1st Lectures in TLE7-Computer

TOPIC: ICT (Information and Communication Technology)

ICT is also used to refer to the convergence of audiovisuals and telephone networks with computer
networks through a single cabling or link system. There are large economic incentives to merge the
telephone networks with the computer network system using a single unified system of cabling, signal
distribution, and management. ICT is an umbrella term that includes any communication device,
encompassing radio, television, cell phones, computer and network hardware, satellite systems and so on, as
well as the various services and appliances with them such as video conferencing and distance learning. ICT
also includes analog technology, such as paper communication, and any mode that transmits
communication.[2]

ICT is a broad subject and the concepts are evolving.[3] It covers any product that will store, retrieve,
manipulate, transmit, or receive information electronically in a digital form (e.g., personal computers including
smartphones, digital television, email, or robots). Skills Framework for the Information Age is one of many
models for describing and managing competencies for ICT professionals in the 21st century.
What is a Computer?

A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical
operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of
operations known as programs. These programs enable computers to perform a wide range of tasks. The
term computer system may refer to a nominally complete computer that includes the hardware, operating
system, software, and peripheral equipment needed and used for full operation; or to a group of computers
that are linked and function together, such as a computer network or computer cluster.

What is the Internet?

The Internet (or internet)[a] is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet
protocol suite (TCP/IP)[b] to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of networks that
consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a
broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of
information resources and services, such as the interlinked hypertext documents and applications of
the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file sharing.

The origins of the Internet date back to research to enable time-sharing of computer resources and the
development of packet switching in the 1960s.[2] The set of rules (communication protocols) to
enable internetworking on the Internet arose from research and development commissioned in the 1970s by
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the United States Department of Defense in
collaboration with universities and researchers across the United States and in the United
Kingdom and France.[3][4][5] The ARPANET initially served as a backbone for the interconnection of regional
academic and military networks in the United States to enable resource sharing. The funding of the National
Science Foundation Network as a new backbone in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other
commercial extensions, encouraged worldwide participation in the development of new networking
technologies and the merger of many networks using DARPA's Internet protocol suite.[6] The linking of
commercial networks and enterprises by the early 1990s, as well as the advent of the World Wide
Web,[7] marked the beginning of the transition to the modern Internet,[8] and generated a sustained
exponential growth as generations of institutional, personal, and mobile computers were connected to the
network. Although the Internet was widely used by academia in the 1980s, subsequent commercialization is
what incorporated its services and technologies into virtually every aspect of modern life.

Most traditional communication media, including telephone, radio, television, paper mail, and newspapers,
are reshaped, redefined, or even bypassed by the Internet, giving birth to new services such as email,
Internet telephone, Internet television, online music, digital newspapers, and video streaming websites.
Newspaper, book, and other print publishing have adapted to website technology or have been reshaped
into blogging, web feeds, and online news aggregators. The Internet has enabled and accelerated new forms
of personal interaction through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking services. Online
shopping has grown exponentially for major retailers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs, as it enables
firms to extend their "brick and mortar" presence to serve a larger market or even sell goods and services
entirely online. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect supply chains across entire
industries.

The Internet has no single centralized governance in either technological implementation or policies for
access and usage; each constituent network sets its own policies.[9] The overarching definitions of the two
principal name spaces on the Internet, the Internet Protocol address (IP address) space and the Domain
Name System (DNS), are directed by a maintainer organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN). The technical underpinning and standardization of the core protocols is an
activity of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a non-profit organization of loosely affiliated
international participants that anyone may associate with by contributing technical expertise.[10] In November
2006, the Internet was included on USA Today's list of the New Seven Wonders.