Introduction to ICT

Instructor: Talat Ambreen

Lecture: 2

Talat Ambreen International Islamic University,

Islamabad
 What is Information
Technology?
 The study or use of systems (especially computers and
telecommunications) for storing, retrieving, and sending information.
 There are three primary pillars of responsibility for an IT department:
 IT governance: This refers to the combination of policies and
processes that ensure IT systems are effectively run and in alignment
with the organization’s needs.
 IT operations: This is a catchall category for the daily work of an IT
department. This includes providing tech support, network
maintenance, security testing and device management duties.
 Hardware and infrastructure: This focus area refers to all the
physical components of IT infrastructure. This pillar of IT includes the
setup and maintenance of equipment like routers, servers, phone
systems and individual devices like laptops.

Talat Ambreen International Islamic University, Islamabad

 What is Information
Technology?
 Information technology (IT) is a broad discipline that deals with all
aspects of technology, processing, and management of information,
especially in large organizations, by dealing with computer software
and electronic devices in order to transfer, store, protect, process,
transmit and retrieve information.
 Information technology (IT) has been divided into two sections:
 Physical section: The physical part is the devices used in the process
of communication from computers and office and telephones to the
wires used in the manufacture of networks that are connected with
all devices to complete the transfer of information from one side to
another.
 Scientific section: It is about programming languages, computational
engineering, and artificial intelligence that manage the
communication process according to steps determined by the
administrator or engineer.

Talat Ambreen International Islamic University, Islamabad

History of Computers

Information technology emerged in the

1990s when computers became the basic
tools at work at all levels and fields to
meet the demands of everyday life,
business activities in institutions, as well
as with students.
Therefore, professionals needed to
develop technology and lay the
foundations for their infrastructure.
Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
History of Computers
There are different stages of IT
development:
◦ Pre Mechanical Age
◦ Mechanical Age
◦ Electromechanical Age
◦ Electronic Age

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
History of Information Technology
 The Pre Mechanical Age
 The earliest age of technology has been dated back to the pre
mechanical age (between 3000 B.C. and 1450 A.D.).
 Human beings at that time primarily communicated with each
other using simple picture drawings called petroglyphs. They
created these drawings on rock.
 Later on symbols emerged, to denote different objects.
 The numbering systems and the abacus, the first calculator, were
also invented during this period.

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
 History of Computers
 Mechanical Age
 The mechanical age is when we first start to see connections between our
current technology and its ancestors. The mechanical age can be defined as the
time between 1450 and 1840.
 A lot of new technologies were developed in this era due to an explosion of
interest in computation and information.
 Technologies like the slide ruler (an analog computer used for multiplying and
dividing) were invented in this period.
 Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline, a very popular mechanical computer
capable of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing two numbers. Initially
called the arithmetic machine

Talat Ambreen International Islamic University, Islamabad

History of Computers
 Electromechanical Age
 The electromechanical age heralded the beginnings of
telecommunications as we know it today.
 This age can be defined roughly as the time between
1840 and 1940.
 Several revolutionary technologies were invented in
this period such as the Morse code, telephone, radio,
etc.
 All of these technologies were crucial stepping stones
towards modern information technology systems.

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
History of Computers
 Electromechanical
Age
 The first large-scale automatic
digital computer in the United
States was the Harvard Mark 1
created by IBM in 1944.
 This 8ft x 50ft x 2ft big computer
weighed a whopping five tons
and had to be programmed using
punch cards.


Talat Ambreen International Islamic University, Islamabad

History of Computers
 Electronic Age
 The electronic age (from 1940 to present day) is the stage of
information technology that we currently live in.
 It first started when electronic equipment including computers began
to take place.
 At the beginning of this stage, it was realized that electronic vacuum
tubes could be used instead of electromechanical parts.
 These machines used electronic switches, in the form of vacuum tubes,
instead of the electromechanical relays seen in the previous era.
 In principle the electronic switches would be more reliable, since they
would have no moving parts that would wear out, but the technology
was still new at that time and the tubes were comparable to relays in
reliability. The major benefit of electronic switches was that they could
‘open’ and ‘close’ thousands of times faster than relays.

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
 History of Computers
 Electronic Age
ENIAC (Electronic
Numerical Integrator and
Computer) was the first
electronic general-
purpose computer. It
could solve a large class of
numerical problems
through reprogramming.

