Information Technology Information Technology
Although humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating, and communicating information since the earliest writing systems were developed,[3] the term information technology in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Harold J. Leavitt and Thomas L. Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT)."[4] Their definition consists of three categories: techniques for processing, the application of statistical and mathematical methods to decision-making, and the simulation of higher-order thinking through computer programs.[4]
Information Technology Information Technology
The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several products or services within an economy are associated with information technology, including computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, and e-commerce.[5][a]
Information technology is also a branch of computer science, which can be defined as the overall study of procedure, structure, and the processing of various types of data. As this field continues to evolve across the world, the overall priority and importance has also grown, which is where we begin to see the introduction of computer science-related courses in K-12 education.
Ideas of computer science were first mentioned before the 1950s under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, where they had discussed and began thinking of computer circuits and numerical calculations. As time went on, the field of information technology and computer science became more complex and was able to handle the processing of more data. Scholarly articles began to be published from different organizations.[7]
Looking at early computing, Alan Turing, J. Presper Eckert, and John Mauchly were considered to be some of the major pioneers of computer technology in the mid-1900s. Giving them such credit for their developments, most of their efforts were focused on designing the first digital computer. Along with that, topics such as artificial intelligence began to be brought up as Turing was beginning to question such technology of the time period.[8]
Innovations in technology have already revolutionized the world by the twenty-first century as people were able to access different online services. This has changed the workforce drastically as thirty percent of U.S. workers were already in careers in this profession. 136.9 million people were personally connected to the Internet, which was equivalent to 51 million households.[17] Along with the Internet, new types of technology were also being introduced across the globe, which has improved efficiency and made things easier across the globe.
Along with technology revolutionizing society, millions of processes could be done in seconds. Innovations in communication were also crucial as people began to rely on the computer to communicate through telephone lines and cable. The introduction of the email was a really big thing as "companies in one part of the world could communicate by e-mail with suppliers and buyers in another part of the world..."[18]
Not only personally, computers and technology have also revolutionized the marketing industry, resulting in more buyers of their products. During the year of 2002, Americans exceeded $28 billion in goods just over the Internet alone while e-commerce a decade later resulted in $289 billion in sales.[18] And as computers are rapidly becoming more sophisticated by the day, they are becoming more used as people are becoming more reliant on them during the twenty-first century.
Early electronic computers such as Colossus made use of punched tape, a long strip of paper on which data was represented by a series of holes, a technology now obsolete.[19] Electronic data storage, which is used in modern computers, dates from World War II, when a form of delay-line memory was developed to remove the clutter from radar signals, the first practical application of which was the mercury delay line.[20] The first random-access digital storage device was the Williams tube, which was based on a standard cathode ray tube.[21] However, the information stored in it and delay-line memory was volatile in the fact that it had to be continuously refreshed, and thus was lost once power was removed. The earliest form of non-volatile computer storage was the magnetic drum, invented in 1932[22] and used in the Ferranti Mark 1, the world's first commercially available general-purpose electronic computer.[23]
Data transmission has three aspects: transmission, propagation, and reception.[35] It can be broadly categorized as broadcasting, in which information is transmitted unidirectionally downstream, or telecommunications, with bidirectional upstream and downstream channels.[27]
Hilbert and Lopez identify the exponential pace of technological change (a kind of Moore's law): machines' application-specific capacity to compute information per capita roughly doubled every 14 months between 1986 and 2007; the per capita capacity of the world's general-purpose computers doubled every 18 months during the same two decades; the global telecommunication capacity per capita doubled every 34 months; the world's storage capacity per capita required roughly 40 months to double (every 3 years); and per capita broadcast information has doubled every 12.3 years.[27]
Companies in the information technology field are often discussed as a group as the "tech sector" or the "tech industry."[40][41][42] These titles can be misleading at times and should not be mistaken for "tech companies;" which are generally large scale, for-profit corporations that sell consumer technology and software. It is also worth noting that from a business perspective, Information Technology departments are a "cost center" the majority of the time. A cost center is a department or staff which incurs expenses, or "costs," within a company rather than generating profits or revenue streams. Modern businesses rely heavily on technology for their day-to-day operations, so the expenses delegated to cover technology that facilitates business in a more efficient manner are usually seen as "just the cost of doing business." IT departments are allocated funds by senior leadership and must attempt to achieve the desired deliverables while staying within that budget. Government and the private sector might have different funding mechanisms, but the principles are more-or-less the same. This is an often overlooked reason for the rapid interest in automation and Artificial Intelligence, but the constant pressure to do more with less is opening the door for automation to take control of at least some minor operations in large companies.
In a business context, the Information Technology Association of America has defined information technology as "the study, design, development, application, implementation, support, or management of computer-based information systems".[44][page needed] The responsibilities of those working in the field include network administration, software development and installation, and the planning and management of an organization's technology life cycle, by which hardware and software are maintained, upgraded, and replaced.
Information technology (IT) is the use of computer systems or devices to access information. Information technology is responsible for such a large portion of our workforce, business operations and personal access to information that it comprises much of our daily activities. Whether you are storing, retrieving, accessing or manipulating information, IT greatly impacts our everyday lives.
Information technology plays a prominent role in business and provides a foundation for much of our current workforce. From communications to data management and operational efficiency, IT supports many business functions and helps drive productivity.
Information technology drives much of what we do in our personal and professional lives. It is the foundation of our communication, technological advancement, innovation, sustainability and recreation. We use information technology on a personal level to connect and communicate with others, play games, share media, shop and be social.
From a career perspective, information technology is largely responsible for much of our business operations and spans nearly every industry. From healthcare to food services, manufacturing to sales, and beyond, we rely on IT to help connect us to others, store and manage information and create more efficient processes.
According to Cyberstates 2020, there were 12.1 million technology-based jobs in 2020, which continues to grow year over year. Careers in IT span many different areas, from computer hardware and software development to networking, computer repair, technical support, cybersecurity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data science and so much more. What originally began as a siloed department, information technology is now considered a critical business function that impacts nearly every aspect of an organization.
An IT job is any position that involves the implementation, support, maintenance, repair or protection of data or computer systems. Those involved in development, deployment or support of the systems or applications others use are the most common examples of IT jobs. If you like problem solving and being an active learner, a technology job could be right for you.
The short answer is yes, absolutely! Information technology provides careers in varying levels of complexity and allows you to work in nearly any vertical industry you like. Because information technology is the foundation for much of our business operations, the options are boundless. Wages also afford a good standard of living and there is little chance that your job will become obsolete. 041b061a72