IMPACT OF INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) ON SOCIETY.

IMPACT OF INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) ON SOCIETY.

An impact is a positive or a negative effect. The use of ICT has influenced our lifestyles both positively and negatively.

Issues/effects resulting from the use of ICT in our society.

1. Effects on employment.

The introduction of computers in the workplace has resulted in; creation of new jobs, replacement of computer illiterate workers, and displacement of jobs that were formally manual.


(a) Job creation

ICT has introduced new employment opportunities that never existed before.

The use of computers in financial institutions, reservation systems, educational institutions, communication systems, etc has created jobs for computer operators, programmers, network administrators, database administrators, software developers, system analysts, etc.

(b) Job replacement

This is a situation whereby certain jobs disappear in an organization but reappears in another form requiring more and high-skilled manpower.

The introduction of computers has led to the redesigning of business processes, which could cause the middle class managers & clerical workers to lose their jobs, e.g. most of the clerical and repetitive tasks that require a large number of employees are now being done by computers, meaning that, all these people may lose their jobs.

Workers without IT skills are being replaced by computerized machines and people who have the desired computer skills to operate the machines, e.g. ordinary typists are being replaced by those who can create documents using a computer.

(c) Job displacement

This is the process of replacing manpower with computerized machines.

In displacement, an employee does not lose his/her job; instead, he/she is moved to another department where computer skills are not required, e.g. a clerk may end up being an office messenger if computers are introduced at the workplace, and such a person is not willing to acquire new skills of using the computerized system.

However, to avoid losing competent employees, most employers organize in-service training for their employees on regular basis in order to help them keep up with the rapid changes in ICT.

2. Automated Production.

Automated production refers to the use of computer-controlled devices such as robots to automate production processes in industries, i.e. computer-aided production.

Areas where automation is applicable

 Intelligent control of traffic lights.
 The autopilot in aircrafts.
 Use of robots in industries.
 Manufacturing industries, e.g. vehicle assembly plants, oil refineries, and food processing companies.

Advantages of using automated production.

1. Increases efficiency due to the balancing of workload and production capacity.
2. It reduces the cost of production (operating expenses) because of the efficiency of machines.
3. Increases production in the workplace.
4. Leads to improved quality of service to customers.
5. Enables production of adequate & high quality products in time.
6. Enables efficient utilization of resources, e.g. raw materials, personnel and equipment.
7. Leads to reduction of accidents in sectors like mining and chemical production where operations are dangerous.
8. Leads to improved communication.

Disadvantages

1. The initial cost of setting up an automated system is high, e.g. the cost of buying one industrial robot is high compared to employing human resource.
2. May lead to unemployment especially in areas that are labour-intensive, e.g. one person using a machine can do work that would have been done by 30 people.
3. Over reliance on ICT may cause a disaster if the systems fail.
4. There is insecurity of data & information.

3. Effects on workers health.

Although the use of ICT (computers) can make a significant contribution to the economic success of workers, they also have some negative effects on our health.

Some of the negative effects of ICT on human health include:

(a) Repetitive strain injuries (RSI)

This is an occupational disease that develops on people whose jobs require them to work continually on a computer terminal. It occurs when muscles are forced through many repetitive actions with high impact loads, e.g. the pressure caused by constant entering of data using the keyboard.

These injuries may result from strain of the wrist, arm, tendonitis & neck muscles.

Symptoms of RSI.

 Shooting pain in the affected parts.
 Numbness (lack of feeling/sensation).
 Inability to hold objects.
 Itching.

How to prevent RSI.

√ Maintaining proper posture when working with a computer.
√ Sitting in a relaxed position.
√ Using the correct keyboards.
√ Changing typing techniques.
√ Taking frequent rest breaks.
√ Rotation of employees to different jobs.
√ Increased use of voice input devices & scanners for data entry.

(b) Eye-strain and headaches

Since computer users have their eyes close to the monitor, they are likely to develop an eye-strain condition referred to as the Computer vision syndrome (CVS). This condition results from long or improper use of cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors.

Symptoms of CVS.

 Headaches
 Dry and irritated eyes.
 Blurred (unclear/faint) vision.
 Double vision.

How to prevent CVS.

√ Use monitors with good resolution and fitted with an antiglare screen that filters excess light.
√ Controlling light intensity by adjusting the brightness of the screen to the intensity that is comfortable to the eyes.
√ Wearing special spectacles when using computers in order to control the light intensity.
√ Avoid using flickering monitors - they can cause extreme eyestrain that can damage eyesight.
√ Tilting the monitors so as not to face the user directly.
√ Avoid very bright wall paints reflect too much light into the user’s eyes.

