This paper is aimed at the global impact information technology (IT) has had on our lives, both positive and negative. Information technology involves the use of computers and how we communicate, store, retrieve, and manipulate data. Additionally, when scientific knowledge is applied it helps us identify and solve issues that we deal with daily. It would be merely impossible to skip the effect of information technology on our everyday lives and routines. Presently, when we analyze technology, it can be broken down into two categories: how has it impacted our lives and if it’s good or bad. Technology is growing at an unbelievably rapid pace since information technology professionals are consistently making additions to technology. IT has made its imprint on almost every aspect of the economy, business, healthcare, and education allowing humanity to progress globally. We now have the means to communicate with others across the world whereas decades earlier there were obstacles, such as distance, that stood in our way. Consequently, since we rely so heavily on technology nowadays, we must consider the devastation it could also have on our society.
The Positive Effects
If you take the time to observe our surroundings, you will notice that our environment is loaded with the innovation even where it is difficult to see its reality. More often than not, we overlook the degree of its significance and underestimate it. Information technology has changed our way of life and to a great extent upgraded our standard of living. Innovative transformations have brought about numerous self-evident advantages (Dutta, Geiger, & Lanvin, 2015). We are continuously associated with multitudes of fundamental things in our standard of living. By utilizing technology in our everyday lives, various tasks have become simpler.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
- Proper editing and formatting
- Free revision, title page, and bibliography
- Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
Education has seen colossal affects caused by the expansion of technology. The Internet is a gateway to an endless amount of information for students and teachers. Technology has facilitated distance learning which replaced the traditional classroom setting and students can study in the comfort of their own home. This is an amazing opportunity for those attending an institution of higher learning especially for people that already have careers. Electronic deliverables cut down on the resources used to produce books.
The economy worldwide is constantly going through changes as a result of the growing technology advancements. Most companies and organizations have witnessed a spike in their production and capital gains. “Nowadays, competition has intensified and shifted from the national to the global arena, and product life cycles have shrunk; yet, there is a growing requirement to satisfy customers’ specific and individual needs” (Pagès, Bikfalvi, & De Castro Vila, 2009). With the emergence of technology inventions, more job opportunities are available thus revamping the more traditional way businesses are run. For example, many people and companies have taken advantage of the Internet by selling products and goods rather than having to find a building for distribution. This eventually saves them the cost of overhead, renting space, hiring employees to run the establishment, and insurance. Most companies, if not all, are influenced by the evolution of technology. The Cloud and social media play a major part in the complete overhaul of the global economy landscape.
Millions of people from all parts of the world can share information, ideas, and communicate without the interference of boundaries. Professionals in the field of sociology compared the significance of technology on society to reconstructing the world from far-reaching continents isolating individuals, to a little town encompassing the whole world’s populace, which is where we get the term globalization (Lawlor, 2007). Several decades ago, before information technology, it would take people longer to communicate with others especially if they were across the country not to mention the world. Today, someone in the U.S. could communicate with another person in Afghanistan which I know from experience being deployed several times.
Advances in technology within the healthcare field has spared an innumerable amount of patient’s lives and frequently making strides to ensure our quality of life. Because of new innovations in technology, the medical field has had a gigantic effect on about all forms and hones of healthcare experts. Very rarely will we see antiquated paper records for patients. Electronic health records, also known as EHRs, have been a substantial change for medical professionals (CCHIT, 2016). Medical billing coders, licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and pharmacy technicians are a small number of medical professions that benefit from this industry-wide usage. The term ‘Big Data’ is often used in the medical field when discussing EHRs. It pertains to large amounts of data that is accumulated and prepared for analysis. Massive amounts of data (approximately 100 terabytes) are collected and stored every second (Ratchinsky, 2016). To mitigate outrageous costs from additional servers, healthcare facilities incorporate the Cloud. Many of the use Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a means to accommodate their data processes. Artificial intelligence (AI) helps maximize the efficiency of hospital operations. In certain situations where patient’s records are incomplete or nonexistent, AIs can foresee and analyze illnesses at a quicker rate than most healthcare professionals.
The Negative Effects
Presently, information technology has assisted in the progression of our lives and the way we communicate with each other, but it too has numerous obvious downfalls. We use the Internet for things like gathering information to do research on a particular topic. In contrast, many of us spend countless hours watching videos on YouTube, streaming movies, or surfing the web. Instead of wasting valuable time, we could engage in activities that are more stimulating to our minds and bodies (Joyce, Fisher, Guszcza, & Hogan, 2018).
Modern technologies bear exceptionally appalling impacts on our minds. Our brains do not adapt well with the challenges of advanced gadgets. The extreme exposure present day technology minimizes our ability to concentrate, productiveness, and influences the way we think.
There are a great deal of social networking sites and applications that people use to connect with others, encouraging them to be more public about their lives. Personally, I watch a great deal of court proceedings and investigations. There is a misconception that people have where they believe that if they delete an email or text message that it is gone forever. However, that is not the case because they can be retrieved. What we believe about our online information being private, it truly is just the opposite. The reality is, with the steady increase of technology we will see more and more instances of our privacy being compromised.
With technology readily available to us, we are less likely to remember or retain information. Skills that were once taught in the classroom have diminished because we rely on technology to do the work for us. Online learning environments can result in students not being able to use social skills. In my opinion, the best way to combat this is to have a good balance of teacher and technology interactions.
Black hat hackers have experience breaking into systems and networks for several reasons. They attempt to find holes in security measures to steal information, hijack information systems, or just to see if it is possible to crack. These unethical hackers can also manipulate or delete data which can be devastating to an organization.
Conclusion
Today, across the world information technology is very much incorporated into our everyday lives. It has transformed humanity profoundly but not all the developments have been beneficial. No longer do we see a world full of independent countries operating alone. Globalization paved the way for multiple nations to communicate and work simultaneously (Lawlor, 2007). Technology has significantly made a difference; therefore, we are more effective in this way expanding our efficiency. It has encouraged us to conserve on numerous assets such as capital and time and these are notable profits that should not be disregarded. Despite the self-evident concerns, the relevance of technology on a global scale implies that the gains exceed the drawbacks.
References
- CCHIT. (2016). Impact of Healthcare Information Technology. Retrieved from https://www.cchit.org/impact-of-healthcare-information-technology/
- Dutta, S., Geiger, T., & Lanvin, B. (2015). The Global Information Technology Report 2015. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_IT_Report_2015.pdf
- Joyce, C., Fisher, J., Guszcza, J., & Hogan, S.K. (2018). Positive Technology. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/behavioral-economics/negative-impact-technology-business.html
- Lawlor, B. (2007). The Age of Globalization: Impact of Information Technology on Global Business Strategies. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.bryant.edu
- Pagès, J.L., Bikfalvi, A., & De Castro Vila, R. (2009). The Use and Impact of Technology in Factory Environments: Evidence from a Survey of Manufacturing Industry in Spain, London: Springer-Verlag, [online]. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00170-009-2184-7
- Ratchinsky, K. (2016). Why the Healthcare Industry’s Move to Cloud Computing Is Accelerating. Retrieved from https://www.cloudcomputing-news.net/news/2016/jun/27/why-industrys-move-cloud-computing-accelerating/
Stuck on your essay?
