1. The Impact of IT

2. It is hard to believe the impact IT has had on society over the last 40 to 50 years. Many of the things we take for granted now rely on IT systems. The first ever email was sent in 1971 using the Arpanet, which went on to become the Internet. around nine billion emails are sent each year. The first text message was sent in 1992. over one billion text messages are sent every week in the UK alone. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry2

3. Task In groups discuss and write down how IT has changed our lives. how do you think people spent their free time in the 80’s or 90’s? how has IT changed this? Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry3

4. Social Impacts How we spend our free time? During the 1980s and 90s people spent a lot of time watching television. Today, many young people spend more time on the Internet on: social networking sites instant messenger applications playing computer games. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry4

5. Effects on local communities With so much available online, some traditional facilities, such as village shops, are no longer economically viable. This can have a negative effect on local communities, in that there is a less diverse range of shops for local people to enjoy. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry5

6. Economic Impacts - Employment structure and working practices IT has changed the nature of work in many professions. administrators who used to keep paper-based records typists who typed letters on a typewriter. IT has also created many new jobs and IT skills are now required by almost every job. With Internet access widely available, people can communicate and work away from the office, so home working is now a popular option for many employees. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry6

7. Sustainability Computers use electricity and, they make a significant contribution to energy consumption and related issues such as climate change. There is the problem of how to deal with older computer equipment that is no longer required. The disposal of unwanted electrical equipment is covered by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive, 2007). Manufacturers are required to provide users who purchase a new piece of electrical equipment with a method of disposing of the old equipment. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry7

8. Legal Impacts - Ownership, copyright and plagiarism Copyright law protects people who produce their own original work. With music and films available to be downloaded over the Internet, it has become very easy to steal material. File sharing web services have been set up which allow users to share copyrighted material, particularly films, making it freely available. The Internet makes it very easy to copy and paste materials into a document. Plagiarism is a common problem in assignment work submitted by learners in schools, colleges and universities. Quoting other people’s work is fine as long as you acknowledge the source of the information, but passing off other people’s work as your own is not allowed Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry8

9. Ethical Impacts - Privacy of information With so much personal information kept on computers, personal privacy has become an issue. Almost every aspect of your life is recorded on a computer, including your medical records, what you buy at the supermarket, who you call on your mobile and what you search for on search engines such as Google. Personal information relating to living individuals held on computers is covered by the Data Protection Act (1998). Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry9

10. Local and national implications People who live in rural areas cannot get broadband Internet access because they live too far from a telephone exchange and it’s too expensive for the telephone or cable companies to lay cables for a small number of subscribers. Age is an issue, some older people find it difficult to come to terms with new technology. As services such as banking and utilities become increasingly Internet-based, older people may struggle to access these facilities. They may be at an economic disadvantage as Internet goods and service are often cheaper than their traditional alternatives. For example, many gas and electricity suppliers offer a cheap rate for people who manage their account online. Internet access is not free. Less affluent families may not be able to afford internet charges. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry10

11. Global implications People who live in less economically developed countries may struggle to get Internet access. Many aspects of society, particularly education and economic development, rely on the internet and computer technology. People who don’t have easy access to these are in danger of being left further behind. This is called the digital divide. A number of projects have been set up to help tackle this problem by developing low-cost computing solutions. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry11

12. Task Do some research to find projects that have been set up to develop low cost computing solutions to less economically developed countries. How do they do this? Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry12

13. Projects OLPC - One laptop per child CARE – Computers for Developing Countries Computer Aid International Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry13

14. Task In your groups, find information on the potential threats which the use of IT has introduced. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry14

15. Abuse of IT As with so many things in life, good things have a downside. This is certainly the case with the IT revolution and with the Internet in particular. There is a whole range of threats and annoyances that IT users need to be aware of and protected against. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry15

16. Threats - Cyber bullying When a person or group try to threaten, tease or embarrass someone using a mobile phone or the Internet. Can be a worrying problem for young people. Cyber bullies often encourage their friends to join in the bullying. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry16

17. Threats -Spam Spam is unwanted email advertising. Anyone with an email account will tend to get unsolicited emails, most of which are annoying rather than dangerous. Email users should take particular care with emails that have attachments, as these may contain viruses. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry17

18. Threats - Phishing Phishing is used by criminals to try to trick people into providing their online banking password and security details. These criminals send people an email which looks as though it comes from their bank. The email tells them to click a link within the email which then directs them to a web page that looks like the log-on screen to their online bank account. This web page is under the criminals’ control and allows them to discover the victim’s username, password and other security details. The criminals then use these details to steal money from the victim’s bank account. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry18

19. Threats - Denial of service attacks This is a method of preventing a web server from providing a service by overwhelming it with so many requests that it is unable to cope. There are several reasons why these types of attack might be made. For example, a criminal might attempt to blackmail an online retail company by threatening to attack the site unless given a large sum of money. Sometimes political sites are attacked in this way by people who don’t agree with the political views expressed on the sites. Unit 1 - Communicating in the IT Industry19