RELEVANCE-OUTLINE-IMPACT (ROI) OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY P.Pal Chaudhuri Department of Computer Science & Technology Bengal Enginnering College (Deemed University) I Introduction The acronym ROI commonly stands for 'Return On Investment' for financial planners. In the present context it continues to carry similar analogy for an individual or an organisation or the socity as a whole in respect of the return expected out of its investment on Information Technology (IT). In order to establish this point, the acronym has been redefined to emphasize - (i) what is the RELEVENCE (R) of IT as the human society marches to the Information Age leaving behind the Industrial Age; (ii) what does it stand for - a brief OUTLINE (O) of the activities and areas covered under this upcomming technology; and (iii) what IMPACT (I) it is going to have on the human society of the next millenium. II Relevance of Information Technology. The term 'Information' can be formally defined as the input that helps us to resolve uncertainity in some form or other. Sequential resolution of uncertainity, it can be observed, is the fundamental issue for any decision making process in our daily life. It is naturally the key factor for the purposeful behaviour by any mechanism - individual, organization, government or the socity. Hence an obvious conclusion is - every working mechanism of the human society demands 'Information'. While the condition of a critical patient displayed on the video monitor of an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is the vital information for the attending doctor, the information in respect of share prices in stock market is extremely important for the organizations operating in the sector of financial management. Any efficient government body or an organization is in continuous need of relevent information in respect of the available resources and their utilization. Availability of right kind of information at right place and their effective utilizatiion at right time can make the decision making process at any level much more effective. This would invariably enhance the quality of life in the human society. Further, on a critical assessment it can be also observed that 'Information' in some form or other also play a key role for the behavioural pattern in the animal world and in the living world as a whole. Obviously, "Energy is a partner with Information since it allows things to exist in the physical world, because without the existance of things, purposeful behaviour is a vacuous notion".Thus the two main components of the universe around us are - energy and Information. Search for economically viable sources of energy and its effective utilization to enhance the quality of life on earth have been the major emphasis for the scientists and technologists in last hundred and fifty years since the dawn of 'Industrial Age'. No doubt, it will continue to be so in future. However, as the society moves into the 'Information Age' leaving behind the 'Industrial Age', the emphasis is going to be shifted to 'Information'. Acquisition/generation/creation/selection and effective utilization of Information will be the main driving force in haping the future of human society in the comming decades. All the decisions and activities in any sector ( agricultural/ industrial/financial ) at any level ( individual,organization, or government) in future society will be more and more dependent on Information. The expected end result is - higher efficiency of operation along with optimum utilization of available resources. The country that can - (i) make available right kind of information at right time at right level, and (ii) take effective decisions based on such information, will have the highest national growth rate and will dominate the international scenario in next millenium. Exponentioal growth of 'Information' is a typical phenomenan of the complex human socity of modern age referred to as 'Information Age', This situation has forced the society to develop the new technology referred to as 'Information Technology' ( IT in brief). III Information Technology - An Overview (O) On What It Encompases The discipline of Information Theory came into focus with Clude E Shanon's classical paper "A mthematical theory of communication" in 1948. This theory deals with the amount of information and does not handle the meaning of information . The theory does not provide necessary help in the design of an Information System . As a result the initial interest generated on Information Theory came down and the number of courses taught in this field declined. By contrast, in recent years the decipline of information technology has been gaining widespread acceptance in diverse contexts because it provides the support necessary to build an Information System that serves best for some specific end application. Information Technology deals with all kinds of information. Dealing in the present context encompasses acquisition, storage, retrieval, processing, communication and display of Information. The end objective is to make the effective and efficient use of information to resolve uncertainity and enhance productivity at each level - individual, society, and government. This applied people-oriented technology enables an end user to develop real world Informaton Systems in order to manage systems and resources more efficiently. As a result, in comming decades IT will be the key technology for all production and service industries and it is also going to be the main vehicle for a growing number of social services such as health,education,transport,entertainment and culture. The end objective of "effective and efficient use" of Information plays the most significant role in Information Technology. With its roots in Computer Science and Engineering, communication systems, and management science, the upcoming discipline of IT is supposed to train its students to select and evolve schemes for effective and effecient use of the aviable technologies that are appropiate for specific end application. An IT professional may not be a computer specialist or a communication engineer or a management expert, but she/he should have sufficient knowledge and expertise to make things work (effectively and efficiently) for end applications dealing with information. An IT professional should have general competencies in following areas. 