APPLICATION AREAS OF ICT

ICT is an acronym that stands for Information and Communications Technology. A good way to think about ICT is to consider all the uses of digital technology that already exist to help individuals, businesses and organisations use information. ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form. For example, personal computers, digital television, email, robots. So ICT is concerned with the storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission or receipt of digital data. Importantly, it is also concerned with the way these different uses can work with each other.

 

In business, ICT is often categorised into two broad types of product, they are:

• The traditional computer-based technologies: These are things you can typically do on a personal computer or by using computers at home or at work.
• Digital communication technologies: These allow people and organisations to communicate and share information digitally.

 

Traditional Computer Based Technologies

These types of ICT can be classified into standard office application and specialized application.

 

A) Standard Office Application 

1. Word processing e.g. Microsoft Word: Write letters and reports.
2. Spreadsheets e.g. Microsoft Excel; Analyse financial information; calculations and create forecasting models.
3. Database software e.g. Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Access; Managing data in many forms, from basic lists (e.g. customer contacts through to complex material (e.g. catalogue).
4. Presentation software e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint; make presentations, either directly using a computer screen or data projector. Publish in digital format via email or over the Internet.
5. Desktop publishing e.g. Adobe InDesign, Quark Express, Microsoft Publisher; produce newsletters, magazines and other complex documents.
6. Graphics software e.g. Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator; create and edit images such as logos, drawings or pictures for use in DTP, web sites or other publications.

 

B) Specialized Application

1. Accounting package e.g. Sage, Oracle; Manage an organisation’s accounts including revenues/sales, purchases, bank accounts etc. A wide range of systems is available ranging from basic packages suitable for small businesses through to sophisticated ones aimed at multinational companies.
2. Computer Aided Design: Computer Aided Design (CAD) is the use of computers to assist the design process. Specialised CAD programs exist for many types of design: architectural, engineering, electronics, roadways
3. Customer Relations Management (CRM): Software that allows businesses to better understand their customers by collecting and analysing data on them such as their product preferences, buying habits etc. Often linked to software applications that run call centres and loyalty cards for example.

 

The C part of ICT refers to the communication of data by electronic means, usually over some distance. This is often achieved via networks of sending and receiving equipment, wires and satellite links. The technologies involved in communication tend to be complex can be explained below.

1. Internal networks: Usually referred to as a local area network (LAN), this involves linking a number of hardware items (input and output devices plus computer processing) together within an office or building. The aim of a LAN is to be able to share hardware facilities such as printers or scanners, software applications and data. This type of network is invaluable in the office environment where colleagues need to have access to common data or programmes.
2. External networks: Often you need to communicate with someone outside your internal network, in this case you will need to be part of a Wide Area Network (WAN). The Internet is the ultimate WAN – it is a vast network of networks.

 

 

APPLICATION OF ICT

ICT applications can support sustainable development, in the fields of public administration, business, education and training, health, employment, environment, agriculture and science within the framework of national e-strategies. Examples of ICT applications are:

A) Teleconferencing: Teleconferencing is interactive group communication where three or more people in two or more locations through an electronic medium communicate at the same time. In general terms, teleconferencing can bring people together under one roof even though they are separated by hundreds of miles.

Teleconferencing was first introduced in the 1960s with American Telephone and Telegraph’s Picture phone. At that time, however, no demand existed for the new technology. Travel costs were reasonable and consumers were unwilling to pay the monthly service charge for using the picture phone, which was regarded as more of a novelty than as an actual means for everyday communication. But things have changed in the last 10 years.

 

Basic Types of Teleconferencing

Today, teleconferencing is used in many ways. There are three basic types:

1. Video conferencing-television-like communication augmented with sound.
2. Computer conferencing-printed communication through keyboard terminals.
3. Audio-conferencing -verbal communication via the telephone with optional capacity for telewriting or telecopying.

 

Advantages of Teleconferencing

1. One of the major advantages of teleconferencing is its potential to reduce the cost of group meetings.
2. People, including outside guest speakers who would not normally attend a distant face to face (FTF) meeting can participate.
3. Follow-up to earlier meetings can be done with relative ease and little expense.
4. Socializing is minimal compared to an FTF meeting; therefore, meetings are shorter and more oriented to the primary purpose of the meeting.
5. Some routine meetings are more effective since one can audioconference from any location equipped with a telephone.
6. Communication between the home office and field staffs is maximized.
7. Severe climate and/or unreliable transportation may necessitate teleconferencing.
8. Participants are generally better prepared than for FTF meetings.
9. It is particularly satisfactory for simple problem solving, information exchange, and procedural tasks.
10. Group members participate more equally in well moderated teleconferences than in an FTF meeting.

