Ict Revolution
ICT REVOLUTION: SOME REVERBERATIONS
The views expressed in this and other papers associated with the NIC 2020 project are those of individual participants.
ICT REVOLUTION: SOME REVERBERATIONS
Introduction
This short paper touches on some of the reverberations the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) Revolution has set off. It is more of a kick start for our discussions than a compressive analysis of the subject.
When the Agrarian Revolution took place, no one recognized it as a revolution while it was underway, not even for centuries afterward. The Industrial Revolution, again, was not called a revolution while it was coursing through the entire Western world, but only in late 19th century, after seeing the effects of revolutionary changes in the industrial landscape. The ICT Revolution has the distinction of being recognized as one even as it was unfolding. The magnitude and the impact of this phenomenon have come to be felt widely and quickly the world over. But for the same reason, the judgments about this revolution are often rushed and unrigorous.
Though the first commercial computer was produced in the early 1950s, the widespread use of computers and the consequent Information Communication Technology did not come into common use till about 1980s. Internet came into public use only in the 1990s. But, once ICT put out its roots in the key domains of our collective life such as academia, government and business there was no stopping of its tentacles reaching into every aspect of our life, whether at work, at play or at home.
However, the spread of ICT through the world has not been even or equitable. ICT has added one more layer of division between the haves and the havenots, leading to a Digital Divide. The world is now struggling to cope with a technology that has tremendous potential as a boon but with its own attendant threats of a bane.
The ICT Revolution has not merely given technological tools to boost innovation
The views expressed in this and other papers associated with the NIC 2020 project are those of individual participants.
ICT REVOLUTION: SOME REVERBERATIONS
Introduction
This short paper touches on some of the reverberations the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) Revolution has set off. It is more of a kick start for our discussions than a compressive analysis of the subject.
When the Agrarian Revolution took place, no one recognized it as a revolution while it was underway, not even for centuries afterward. The Industrial Revolution, again, was not called a revolution while it was coursing through the entire Western world, but only in late 19th century, after seeing the effects of revolutionary changes in the industrial landscape. The ICT Revolution has the distinction of being recognized as one even as it was unfolding. The magnitude and the impact of this phenomenon have come to be felt widely and quickly the world over. But for the same reason, the judgments about this revolution are often rushed and unrigorous.
Though the first commercial computer was produced in the early 1950s, the widespread use of computers and the consequent Information Communication Technology did not come into common use till about 1980s. Internet came into public use only in the 1990s. But, once ICT put out its roots in the key domains of our collective life such as academia, government and business there was no stopping of its tentacles reaching into every aspect of our life, whether at work, at play or at home.
However, the spread of ICT through the world has not been even or equitable. ICT has added one more layer of division between the haves and the havenots, leading to a Digital Divide. The world is now struggling to cope with a technology that has tremendous potential as a boon but with its own attendant threats of a bane.
The ICT Revolution has not merely given technological tools to boost innovation