CONCEPTS OF

IT AND ICT
By: Krizza Mae Infante
 What is Information Technology (IT)?
Information technology (IT) is the use of any computers, storage,
networking and other physical devices, infrastructure and processes to
create, process, store, secure and exchange all forms of electronic
data.

Typically, IT is used in the context of business operations, as opposed

to technology used for personal or entertainment purposes. 

The commercial use of IT encompasses both computer technology and

telecommunications.
 What does Information Technology
Encompass?
The IT department ensures that the organization's systems, networks,
data and applications all connect and function properly.

The IT team handles three major areas:

 Three major Areas that IT team Handled…
1. deploys and maintains business applications, services and infrastructure
(servers, networks, storage);
2. monitors, optimizes and troubleshoots the performance of applications,
services and infrastructure; and
3. oversees the security and governance of applications, services and
infrastructure.
The most common web app performance
problems
 Poorly written code
 Unoptimized databases
 Unmanaged growth of data
 Traffic spikes
 Poor load distribution
 Default configurations
 DNS, firewall, and network connectivity
Responsibilities of IT team:
• Administration
• Support
• Applications
• Compliance
 Administration

Administrators handle the day-to-day deployment, operation and monitoring of an IT

environment, including systems, networks and applications.
Admins often perform a range of other duties such as software upgrades, user
training, software license management, procurement, security, data management
and observing adherence to business process and compliance requirements.
 Support
Help desk staff specialize in answering questions, gathering information and
directing troubleshooting efforts for hardware and software.
IT support often includes IT asset and change management, helping admins with
procurement, handling backup and recovery of data and applications, monitoring and
analyzing logs and other performance monitoring tools and following established
support workflows and processes.
Applications
Businesses rely on software to perform work.
Some applications are procured and deployed from third parties, such as email
server applications. But many organizations retain a staff of skilled 
developers that create the applications and interfaces -- such as APIs -- needed to
deliver critical business capabilities and services.
Applications might be coded in a wide array of popular languages and integrated with
other applications to create smooth and seamless interactions between different
applications.
Developers might also be tasked with creating interactive business websites and
building mobile applications. The trend toward agile or continuous development
paradigms require developers to be increasingly involved with IT operations, such as
deploying and monitoring applications.
 Compliance
Businesses are obligated to observe varied government- and industry-driven
regulatory requirements.
IT staff play a major role in securing and monitoring access to business data and
applications to ensure that such resources are used according to established
business governance policy that meets regulatory requirements.
Such staff are deeply involved with security tasks and routinely interact with legal and
business teams to prevent, detect, investigate and report possible breaches.
Why is information technology important?
It's been said that data is what powers industries worldwide.
That may be hyperbole, but few businesses -- large or small -- can remain
competitive without the ability to collect data and turn it into useful information.
IT provides the means to develop, process, analyze, exchange, store and secure
information.
 Examples of information technology
• So how is IT actually involved in day-to-day business? Consider five common
examples of IT and teams at work:

1. Server upgrade
2. Security monitoring
3. New software
4. Business improvement
5. User support
Server upgrade
One or more data center servers near the end of their operational and maintenance
lifecycle.
IT staff will select and procure replacement servers, configure and deploy the new
servers, backup applications and data on existing servers, transfer that data and
applications to the new servers, validate that the new servers are working properly
and then repurpose or decommission and dispose of the old servers.
Security monitoring
Businesses routinely employ tools to 
monitor and log activity in applications, networks and system.
IT staff receive alerts of potential threats or noncompliant behavior -- such as a user
attempting to access a restricted file -- check logs and other reporting tools to
investigate and determine the root cause of the alert and take prompt action to
address and remediate the threat, often driving changes and improvements to
security posture that can prevent similar events in the future.
New software
The business determines a need for a new mobile application that can allow
customers to log in and access account information or conduct other transactions
from smartphones and tablets.
Developers work to create and refine a suitable application according to a planned
roadmap. Operations staff posts each iteration of the new mobile application for
download and deploy the back-end components of the app to the organization's
infrastructure.
Business improvement
A business requires more availability from a critical application to help with revenue
or business continuance strategies.
The IT staff might be called upon to architect a high-availability cluster to provide
greater performance and resilience for the application to ensure that the application
can continue to function in the face of single outages.
This can be paired with enhancements to data storage protection and recovery.
User support
Developers are building a major upgrade for a vital business application.
Developers and admins will collaborate to create new documentation for the
upgrade.
IT staff might deploy the upgrade for limited beta testing -- allowing a select group of
users to try the new version -- while also developing and delivering comprehensive
training that prepares all users for the new version's eventual release.
 PARTS OF THE COMPUTER SYSTEM:
A computer system consists of hardware components that have been carefully
chosen so that they work well together and software components or programs that
run in the computer. 

