Monday, 10 November 2008
ICT and Pensioners in England
IT seems to have definatly changed this couples life. They can organise their meetings better, using officer applications. Also letters etc can be typed making them look more professional and easier to read for the club. IT isnt essential but it makes so much easier for anyone.
I don't think they'd be worse off if they didn't have IT at home but it definatly saves them time and effort which is great for an elderly couple. Instead of going to the shops they can order their weekly shopping online and wait at home for it.
Acessing a computer at the cimmunity centre wouldn't be as useful, first off they'd have to walk or drive there costing petrol money or taking about 20 minutes to walk. Then they probably wouldn't be allowed to do certain things on the public PC such as order shopping. Having IT at home is much better.
I don't think they'd be worse off if they didn't have IT at home but it definatly saves them time and effort which is great for an elderly couple. Instead of going to the shops they can order their weekly shopping online and wait at home for it.
Acessing a computer at the cimmunity centre wouldn't be as useful, first off they'd have to walk or drive there costing petrol money or taking about 20 minutes to walk. Then they probably wouldn't be allowed to do certain things on the public PC such as order shopping. Having IT at home is much better.
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Who studies IT?
As a sterotype i'd say males study IT based subjects more than girls. In our class there are just 2 girls and around 15 boys. I'm not sure why as its not a 'macho' thing to do and girls are meant to be good at multi-tasking so they could probably get more work done quicker. I'd say on a whole that more males than females take IT / computing courses. This may change in the future but we never know.
Also women tend to do secutary work and PA work which uses IT a lot but still more males than females do IT in my opinion.
Also women tend to do secutary work and PA work which uses IT a lot but still more males than females do IT in my opinion.
Impact of the internet for the homeless
Giving homeless people acess to theinternet could improve their lifestyle quite a bit. They may be able to find employment, schemes to get them off the streets and into work or housing or they could meet othe rpeople in the same situation and help eachother.
Internet cafés could have a day once a week were homeless people can look for jobs / help etc.
If this was turned into a government scheme it coul dhave quite big benefits.
Internet cafés could have a day once a week were homeless people can look for jobs / help etc.
If this was turned into a government scheme it coul dhave quite big benefits.
World Summit
The main aim of the summit was to try and get around 90% of the worlds population started in the world of IT. this is quite a goal to achieve and will take a lot of work.
Bad points of this summit were only 40 heads of nations showed up for the summit. Also trying to get so many nations to agree on one thing is quite difficult.
Posative points are that the world is trying to agree on something and work together to connect the whole human race on the internet.
Personally, from the limited information i think that the summit could have gone better but its a start, we can't expec thuge thing slike this to be settled and action taken instantly.
Bad points of this summit were only 40 heads of nations showed up for the summit. Also trying to get so many nations to agree on one thing is quite difficult.
Posative points are that the world is trying to agree on something and work together to connect the whole human race on the internet.
Personally, from the limited information i think that the summit could have gone better but its a start, we can't expec thuge thing slike this to be settled and action taken instantly.
E-mail in the Solomans
After reading the BBC report on the use of IT in the Soloman islands its obvious that there is a digital divide. Althought odds are against them, they people who live on them are starting to get more into IT. Havign community internet services is a strat, then soon once everyone has got used to using the IT they may be able to use it freely or get their own. Their divigtal divide problem might have started because of the isolation of their islands. Wireless internet can start to solve these problems as its only been around for a few years and can be expensive, espacially for a country that is still developing.
Laos
Laos has quite a big digital divide but also has a few bizzare cases of secluded places with no proper electricity having IT and internet access. Problems that have caused the divide are that the terrain is hilly / mountinous and it is hard to get signals into some of the country. Also there is a lot of rainfall and monsoon weather which can break equipment like ariels. A lot of people are willing to get into IT but some cant. At the moment most people are using text messaging to communicate.
A 'Peadal Powered' generator has been instlled in a village so they can run computers, it is water proof and sturdy so its safe from the weather. Also a charaity has set up in schools to help people learn about IT and its uses. I beleive that once more people in Laos learn how to use IT then the digital divide it has now will decrease, and soon be gone.
A 'Peadal Powered' generator has been instlled in a village so they can run computers, it is water proof and sturdy so its safe from the weather. Also a charaity has set up in schools to help people learn about IT and its uses. I beleive that once more people in Laos learn how to use IT then the digital divide it has now will decrease, and soon be gone.
Data Response
Dr Odedra tells us that IT is ineffective in Sub-Sahara Africa because the money of the state and businesses is being spent on computers and IT products but its mostly not being used because there isnt enough demand in the country yet.
He states; "there are no IT policies or strategic buying plans which clearly identify the needs that are likely to bring overall benefit to the nation"
This shows us that are companies are trying to sell IT hardware to businesses in this country, but there are no beneficial plans or deals that make people want to buy the items. If these IT things were essential for companies then more would be bought but at the moment the computer companies aren't selling their products well enough.