(c) Exposure to electromagnetic radiations

Electromagnetic radiations are electrical & magnetic energy waves that are emitted by conductors that carry currents.

Prevention - the computer user should use low-emission devices in order to avoid exposing themselves to excess emissions.

(d) Mental stress

Many people who work at computers feel that they are expected to produce more and do it faster because the computers themselves are fast. Also, those been monitored by computers frequently feel additional pressure.

(e) Technostress

This is a computer-related problem usually defined as a computer use induced stress.

According to experts, people who work continuously with computers reach a point where they expect other people and human institutions to behave like computers, i.e. be able to provide instant response, be attentive, and lack emotions.

Such people;

• Get annoyed when put on hold during a telephone call.
• Tend to yell or whisper at ATM machines that are slow.
• Become angry when their PCs take a few seconds longer to perform a task.
• Lack concern/care for humans, and seek out friends who reflect the characteristics of their machines.

Symptoms of technostress.

 Getting annoyed/irritated.
 Hostility towards humans.
 Impatience.
 Weakening.

(f) Isolation

People can conduct business and communication without ever coming face to face. Computer operators can work an entire shift, taking their instructions from a computer screen, sending and receiving memos to each other electronically without engaging in personal conversation. These people feel isolated from other workers.

(g) Radiation from visual display unit

There are reports that VDUs emit radiations that causes birth defects, blindness, cancer, miscarriages, sterility, etc

(h) Computer chip toxins

Workers in computer chip manufacturing industries are exposed to dangerous chemicals, which may pose health problems to them.

Ergonomics

Ergonomics is the science of designing the workplace for the comfort and safety of the worker. It is the study of how living and working conditions can be adapted to the Information Technology.
The need for better working environment has resulted to designing of special furniture to prevent backaches, special monitors to prevent eyestrain, etc

4. Effects on environment

Some of the environmental effects of ICT include:

• Energy consumption and radiation.
• Pollution.
• Paper consumption and disposal.

(a) Energy consumption and radiation

Computers consume a lot of energy thereby generating a lot of heat, and emitting electromagnetic radiations.

In recent years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched the energy-star policy, in order to encourage minimal use of power by electronic devices. You can tell whether your computer is energy-star compliant if it bears the energy saver star logo.

(b) Environmental pollution

The dumping of dead computer parts, printers, toners, ink cartridges, monitors, and other computer accessories in landfills has contributed to environmental pollution.

In addition, laptop batteries contain nickel-cadmium, whose contents are non-biodegradable & toxic. When disposed or buried in a landfill, they may leak into the underground water tables and catchment areas, hence causing poisoning.

5. Effects on moral and cultural values

Moral values assist in guiding human behaviour. However, the rapid growth of ICT has presented many challenges to our moral and cultural values. It has changed the way we talk, affected our privacy, human rights and integrity.

For example;

• Internet users are exposed to a form of communication called flaming. Flaming is writing of online messages that use dirty (obscene or derogatory) language.
• Through the Internet, one can watch pornographic materials, chat online, send dirty messages, etc.

This free flow of immoral information has negatively influenced the behaviour of both the young and old in the society.

6. Computer crimes and abuse

• Computer crime is committing of illegal acts either using a computer or against a computer system.

• Computer abuse is committing of acts involving a computer, which may not be illegal but are considered unethical.

Technologies, including computers, create new valuable things to steal, new ways to steal them, and new ways to harm others.

Computer-related crimes are on the increase. The most economically damaging computer crimes include:

 Introduction and spread of viruses.
 Fraud (theft of services).
 Disruption of computer systems.
 Theft of telecommunication services.
 Piracy.
 Hacking. Hackers are those people who use computer for illegal acts.

In addition, people with eroded moral integrity can use computers to cheat, e.g. a person can use a computer to forge certificates, passports, and other documents.

Note. Normally, it is the insiders (employees) who cause the most injurious computer crimes. This is because; they have the knowledge, the access, and might have a job-related motive to commit such crimes.

7. Issues of Privacy

Privacy is the claim to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other organizations, individuals, or the state.

The use of computers has made it very easy for individuals, businesses, and the government to obtain volumes of information about a person without his/her knowledge. It has also made it cheap & much easier to access or obtain the information on a person from any of his/her files held in banks, credit card companies, utility companies, hospitals, etc than from a traditional paper file.

