Benefits Of ICT To The Economy: Essay

Describe about the Software Engineering For the Communications Technology.

This report aims to discuss the topic Benefits of ICT to the economy. A brief discussion of ICT is provided in this report. The benefits that are provided by ICT to the economy of a country is briefly discussed in this report. Lastly, this report concludes with an appropriate conclusion for this report.

ICT or Information and Communications Technology refers to the technology that is used for handling broadcast media, telecommunications, audiovisual processing, intelligent building management systems, and monitoring functions and the network based control (Bilbao-Osorio, Dutta & Lanvin, 2013). Recently, the field of ICT has been used for describing the integration of various technologies and the utilisation of mutual transmission lines that are transmitting dissimilar data and the types of communication and formats.

The field of ICT is the extension of information technology that focusses on the role of the combined communications and the integration of telecommunications, computers and the necessary software, storage, systems of audio and video, and middleware that enables the users to store, access, manipulate, and transmit information. Integrating the technologies that can be used for exemplifying ICT includes the convergence of telephone, audio-visual and the networks of computer using a mutual cabling system (Vaishnavi & Kuechler, 2015). Phone, television services, and Internet is commonly provided by the ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to the businesses and homes via single optical cable. By eliminating the networks of telephone has offered huge economic benefits for implementing the integration that eliminates several costs linked with the servicing, maintenance costs, signal distribution, cabling, and user installation.

Technology, innovation and science has grown to become crucial factors that contributes to the growth of an economies of both developing and advanced. In knowledge economy, the information flows at international level via trade in the services and goods, direct investment, the association of people, and the flow of technology (Bloom et al., 2014). The technology ICT has been in the centre of all the changes in economy for a significant amount of time. The sector of ICT plays a key role by contributing to the swift progress of the technologies and the growth of productivity. This led to the increase in the shift by the multinational companies towards globalisation. The implementation of these innovative technologies in the creative accomplishments are altering the structure of economy and it is also contributing in the growth of productivity of a nation. The competitiveness of the economies depends on the level of productivity and in a knowledge economy, the sectors of ICT determines the level of productivity (Ritzhaupt et al., 2013). It has been observed that the power of the competitiveness of economy of a nation relies on the revenue that is generated by the sector of ICT. The two common ways of improving the TFP of an ICT and for improving the competitiveness power. First, if all the problems of inefficiency of the nations are solved by the reallocation of resources, then the TFP of the sector of ICT can be improved and this will lead to the increased competitiveness. Second, the improvement of technology in such countries presents an anticipation about increasing the TFP of the sector of ICT in the future.

Importance of ICT in economy

Networking and digital computers have altered the economy by eliminating all the boundaries in space and time due to the introduction of ICT. It introduces several advantages for the development of economy and enabling millions of transactions to occur in fast and easy methods (Andrade & Doolin, 2016). The sector of ICT is one the crucial structure for the development of economy for gaining national competitive advantage. The quality of human life can be improved with the introduction of ICT in the economy of a country as it can be extensively utilised for education and learning for masses, the media of mass communication for campaigning and promoting important and practical issues like the sector of society and health (Lindberg et al., 2013). Wider knowledge is gained by ICT and it can provide opportunities in accessing and gaining information.

ICT is an integral part of the masses in the recent times. ICT is utilised in the education sector as it adds value in learning and teaching, by improving the effectiveness of learning, or by accumulating a dimension of learning that has never existed before. ICT can be an important factor of motivation in the learning of students and it can back the engagement of student with adding collaborative learning (Lee et al., 2016). ICT is fundamentally the effort of society in teaching the emerging and the current citizens some valuable skills and knowledge around the devices of communications and computation, software that are used for operating the systems, applications that are executed on the systems and the systems that are created with them.

In the present times, the progress in the ICT have created changes in many of the structures of economy of a nation like the reorganisation of globalisation, economics and the extension of trade that leads to the flow of capital and enhances the availability of information. Additionally, ICT impacts the growth of each economic sector, specifically during the process of liberalisation (Holtgrewe, 2014). The growth of economy is directly connected to the investment in the ICT of a nation. The investment in the ICT of a nation is necessary in the present times and several firms and companies investing in the technology for gaining benefits. Several firms implemented the facility of Internet and introduced computers in their business models for economic reasons, like providing the consumers with an increased customised and diverse products, enhancing the quality of product, and selling services and goods. Wireless technology and the infrastructure of ICT development is essential for the small business development and the entrepreneurship. In several emerging economies, the major challenge is to obtain access to the information of market and capital (Keller & Heiko, 2014). The developing nations particularly do not possess the infrastructure of functioning or abundant financial resources.

