our modern systems.  This was due to government and business foresight in tackling this problem.

 Question 11 What kinds of threats are there to computer systems from within an organisation or from outside?   ANSWER               

 Computer failures can be embarrassing and cause inconvenience.  Software bugs can corrupt databases.  People’s accounts can be wiped out.  People cannot withdraw cash.  However in vital situations, they can be dangerous:

·        Computer failures in fly-by-wire aircraft will make the machine adopt the flying qualities of a house-brick, and it will fall out of the sky with the pilot able to do nothing about it.

·        Air traffic controllers have had to go back to little bits of paper when their computers have failed.

·        A computer failure in an intensive care ward is likely to put the life of the patient at risk.

 

It is worth remembering as well that all these computers work because they are looked after.  Massive disruption can result from failure of computers, whether as a result of power failure, or corrupted software, or failures in hardware.  If ever there were another war in the developed world, the computers would be the first targets.

Question 12  Give two situations in which a computer failure could be dangerous.  Explain your answer.  ANSWER

 

Information and the Professional

As well as technical knowledge and skills, the kind of personal qualities shown by an ICT professional would be summarised as:

Many professionals work in teams, with each person allocated a part of the problem to work on.  Clearly each member must pull his or her weight.

ICT professionals have a professional body, the British Computer Society whose role is to maintain standards throughout the profession.  Membership entry is by examination.  The BCS has produced a comprehensive set of standards of training and development of those working in ICT called the Industry Structure Model.  It can be used to:

Question 13 Write a job advertisement for an ICT administrator for your company. ANSWER

Presentation:  Topic 1 Role of ICT

                     Computers in Education (prepared by one of my students)

 

Now try the Topic Quiz

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