Breakthroughs (benefits) in the use of ICT.

Since the introduction of ICT, there have been a lot of advancements in different fields such as in; health care, education, communication, research, commerce, art and design, entertainment, transport, etc. These advances have greatly changed our lifestyles positively (for the better).

In addition, ICT has been used as a campaign tool against diseases like HIV/AIDS, Drug abuse, and Environmental pollution.

Review Questions.

1. Explain at least three effects of the introduction of ICT in workplaces.
2. List three advantages and two disadvantages of automated production.
3. Describe some of the effects of ICT on human health.
4. Explain the role of Environmental protection agency (EPA).
5. (a) Explain how the use of ICT may affect the environment.
(b) What bad effect can the wrong disposal of nickel-cadmium laptop batteries cause?
6. Define the term flaming.

FUTURE TRENDS IN ICT

The future trends in ICT will be characterized by:

1) Rapid evolution in computer hardware and software.
2) Artificial Intelligence.
3) Expanded Information superhighway.

1. Evolution in computer hardware and software

Since the introduction of computers in the business world in 1950’s, a lot of technological improvements have been made, both in hardware and software.

• Computers are becoming more intelligent, e.g. in future, computers will be able to learn in their environment, understand human voice, respond, etc
• Processor speeds & processing power have increased due to advanced research in the semiconductor industry, e.g. very tiny processors can now execute instructions in a trillionth of a second. This has led to the emergence of smaller, hand-held devices.
• The number of components per IC has greatly increased, e.g. over 500,000 physical elements (transistors, capacitors, diodes) are combined in an IC.
• The physical size of the computers has continued to decrease.
• The cost of computers and its related facilities has reduced.
• The capacity of computer memory has increased.
• The memory sizes & cost has reduced.
• Software is becoming more versatile and easier to use.
• The computers can run an unlimited number of programs at one time.
• The nature of programs used is complex.
• Operating systems that are able to handle real-time data analysis and object-oriented are being developed.
• User interfaces will be improved so as to offer users easier access to information.
• The computers can facilitate easy communication & networking.
• Industries are becoming more automated.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science concerned with the development of machines that imitate/copy human-like qualities in particular areas, e.g. learning, reasoning, communicating, seeing, hearing and self-correction.
• These are programs that make computers to mimic human intelligence.
• A study in which computer systems are made to think/act/imitate human beings.

Note. Computer scientists & engineers are working hard to come up with computer programs which can almost simulate human thinking and learning, instead of relying on static programmed instructions.

Application areas of Artificial intelligence.

(a) Expert systems

• An expert system is a computer software designed to make a computer operate at the level of a human expert in a specific area of specialization.

• A knowledge-intensive program that solves problems involving human expertise in a particular area.

• A computerized program based on the collected knowledge of experts in a certain well defined area/field.

An expert system can assist in decision-making activities by asking relevant questions and explaining the reasons for adopting certain actions.

Importance of expert systems

Expert programs are important in that;

(i) They preserve the knowledge of experts that can be lost through death or retirement.
(ii) They put information in active form to be summarized immediately.
(iii) Assist juniors to think like professionals.
(iv) Save time, especially that could be used in training or employment of experts.

Characteristics of expert systems

 They can solve problems even better than human experts.
 They use artificial intelligence in form of rules.

Components (elements) of an expert system.

1. Knowledge base (or, database).

This is a collection of knowledge about a particular subject area, which is accessible to a computer. It contains relevant facts, beliefs, assumptions, data conditions, and procedures for solving a particular problem.

2. Inference engine.

This is a computer program that controls the searching of knowledge in the knowledge base, and produces conclusions. It takes the problem posed by the user, and tries to analyze it in order to arrive at a conclusion.

3. Explanation software/facility.

It interprets & analyses the results from the inference engine.

4. User interface.

This is the display screen that enables the user to interact with the system.
Examples of expert systems.

i) Dendral – used to examine the spectroscopic analysis of an unknown chemical compound and predicts its molecular structure.

ii) Mycin – used to diagnose blood and meningitis infections and suggests possible therapies.

iii) Prospector – used by geologists to help in finding valuable mineral deposits in certain geographical areas.

iv) Internist – helps to analyse difficult clinical problems.

v) Delta – used to help people repair diesel electric locomotives.

Application areas of expert systems.