• SOFTWARE
• HARDWARE
 SOFTWARE
System software is software designed to provide a platform for other software.
Examples of system software include operating systems (OS) like macOS, Linux,
Android and Microsoft Windows, computational science software, game engines,
search engines, industrial automation, and software as a service applications.
 HARDWARE
System hardware is a general term for various physical components of a computer
system.
It includes all the parts inside the computer case such as the CPU, hard disk drive,
graphic cards, sound cards, RAM, power supply unit, motherboard, etc.
Computer hardware is what you can physically touch.
 Software vs. hardware
IT includes several layers of physical equipment (hardware), virtualization,
management systems, automation tools, operating systems, other system software
and applications used to perform essential functions.
User devices, peripherals and software can be included in the IT domain. IT can also
refer to the architectures, methodologies and regulations governing the use and
storage of data.
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK FOR OUR NEXT
DISCUSSION… 
 WHAT IS ICT?
Information and communication technologies (ICT) is defined as a diverse set of
technological tools and resources used to transmit, store, create, share or exchange
information.
These technological tools and resources include computers, the Internet (websites, blogs
and emails), live broadcasting technologies (radio, television and webcasting), recorded
broadcasting technologies (podcasting, audio and video players, and storage devices) and
telephony (fixed or mobile, satellite, visio/video-conferencing).
It is also the infrastructure and components that enable modern computing.
Although there is no single, universal definition of ICT, the term is generally accepted to
mean all devices, networking components, applications and systems that combined and
allow people and organizations (i.e., businesses, nonprofit agencies, governments and
criminal enterprises) to interact in the digital world.
Usage of ICT
ICT has contributed a lot to change our everyday life such as letter to e-mail, market
shopping to on-line shopping, classroom learning to e-learning and etc.
1. Business
2. Financial Services
3. Entertainment
4. Public Services
5. ICT systems at home
6. The internet
7. Education
Usage of ICT
• Business

 Every time you use these credit cards or debit cards the cashier of the shop uses a
terminal that connects to other computers via a network. Your identification details such
as name, credit card number, and issuing bank are automatically transferred and
verification (PIN number) obtained from you. Once everything is checked, including your
credit limits, money is transferred from your account to the vendor's account.
Usage of ICT
• Financial Services

 Financial services have undergone huge changes in recent years as a result of the
development of ICT systems. This has led to the need for increased security procedures
to combat new types of fraud. It has also led to changes in many areas of commerce; for
example, the role of travel agents has changed as more people book their own holidays
directly online.
 Some types of business have disappeared completely as online and computer-based
information have taken their place. For example, in parts of the Western World, buying
books from bookshops is no longer the most popular method. Amazon.com with its Kindle
and Apple with its iPad are gradually changing how people buy books. Similarly, new
types of business have been created, such as online auctions like eBay.
Usage of ICT
• Entertainment

 The world of entertainment is constantly evolving with the advent of new technologies.
Digital broadcasting has changed the way we experience television, with more interactive
programming and participation. Digital cameras, printers and scanners have enabled
more people to experiment with image production. Computer gaming has been an
important influence in the development of graphical interfaces. Technology has been at
the forefront of changes in the production and distribution of music, as well as in the ways
in which people can access and listen to music.
Usage of ICT
• Public Service

 Though a personal identity card regime has been in the country since colonial times, the
digital version was introduced by the National Registration Department. A replacement
version of the card in the form of a High Quality Identity Card with a 64kb EEPROM
(Electronically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) chip was subsequently
introduced. These cards have a data retention capacity of up to 20 years and serves to
provide a number of functions besides confirming identity of the individual through a
photo and fingerprint (biometric) markers.
Usage of ICT
• ICT systems at home

 Many urban homes in our country have one or more appliances that are driven by
advanced electronics. The most pervasive is the cable TV provider. Increasingly,
however, the ultra rich among us are also installing a variety of systems like lighting,
security, air conditioning and others that are intelligently connected to master controls
linked to computers and cell phones etc. The smart home that integrates all of these is
fast making its appearance in individual homes and pricey condominiums. What this
means to the owner is a facility which he/she can access even when away from home - to
turn on the lights or the air conditioners or even warm the food.
Usage of ICT
• The Internet

