Information Technology Revolution | IT Revolution

I.T Revolution

It is said that knowledge is power and information is essentially a starting point for knowledge. The last 300 years have witnessed proliferation of knowledge and technologies, but no other technology has had the same impact as the information technology is having on the social, political. economic, culturalfand other aspects of human life.
Advances in information technology are going to revolutionise human civilisation. Information is powerful enough to change cultures, customs and communities. Information technology is changing the way we think, talk, act, educate and associate. It is providing newer and newer tools and devices, which are facilitating rapid expansion of knowledge and having farreaching impact on the decision-making process and human activities.

I information technology is having its impact ' not only at homes. offices and factories but also in farms and fields, health centres and hospitals and areas of production, services and many other vital activities and networking people across social, cultural and national boundaries.
The belief that information technology is only for the rich and the affluent and is needed in a modern work environment has been conclusively disproved.
 The apprehension that use of computcrs in offices, banks and financial institutions would create joblessness, unemployment and retrenchment and therefore, vehemently opposed by the trade unious, has been proved baseless. On the contrary, it is finding newer and newer applications to create new jobs and bringing new opportunities.
 The different facets of IT such as computers, internets, e-mail, fax, telex, e-governance, mobile phones, satellite phones, satellite television. personal computers, etc. are affecting almost every aspect of our life and are proving useful in administration, financial management, population control, health serviccs, agriculture, water resources management, transport and other major infrastructure development.

The significant aspect of the information revolution has been the merger of communication and computer technologies. This new technology is making it much easier to disseminate news, information, ideas and messages. Tradi» tionally, only the human mind could evolve the process to receive and create information. But, today, a part of this function has been taken over by electronic machiens, which are capable of deducing, sensing. storing, retrieving, transfering and transmitting information.
 With the merger of communication and computers, global networks have become a powerful tool for social, political and economic change by providing more choices and information to net work people throughout the world. As a result of this merger, we can now select and retrieve instantly any in~ formation by the click of a ‘mouse’ with great precision. Never before has knowledge been so easily and instantly accessible.
Large-scale use of computers in banks and financial institutions has made money-management more integrated, quicker, easier and more hassle-free. Use of computers has been very effective in the entire transport and communication system in our country. From booking of tickets to regulation of trains and planes, everything is now computerised. In the field of higher education. use of computers has been a great boon, particularly for research and space exploration.
 Computers are widely used for data computation and analysis, checking of answer papers and finalisation of examination results. Computerisation of the police and other security agencies has helped in the detection of crimes and tracking down criminals. In business and industry. computers are becoming more and more indispensable right from planning. organisation and management to the actual production. The application of information technology is becoming more and more important on the factory production floor to improve productivity and efficiency, quality and competitiveness.
 In the field of medicine and health-care, computers have been very effective in diagnosis of disease. in diagnostic tests and in evolving fast and accurate treatment  as well. At offices, electronic technology is aimed at creating paperless offices to document, file and transmit information at electronic speed. The target is to increase the efficiency and productivity of the white collar and managerial work force.

As the world makes away from capital-intensive industrial base to knowledge-intensive information base, the role of the service sector will increase substantially. The production of more and more manufacturing goods with fewer and fewer people, through automation. robotics and other information-related technologies will lead to the creation of more jobs in the service sector.

In other words, hard jobs requiring muscle power will be reduced and more soft jobs requiring brain power, knowledge and creativity will increase. Most future jobs will have a large information content. They will have more to do with one’s mind than with one’s hands.