Expert systems can be used;

1) In medical institutions for research & diagnosis of diseases, e.g. it can be used in diagnosis of blood & meningitis infections.
2) By mining companies for prospecting of mineral deposits in a particular geographical area through analyzing the composition of soil samples.
3) Making investment decisions such as those involving raising of capital, mergers, acquisitions, etc
4) Financial forecasting, e.g. formulation of taxation & marketing policies.

(b) Natural language processing

Natural languages are the ordinary human languages such as Kiswahili, English, French, etc. However, these languages are ambiguous and may be interpreted differently by different people, e.g. the word sack can mean “a type of a bag” or “the act of dismissing a worker from gainful employment”.

Natural language processing involves the development of programming languages that would make computers recognize & understand natural languages, whether spoken or written, and translate them to instructions which the computer can understand. This will make the task of data processing even faster.

(c) Artificial Neural networks

This is the use of electronic devices & software to try and emulate the cognitive learning process of the human brain and how it recognizes patterns.

The human brain works by receiving signals from special sensory cells called neurons. When the neurons receive information, they either stimulate the cell to send a signal to the brain or not. Likewise, an artificial neural network has artificial neurodes which it uses to sense an environmental stimulus, and then decide on whether to pass it onto the system or not.

Characteristics/features of an artificial neural network.

1) The neurodes can be trained to distinguish between what constitutes a signal and what does not.
2) They are able to recognize patterns in large amounts of data that are too complex for the human brain. From these patterns, they can make predictions and point out irregularities, e.g. in banking, the spending patterns of an individual can be identified by tracking how he/she uses his/her credit card for a period of time. In case of loss or theft, the bank will notice the change of spending pattern and conclude that the card is in the wrong hands. The bank can then take the appropriate security measures even before the loss of the card is reported.

(d) Robotics (perception systems)

• Robotics involves the design, construction, and operation of robots.

• A robot is a computer-controlled device that works like a human being, but carries out tasks that would have otherwise been repetitive, unpleasant, dangerous, difficult, or boring to a human being.
Of late, computer technologists are trying to come up with robots that have artificial sensing devices that will enable them perform tasks that are done by human beings, e.g. robots that are able to see using two small video cameras, listen to ultrasound, feel the shape of an object, detect the smell of a leaking gas or chemical, taste the quality of food, etc.

(e) Voice recognition

This is a system that will allow voice input. The user will input data by speaking into a microphone.

Note. The few voice recognition devices & voice synthesizers currently being used have the following limitations:
­ The user must train the computer program to recognize the voice & the pronunciation of words before using them.
­ Are limited to just a few vocabularies.
­ Some words have similar sounds, e.g. here, hear.
­ Different people pronounce the same word differently.
­ One word may have multiple meanings, etc.

Computers that can recognize human voice will make information systems and other computerised applications accessible to people who cannot enter data in the normal way, e.g. the blind, or physically handicapped.

(f) Voice synthesis

This refers to machines that are able to create human voice or talk, e.g. a computerised bank teller giving you your account balance in human-like voice.

(g) Computer vision

This is the ability of a computer system to process and interpret light waves like human beings. Such a system would use scanning devices to sense and interpret objects, graphics and text character shapes enabling the computer to see and read just like human beings do.

3. Expanded Information superhighway

Information superhighway mainly deals with transmission of data & information on a large scale using cable networks & wireless communication devices.

Advancement in ICT has greatly increased the throughput of various transmission media such as fibre optic cables & wireless technologies, e.g. computer scientists have developed fibre optic cables whose diameter is the size of a single strand of hair, and which is capable of carrying a trillion bits per second. This is aimed at making communication more efficient and reliable.

In addition, the Internet is growing very fast; hence, contributing to the fast growth of the information superhighway.

Reasons why users/employees may resist the introduction of ICT to their workplace.

Sometimes, there is resistance from employees/users to adapt new technology. This may be due to the following reasons:

1. Fear of change - people are creatures of habit, hence, are afraid of change.

2. Fear of losing their jobs - by installing the computer into an organization, employees fear that they might end up being replaced, hence losing their jobs.

3. Fear of failure - since the computer may be very new in the working environment, the people will be afraid that they might never get used to it.

4. Loss of control - the management fear that once a computer system is implemented, they might lose control of the organization.

5. Lack of understanding - users may not understand the benefits of a computer system in their jobs. This will create resistance since the computer will be looked upon as an intruder.



Strategies that can be employed to manage resistance to change.

 In-service training to enable people to adapt to the change.
 Educating employees in computer literacy.
 Involve the services of a systems analyst who will try to convince users at all levels that a new system will not hinder but improve job satisfaction and performance.