 The Internet has become a major factor in enabling information sharing and has had a
huge impact on the availability of information of all kinds. Material on the Internet reflects
widely differing viewpoints and sources: from official news bulletins to unofficial rumors,
and from commercial megastores to community portals.
 The Internet has revolutionized the way information can be published, raising questions
about the authority and regulation of content. Because of the way the Internet has been
designed, no individual government, company or person has control over it.
Usage of ICT
• Education

 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education is the mode of education

that use information and communications technology to support, enhance, and optimize
the delivery of information. Worldwide research has shown that ICT can lead to an
improved student learning and better teaching methods.
 Usage of ICT
We reaffirm that the most effective policy to integrate ICT in education is through whole
school-based planning, teacher training and professional development.
We highlight that the challenge is not only to develop ICT competency standards for
teachers and prepare teachers to integrate ICT in their pedagogy, but also to offer
continuous support and to provide them with the incentives and the professional motivation
to unlock ICT to enhance the quality of learning. To incentivize teachers, governments and
institutions are recommended to integrate the evaluation of the use of ICT by institutions
and teachers into the systems and practices for monitoring the quality of learning.
 Components of an ICT system
ICT encompasses both the internet-enabled sphere as well as the mobile one powered by
wireless networks. It also includes antiquated technologies, such as landline telephones,
radio and television broadcast -- all of which are still widely used today alongside cutting-
edge ICT pieces such as artificial intelligence and robotics.
ICT is sometimes used synonymously with IT (information technology); however, ICT is
generally used to represent a broader, more comprehensive list of all components related to
computer and digital technologies than IT.
The list of ICT components is exhaustive, and it continues to grow. Some components, such
as computers and telephones, have existed for decades. Others, such as smartphones,
digital TVs and robots, are more recent entries.
ICT commonly means more than its list of components, though. It also encompasses the
application of all those various components. It's here that the real potential, power and
danger of ICT can be found.
The components of ICT
 System software • Software
• Operating system • User
• Input device • Network
• Output Device • Computer
• Storage Device • Internet
• Memory Device • LCD projector
• Hardware
 ICT's societal and economic impact
ICT is leveraged for economic, societal and interpersonal transactions and interactions. ICT
has drastically changed how people work, communicate, learn and live. Moreover, ICT
continues to revolutionize all parts of the human experience as first computers and now
robots do many of the tasks once handled by humans.
For example, computers once answered phones and directed calls to the appropriate
individuals to respond; now robots not only can answer the calls, but they can often more
quickly and efficiently handle callers' requests for services.
ICT's importance to economic development and business growth has been so monumental,
in fact, that it's credited with ushering in what many have labeled the Fourth Industrial
Revolution.
ICT also underpins broad shifts in society, as individuals all together are moving from
personal, face-to-face interactions to ones in the digital space. This new era is frequently
termed the Digital Age.
 ICT's societal and economic impact
For all its revolutionary aspects, though, ICT capabilities aren't evenly distributed. Simply
put, richer countries and richer individuals enjoy more access and thus have a greater ability
to seize on the advantages and opportunities powered by ICT.
Consider, for example, some findings from the World Bank. In 2016, it stated that more than
75% of people worldwide have access to a cellphone. However, internet access through
either mobile or fixed Broadband remains prohibitively expensive in many countries due to a
lack of ICT infrastructure.
Furthermore, the World Bank estimated that out of the global population of 7.4 billion people,
more than 4 billion don't have access to the internet. Additionally, it estimated that only 1.1
billion people have access to high-speed internet.
VIDEO
 The significance of ICT in enterprises
For businesses, advances within ICT have brought a slew of cost savings, opportunities and
conveniences. They range from highly automated businesses processes that have cut
costs, to the big data revolution where organizations are turning the vast trove of data
 generated by ICT into insights that drive new products and services, to ICT-enabled
transactions such as internet shopping and telemedicine and social media that give
customers more choices in how they shop, communicate and interact.
But ICT has also created problems and challenges to organizations and individuals alike --
as well as to society as a whole. The digitization of data, the expanding use of high-speed
internet and the growing global network together have led to new levels of crime, where so-
called bad actors can hatch electronically enabled schemes or illegally gain access to
systems to steal money, intellectual property or private information or to disrupt systems that
control critical infrastructure.
 The significance of ICT in enterprises
ICT has also brought automation and robots that displace workers who are unable to
transfer their skills to new positions. And ICT has allowed more and more people to limit their
interactions with others, creating what some people fear is a population that could lose some
of what makes it human.
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