1. Sound knowledge of current tools and technologies available on (i) aquisition, storage and retrieval of information in digital media; (ii) software engineering and application development in a wide variety of hardware and software platforms including distributed computing environment; (iii) networked environment including LAN, WAN, Inter and Intra-networking; and (iv) information display including multimedia applications, electronic publishing etc. 2. Technology deployment for end applications including needs assessment, design, development,technology transfer and on-going support. 3. Assessment and evaluation of human factor so that the solutions arrived at for end applicatins match best to user's needs. In contrast to the above vision of Information Technology, the discipline of Computer Science and Technology view the problem only from the computing point of view. The computer scientists and technologists tend to build and extend the underlying computer technology, while the Information Technologists tend to apply the available technologies in diverse fields to solve real world problems for end users. As a result an IT professoional typically glues together available components/products in high level scripting environment, rather than building large software packages from scratch using traditional programming environment as done by a typical computer professional. The role of IT professionals and those in other engineering professions differ significantly. An engineer/technologist in computer and communication field make a new product /service based on some market study and end user is supposed to adopt that for some end application. Such technologies can be viewed as top-down in the sense that the companies market the product which an end user needs to adopt to gain maximum benefiet out of it. By contrast an IT professional will identify the need for a specific technology/product/services that will be created and made available by the computer and/or communication or some other technology. Thus IT is a people-oriented bottom-up technology that will have the most significant influence on the information socity of the next millenium. For decades business houses,industries and government bodies have used computers and other advanced technologies to speed up the current methods of operations without fundamentally altering the basic structure and functions. As the human socity enter into the next millenium, it will become essential to restructure the operations with full integration of available technologies. That responsibility will fall on the shoulder of IT professionals. As a result there will be high demand of IT professionals in every sector - government, industry ,business, education. Presently positions do exist or are being created in every organization as web master,web designer,network manager,facilities administrator, user support specialist,multimedia developer,interface specialist, database developer and administrator etc. A variety of other services will be also demanded in future along with multiplication of positions at each of the sections and levels as the organiza- tions will move to deploy the benefits of Information Technology for restructuring its operations. An academic program in the descipline of IT should expose the student to basic foundations and tools in the field of Computer and Communication technologies, and management sciences along with other subjects. The curriculm should be so oriented that the graduats of this discipline develop the competencies to deploy and interface apporipate software and hardware technologies for effective and efficient use of information to solve real world problems in diverse fields. IV Impact Of Information Technology On The Soceity of Next Millenium Some distinct and remarkable changes were observed in the behavioural pattern of an individual and the community as a whole as the human society entered the 'Industrial Age' leaving behind the 'Agricultural Age'. As we move into the era of'Information Age', some phenomenal changes are anticipated in the society. Such changes,it has been predicted, will be mach more reevolutionary in nature than what was experienced by the society while it crossed the boundary of agricul- tural and industrial age. Some of the changes anticipated in the society are enlisted below. A trend of such changes can be already observed in economicaly developed countries.These are first likely to be observed in the rich and upper middle class of the society in all the countries around the globe. The behavioural pattern and life style of this group of people are likely to converge to a uniform code in comming years. Impact of the changes introduced by IT will slowly trickle down the line to the poor and underpriveledged class with government support. Personal life and professional environment ------------------------------------------ Each member of the society will be globally located and wired with distinct IP (Interface Protocol) address provided by the local Internet service providers. Voice over internet, video phone, multimedia applications will become marketable products at affordable price. Sophistiticated home entertainment along with access to large volume of Information through web TV will be introduced. In a such networked environment,personal relationship is likely to be dominated more and more through impersonal communication. Friendship and acquaintance through electronic medium will increase across the national boundaries. Use of mobile information appliances and computing devices will be a common practice similar to the use of mobile phone of present time. As a result, ready access to information of all kinds will get ensured at any point of time. The era of anxiety and frustration due to non-availability of some key information at crucial moments is likely to end in personal life. Individual's life style will be guided more with IT related equipments and gadgets. A universal behavioural pattern of an individual member of the society is likely to emerge irrespective of geographical boundary of a nation. In respect of professional environment, an individual is likely to come across following changes. In comming years paperless office with a networked environment will be a normal feature. Hard copy of any document/letter will be an exception rather than a rule. Ubiquitous electronic media will be the standared repository for any sort of infor- mation. Telecommuting (working from home through