Definitions [ ]
Information and communication technologies (ICT )
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covers a wide range of services, applications , technologies, devices and software , i.e., tools such as telephony and the Internet , distance learning , televisions , computers , and the networks and software required to use these technologies, which are revolutionizing social, cultural and economic structures by creating new attitudes towards information , knowledge , working life, etc.[2]
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encompasses all technologies for the capture , storage , retrieval , processing , display , representation , organization , management , security , transfer , and interchange of data and information .[3]
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Overview [ ]
The term is sometimes used in preference to information technology (IT ), particularly in two communities: education and government.
In the common usage it is often assumed that ICT is synonymous with IT ; ICT in fact encompasses any medium to record information (magnetic disk /tape , optical disks (CD /DVD ), flash memory , etc. and arguably also paper records); technology for broadcasting information — radio , television ; and technology for communicating through voice and sound or images — microphone , camera, loudspeaker, telephone to cellular phones . It includes the wide variety of computing hardware (PCs , servers , mainframes , networked storage ), the rapidly developing personal hardware market comprising mobile phones , personal devices , MP3 players , and much more; the full gamut of application software from the smallest home-developed spreadsheet to the largest enterprise software and online services ; and the hardware and software needed to operate networks for transmission of information , again ranging from a home network to the largest global private networks operated by major commercial enterprises and, of course, the Internet . Thus, "ICT" makes more explicit that technologies such as broadcasting and wireless mobile telecommunications are included.
United States [ ]
European Union [ ]
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Information and communications technology has become the backbone of our economic growth and is a critical resource which all economic sectors rely on. It now underpins the complex systems which keep our economies running in key sectors such as finance, health, energy and transport; while many business models are built on the uninterrupted availability of the Internet and the smooth functioning of information systems .[6]
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References [ ]