Also as Africa isnt used to IT, there is hardly anyone who is specialised in its use, making it hard for companies to get into IT use. It is a pressing issue that needs to be attended to.
Africa has had help from some organisations to get it on the track to IT development; United Nations, the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development and the Canadian International Development Association have all contributed to helping Africa become more involved with IT.
Althought these schemes have been put in place, funding africa for IT hardware, most of the counrty remains without use of IT. This is because there isnt a pressing need for IT applications to help work along and there are very little who are specialised in IT use so there would be no-one to use the systems even if they were purchased.
Most computer skills are lacking in Africa, as stated before, no-one has trained in IT at the moment so there is nothing that can be used when no-one knows how to use it.
Business skills that are lacking are that the IT companies are not offering good enough deals / packages to make people and businesses want to buy their IT goods. Maybe if better and cheaper systems were offered then IT in Africa would bloom more.
He states; "there are no IT policies or strategic buying plans which clearly identify the needs that are likely to bring overall benefit to the nation"
This shows us that are companies are trying to sell IT hardware to businesses in this country, but there are no beneficial plans or deals that make people want to buy the items. If these IT things were essential for companies then more would be bought but at the moment the computer companies aren't selling their products well enough.
Also as Africa isnt used to IT, there is hardly anyone who is specialised in its use, making it hard for companies to get into IT use. It is a pressing issue that needs to be attended to.
Africa has had help from some organisations to get it on the track to IT development; United Nations, the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development and the Canadian International Development Association have all contributed to helping Africa become more involved with IT.
Althought these schemes have been put in place, funding africa for IT hardware, most of the counrty remains without use of IT. This is because there isnt a pressing need for IT applications to help work along and there are very little who are specialised in IT use so there would be no-one to use the systems even if they were purchased.
Most computer skills are lacking in Africa, as stated before, no-one has trained in IT at the moment so there is nothing that can be used when no-one knows how to use it.
Business skills that are lacking are that the IT companies are not offering good enough deals / packages to make people and businesses want to buy their IT goods. Maybe if better and cheaper systems were offered then IT in Africa would bloom more.
What leads to the wrong side of the digital divide?
These countries may be on the wrong side of the 'Digital Divide' because of undeveloped governments or pack of income from things such as tourism etc. If these countries aren't getting much money to even pay for basic things such as roads / water / electricity then not many people who live in these countries will be able to afford electricity let alone a computer. Most people will be more concentrated on living and working, not spending spare time on the internet. IF the countries government really want to get their people into the digital age were everyone is using IT then maybe schemes form the better off countries could help fund their first steps into the information age.
Also internet and other IT suppliers may see no profit to be had from places or countries and either won't supply to them or increase the costs , putting people off of using such things.
Also internet and other IT suppliers may see no profit to be had from places or countries and either won't supply to them or increase the costs , putting people off of using such things.
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Monitoring Internet and E-mail use
Monitoring employee's use of e-mail and interent can have its advantages. firstly if the employee is abusing their acess to the interent by spending time that they should be woking, browsing shopping ebsties etc, then the manager or whoever is in charge of the companies internet acess can see that they are not wroking and bring them up on it. Also if the employee is spending work time sending e-mails to friends of looking for potential new jobs then they can be viewed byt he manager and action can be taken. Filters can pick up on keywords too such as 'porn', 'jobs' 'CV' 'illegal' etc, if a site which has use of these 'key words' is found by the system the site will be blocked and an notification sent to the manager.
Negative impacts that this type of security can have is that it invades the employee's privacy, if a confidential e-mail is sent about family/friends or personal health and someone else reads it first, it isnt right. Also the filter can block sites that maybe have one of the keywords on it but has nothing of the content that is meant to be blocked on. This can cause big annoyance when the staff won't be able to access sites that may help them do their job.
Advantages this type of system has for employees is that it can protect them from unwanted e-mail spam and potentially harmful websites.
As said before the system can block sites that are not harmful or contain unwanted content, this can cause problems that can hinder the staff's work thus making they business less effective.
Use of this system may be vital to keep the users safe and keep the company running smoothly without its employees spending work time browsing the interent but the system can hinder work by blocking vital e-mails and websites.
Negative impacts that this type of security can have is that it invades the employee's privacy, if a confidential e-mail is sent about family/friends or personal health and someone else reads it first, it isnt right. Also the filter can block sites that maybe have one of the keywords on it but has nothing of the content that is meant to be blocked on. This can cause big annoyance when the staff won't be able to access sites that may help them do their job.
Advantages this type of system has for employees is that it can protect them from unwanted e-mail spam and potentially harmful websites.
As said before the system can block sites that are not harmful or contain unwanted content, this can cause problems that can hinder the staff's work thus making they business less effective.
Use of this system may be vital to keep the users safe and keep the company running smoothly without its employees spending work time browsing the interent but the system can hinder work by blocking vital e-mails and websites.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