network) is likely to increase in big cities for professionals. Vidio conferencing technology is likely to improve to an acceptable level whereby travel for office work will reduce. A new type of networked work culture will emerge in which workforce from top to bottom level will continuously interact through electronic medium. Rather than physical location of an individual, her/his access to a networked information appliance for inter-group and intra-group interactions and discussions will be the key factor. Changes in Academice Enviroment ------------------------------- IT is going to be introduced in a big way at all levels of informal and formal education in schools, colleges and universities. Electronic text, on-line library, on-line journals and books, on-line lecture materials for different courses will get introduced. The networked learning and teaching process will compliment the conventional class room teaching allowing each individual student to progress as per her/his capability. Importance of teamwork and co-operative learning in a networked academic environment will get emphasised for the benefiet of each member of the group and will become popular among student community. The conventional classroom with 'chalk and talk' will be made much more effective wilh on-line display of important lecture materials on a PC available to each student in a networked class room. In order to avail the benefiets of IT, the teaching community will appropiately restructure the course and lecture materials. Co-operative research environment is likely to flourish among research/academic community across the geographical boundary of different countries. Life in the next millenium will be more and more dependent on information and computation. Further, the technology in modern time is changing very fast. In such an environment how much an individual knows will not be the main issue,rather how quickly one can grasp new things is going to matter. As a result, the student community in general, are likey to be exposed to the culture of continuous learning and self renewal/updating. Internet and its web sites are going to be the major sources of wide variety of information and exchange of ideas among the self-driven student community of next generation. Changes in Commercial and Industrial Sector -------------------------------------------- Total dependence on internet and intranet for business transactions is a foregone conclusion . Business processes like marketting , ordering ,billing ,payment ,inventory and delivery system will be reengineered to fit into the environment of Electronic Commerce (EC). Reduction /abolition of paper work , improved communication with vendors , suppliers and business partners are expected to result in higher efficiency of operation and reduced time to put proper product in proper segment of the market arround the globe. IT will also have significant impact in the production units of industrial sector. Acquisition of proper management information and availability of adequate processed information to proper segment of production line will lead to higher overall efficiency. Productivity improvement through the appropriate use of IT in all sectors of commercial and industrial activities will be an accepted fact in the 'Information Age'. Changes in the Government Sector --------------------------------- It is expected that in the fast changing scenario, the government in each country will get geared up to the networked environment of the 'Information Age'. Government machinery will invariably employ the IT for national planing and to improve productivity and efficiency of its departmental activities. A responsive and forward looking government body will install Information Highways and intrastructure providing the national backbone for high speed uninterrupted flow of information.In addition, a national government is likely to create Information Centres and take other appropriate measures so that economically weaker section of society can avail the benifits of IT to improve the quality of life. Further, IT is likely to force a government of each country to make its non-confidential decissions transparent and subject to scrutiny of its own population and international community. Further, in the web-centric networked society of next millenium no government will be able to isolate its population from the information generated outside its geographical boundary. If any government fails to respond to the call of the 'Information Age' , the community it serves and represents will lag behind in every walk of life - education , business , industry , and social amenities and this will be disastrous for that state/country. Social Changes ---------------- As the behavioural pattern of an individual changes , its reflection on society is inevitable in the Information Age. Under the influence of IT the human society in the global networked web-centric environment will become highly dependent on Information, Computation, Internet and IT gadgets / appliances . Availability of raw and processed/computed information will open up immense potentiality to enrich each segment of the society in all the spheres of its activities. No doubt the problem of data security and unauthorised access to restricted and private data is a source of major concern along with all other social problems like - personal contact getting replaced with impersonal electronic communication, isolation of individual from the community , isolation from nature, misuse/abuse of internet etc. The list is much longer. This brings us at the crossroad of an unusual situation . In the past, different technologies have been developed to improve the quality of life and help the society to tackle social problems . This is probably first time in the history of human civilization where the technology (in the present case Information Technology) will generate many social problems which the society will have to tackle through adequate regulatory mechanism with appropriate laws ,rules and regulations. After the initial enthusiasm dies, the society as whole will slowly become aware of the social problems and evils generated with the application of IT. Strength and vitality of the human society aquired during the journey through past and present era of civilazation will enable it to formulate appropriate control mechanism to overcome the problems and march ahead into the civilazation of next milenium. m