Today we talked about ICT and world change. ICT is the catalyst that facilitates the knowledge revolution. Because of ICT, we are in a situation now where we see ourselves very differently, The concept of self is very different also. The revoluion of how we see oursleve is a result of this knowledge revolution that has affected areas such as mass media, internet, gaming, wireless technlogies, interactive telecoms, interactive systems and knowledge management.
Today I will blog about the positive and negative impacts of ICT.
What I found interesting and most relevant about today’s lesson is ICT and knowledge management. Today we live in knowledge based society, whereby knowledge is key to survival and progress. There is simply too much knowledge out there with all the bits and bytes of data, one of the key challenge is to make sense of all that noise and when you do that, it becomes information. When you apply this information it becomes knowledge and when you contemplate it and interpret it, it gives you higher level of knowledge which is wisdom. The ability to sieve out the right information is getting increasingly important, this holds particularly true in the age of the internet, due to its open source nature. We have reached a point where by knowledge management is critical to where we want to go as a society.
In Singapore one of the factors behind our success story is strong government support for ICT. This includes the elaboration of a number of plans for developing an intelligent island, backed by concrete island The house hold internet penetration rate is also one of the highest in the world.
The contribution of ICT to the service industry is no less significant. ICT is one of the major success factor at the present time, this holds particular true in the case of the service firm, due to their fundamental characteristic of interactivity and intensity of information, which are highly compatible with this technology. The presence of ICT is correlated to higher growth in productivity and profitability experienced by firms in the service industries.
However, the contribution of ICT to the management of waste is a double edged sword. On one hand, it will improve the structure of waste management by providing intelligent systems for recycling. However on the other hand, ICT is just like any other technologies and it produces waste. ICT will significantly add on to non-recyclable waste if no measures are found to limit the growth of waste. Hence incentives should be given to manufactures of ICT to come up with ICT products that have longer life spans.
ICT has brought about a level of inequity known as the digital divide. This divide refers to the gap between people who are able to access digital and information technology and those no or limited access at all. Instead of leveling the playing field, it has tipped it in such a way that it only benefits those who have the right amount of education and the right amount of assets.
In many parts of the world, ICT has helped to alleviate poverty by creating a higher level of awareness for people living in impoverished conditions. For example, in Filiphines, over $7,000 raised for opportunity international’s micro finance programs for filipono women in poverty, plus a $10,000 pledge using social media. Elsewhere in the world, a collaborative effort by more than 100 bloggers from nine countries, resulted in the production of the book titled “The Age of Conversation” which raised nearly $15,000 for Variety, the international childern’s charity. All these charity drives did not manifest from the efforts of a single group in a single place, but rather different individuals from different parts of the world. It is only through ICT, which has given socially responsible individuals, a common platform to band together to make a difference to the world. ICT has made it easier to win hearts and minds and to save lives. As long as we are all passionate about our world in our hearts, we all have the tools to make a difference.
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