In the empirical analysis of the economic growth, the three effects of ICT and particularly renowned (Stahl, Eden & Jirotka, 2013). First, the investment in the ICT donates in deepening of capital and hence can assist in raising the productivity of labour. Second, the rapid progress of the technology in the production of the goods of ICT can supports the growth of efficiency of the labour and capital or MFP (Multifactor productivity), in sectors of ICT-producing. Third, higher the use of the ICT all over the economy creates the opportunities for the firms to increase the total efficiency, and therefore raise the MFP (Roztocki & Weistroffer, 2015). Additionally, increased use of the ICT can support in the effects of network, like decrease in the costs of transaction and more swift innovation, which can contribute in enhancing the MFP. The impacts can be understood at the various levels of the analysis such as the with macro-economic data, with the data of industry or with the data of the individual organisations or firms. The evidence at the industry level and aggregate presents essential insights of the ICT impact on the productivity, but it also generates new questions, like the conditions on which the investment on ICT grows to be effective in improving the productivity. However, the complete evidence directs to the very constrained impact on the productivity of ICT in several countries, despite the considerable investment in the ICT.

The role of ICT capital can be understood by several studies that have been conducted on the impact of ICT on an economy at the macroeconomic level and the results prove that the area of investing in ICT is a success factor of the companies in a country. The role of sector  of ICT producers is particularly considered as the priority in several countries as this sector produces huge productivity growth rates, offering a significant contribution to the complete performance. Several researches in the interest of ICT is connected to potential economic benefits that arises from the use of ICT in the process of production (Wildevuur & Simonse, 2015).

The efficient use of ICT can help the firms in expanding the range of products, customisation of the offered services and response better to the demands of the clients, which will ultimately lead to the innovation of the company. However, ICT can assist in reducing the inefficiency of capital use and labour, which means the decrease in the inventories. The integration of ICT can have significant impacts on the establishment of the networks of ICT, that produces huge benefits for the customers or firms that are connected to the network.

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be concluded that the impact of ICT on the economy is significant as it helps in increasing the productivity of the nation and create several opportunities for the people. ICT or Information and Communications Technology refers to the technology that is used for handling broadcast media, telecommunications, audio-visual processing, intelligent building management systems, and monitoring functions and the network based control. Integrating the technologies that can be used for exemplifying ICT includes the convergence of telephone, audio-visual and the networks of computer using a mutual cabling system. Technology, innovation and science has grown to become crucial factors that contributes to the growth of an economies of both developing and advanced. In knowledge economy, the information flows at international level via trade in the services and goods, direct investment, the association of people, and the flow of technology. Networking and digital computers have altered the economy by eliminating all the boundaries in space and time due to the introduction of ICT. It introduces several advantages for the development of economy and enabling millions of transactions to occur in fast and easy methods. 

References

Andrade, A. D., & Doolin, B. (2016). Information and communication technology and the social inclusion of refugees. Mis Quarterly, 40(2), 405-416.

Bilbao-Osorio, B., Dutta, S., & Lanvin, B. (2013, April). The global information technology report 2013. In World Economic Forum (pp. 1-383).

Bloom, N., Garicano, L., Sadun, R., & Van Reenen, J. (2014). The distinct effects of information technology and communication technology on firm organization. Management Science, 60(12), 2859-2885.

Holtgrewe, U. (2014). New new technologies: the future and the present of work in information and communication technology. New technology, work and employment, 29(1), 9-24.

Keller, J., & Heiko, A. (2014). The influence of information and communication technology (ICT) on future foresight processes—Results from a Delphi survey. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 85, 81-92.

Lee, A. R., Son, S. M., & Kim, K. K. (2016). Information and communication technology overload and social networking service fatigue: A stress perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 51-61.

Lindberg, B., Nilsson, C., Zotterman, D., Söderberg, S., & Skär, L. (2013). Using information and communication technology in home care for communication between patients, family members, and healthcare professionals: a systematic review. International journal of telemedicine and applications, 2013.

Ritzhaupt, A. D., Liu, F., Dawson, K., & Barron, A. E. (2013). Differences in student information and communication technology literacy based on socio-economic status, ethnicity, and gender: Evidence of a digital divide in Florida schools. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 45(4), 291-307.

Roztocki, N., & Weistroffer, H. R. (2015). Information and communication technology in transition economies: an assessment of research trends. Information Technology for Development, 21(3), 330-364.

Stahl, B. C., Eden, G., & Jirotka, M. (2013). Responsible research and innovation in information and communication technology: Identifying and engaging with the ethical implications of ICTs. Responsible innovation, 199-218.

Vaishnavi, V. K., & Kuechler, W. (2015). Design science research methods and patterns: innovating information and communication technology. Crc Press.

Wildevuur, S. E., & Simonse, L. W. (2015). Information and communication technology–enabled person-centered care for the “big five” chronic conditions: scoping review. Journal of medical Internet research, 17(3).