Talat Ambreen International Islamic University, Islamabad

 Generations of Computers
The development of computers have been
grouped into five different stages or
generations. They are:
The First Generation (roughly from 1940-1956)
The Second Generation (roughly from 1956-
1963)
The Third Generation (roughly from 1964-1971)
The Fourth Generation (roughly from 1971-
Present)
The Fifth Generation (Present to Future)

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
 Generations of Computers
The First Generation (roughly from 1940-1956)
◦ During the first generation, computer systems used vacuum
tubes. The machines were huge and took up entire rooms. They
consumed a large amount of electricity and therefore, were
expensive to operate. They also generated a lot of heat which
resulted in malfunctions.
◦ These first generation computers relied on machine language
and could only solve one problem at a time. It also took a long,
complicated process to set up a new problem onto the machine.
Punched cards and paper tape were used for input and
printouts were used to display output. The ENIAC was an
example of a first generation computer

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
 Generations of Computers
The First Generation (roughly from 1940-1956)

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
Generations of Computers
The Second Generation (roughly from 1956-1963)
 In the second generation, vacuum tubes were replaced with
transistors.
 This was a major improvement, allowing computers to become
smaller, faster, cheaper, reliable and more energy-efficient.
 They were also becoming more accessible since high-level
programming languages were being developed such as COBOL and
FORTRAN.
 Second generation computers leaned away from cryptic, binary
machine language to symbolic, assembly languages which
programmed written instruction. Magnetic core technology was also
used instead of magnetic drum which made it possible for
computers to store their instructions in their memory. Little by little,
magnetic tape and disks took the place of punched cards.

Talat Ambreen International Islamic University, Islamabad

Generations of Computers
The Third Generation (roughly from 1964-1971)
 By the time the third generation arrived, there was an increase in the
speed and the efficiency of computers due to the development of
integrated circuits.
 Transistors were made smaller and installed on silicon chips.
 Punched cards and printouts became obsolete since operating
systems, keyboards and monitors were created.
 This allowed computers to operate many different applications at one
time with one main program to monitor and store information.
 Programming languages were developed that made programming
easier to do. BASIC was one of those languages.
 For the first time in history, society as a whole had access to
computers.

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
Generations of Computers
The Third Generation (roughly from 1964-1971)

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
 Generations of Computers
The Fourth Generation (roughly from 1971-Present)
 Fourth generation computers upscaled to integrated circuits that
contained a numerous amount of transistors on one, small chip.
Microprocessors contained memory, logic and control circuits (central
processing unit) on a single chip.
 Computer systems went from enormous vacuum tubes that filled an
entire room to a tiny chip that could fit in your hand.
 Computers like IBM and Apple PC (personal computer) were created for
both personal and business purposes.
 Language software products such as Word for Windows and Access were
also introduced which enabled people to use computers without the
necessity of any technical knowledge.
 As these fourth generation small computers became popular and spread
worldwide, networks, handheld devices and finally the internet were
developed.

Talat Ambreen International Islamic University, Islamabad

 Generations of Computers
The Fifth Generation (Present to Future)
 We are currently in the fifth generation.
 A lot of today´s research focuses on artificial
intelligence (the creation of intelligent machines that
function and behave like humans.)
 Speech recognition, learning, planning and problem
solving are some of the activities that are being tested
and performed.
 Overall, the main goal is to develop devices that
respond to natural language input and that are capable
of learning.

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
Advantages of Computers
 Information technology saves time, provides information, and then
transfers it from the computer.
 The individual gains skill thus enlarges his horizons and enhances his
creative abilities.
 Information technology develops self-learning abilities in the individual.
 The individual is given a sense of comfort when collecting information; it
is a neat, organized, non-random technique
 The individual develops a method of solving problems that cannot be
solved in traditional ways because of the large amount of information.
 Perception of the individual is achieved because of computers used in
information technology which provides the individual with the different
data and appearances that he understands through his senses.
 Information technology allows the individual to be able to communicate
any information he wants at any time through the Internet connect.

Talat Ambreen
International Islamic University, Islamabad
The Applications of Computers
 Assignment 1: Write at least 15 applications or computers
in our daily life.
 Submission: Next week (14th September, in class)
 Marks: 10

Talat Ambreen International Islamic University, Islamabad

 Q& A

Talat Ambreen International Islamic University, Islamabad