 

Disadvantages of Teleconferencing 

1. Technical failures with equipment, including connections that may hinder communication.
2. Unsatisfactory for complex interpersonal communication, such as negotiation or bargaining.
3. Impersonal, less easy to create an atmosphere of group rapport.
4. Lack of participant familiarity with the equipment, the medium itself, and meeting skills.
5. Acoustical problems within the teleconferencing rooms.
6. Difficulty in determining participant speaking order; frequently one person monopolizes the meeting.
7. Greater participant preparation and preparation time needed.
8. Informal, one-to-one, social interaction not possible.

 

B) Video conferencing: Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference (also known as a video conference or videoteleconference) by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to communicate by simultaneous two-way video and audio transmissions. Video conferencing uses audio and video telecommunications to bring people at different sites together. This can be as simple as a conversation between people in private offices (point-to-point) or involve several (multipoint) sites in large rooms at multiple locations. Besides the audio and visual transmission of meeting activities, allied videoconferencing technologies can be used to share documents and display information on whiteboards.

Video conferencing is similar to the popular video phones where you can call anyone around the world and not only speak with them, but see them on your computer or television screen during the conversation. The difference is that video conferencing is intended to work for larger conferences rather than serving the needs of individual consumers, often using closed circuit television.

 

Advantages of Video Conferencing

1. Reach anyone you need to reach immediately, no matter what time of day it may be for anyone involved. Time differences between states and countries can be overlooked without anyone traveling long distances for the conference.
2. PowerPoint and other visual displays can be shared with everyone attending the conference at the same time, giving the feel of everyone being in one room. and keeping everyone on task and focused.
3. Virtual whiteboards allow people from different locations to add in their own thoughts or ideas into one collaborative space. This enables everyone to form a plan of action or collaborate on a design or slogan instantly.
4. It is possible, with some services, for everyone to gain access to another computer, seeing whatever is on that computer screen. With more advanced services, a document can even be changed and typed into directly from other computers connected into the conference. Businesses that require active collaboration on one project form can be greatly enhanced with this possibility.

 

Other applications of ICT are:

• Telepresence.
• Networking.
• Telecommunication.
• Tele-computing.
• Messaging.
• Information search, retrieval and archival.

 

OPERATIONS OF ICT GADGETS

1. Mobile Phones: A mobile phone also known as a cellular phone, cell phone and a hand phone is a device that can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link while moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile phone operator, allowing access to the public telephone network. By contrast, a cordless telephone is used only within the short range of a single, private base station. In addition to telephony, modern mobile phones also support a wide variety of other services such as text messaging, MMS, email, Internet access, short-range wireless communications (infrared, Bluetooth), business applications, gaming and photography. Mobile phones that offer these and more general computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones. The first hand-held mobile phone was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell and Dr Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973.
2. Fax Machine: Fax machine also known as facsimile or tele-copying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material, both text and images, normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device. The original document is scanned with a fax machine or a tele-copier, which processes the contents as a single fixed graphic image, converting it into a bitmap, and then transmitting it through the telephone system. The receiving fax machine reconverts the coded image, printing a paper copy.
3. Automated Teller Machine: An automated teller machine is a computerized telecommunications device that enables the clients of a financial institution to perform financial transactions without the need for a cashier, human clerk or bank teller. ATMs are known by various other names including ATM machine, automated banking machine, “cash machine”. On most modern ATMs, the customer is identified by inserting a plastic ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastic smart card with a chip that contains a unique card number and some security information such as an expiration date. Authentication is provided by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN). Using an ATM, customers can access their bank accounts in order to make cash withdrawals, debit card cash advances, and check their account balances as well as purchase pre-paid mobile phone credit.
4. Vending machine: A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, cologne, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine.
5. Cash Register: A cash register also referred to as till is a mechanical or electronic device for calculating and recording sales transactions, and an attached cash drawer for storing cash. The cash register also usually prints a receipt for the customer. In most cases the drawer can be opened only after a sale, except when using special keys, which generally only the owner has. This reduces the risk of employees stealing from the shop owner by pocketing the money without recording a sale, when a customer does not need a receipt but has to be given change.
6. Point of sale machine: A point of sale/ service (POS) machine is used to conduct retail transactions. It can provide many services, including credit card processing, check reading and cash transactions, depending on the model. The POS machine is used to improve the efficiency of retail transactions. A POS machine can be automated, as in a self-service checkout lane in the grocery store, or it can merely augment the actions of a checkout worker. The POS machine uses a price scanner to check the price of an item, and a credit card reader, a check scanner, or a cash drawer to accept funds in an exchange.