ICT is short for information and communications technology.

It refers to a broad field

encompassing computers, communications equipment and the services associated
with them. It includes the telephone, cellular networks, satellite communication,
broadcasting media and other forms of communication. New technologies transform
our lives “by inventing new, undreamed of things and making them in new,
undreamed of ways�?, says the economist Richard Lipsey. [13]
Imagine what will happen when the cost of a long distance telephone call becomes
as low as the cost of a local call? Or, when you can get a driving license at a time
and place of your own choosing? Or, when you can bank from the comfort of your
own living room? In some countries, ICT is already making these happen. Many
believe that the current technological revolution may in time exceed the Industrial
Revolution in terms of social significance. [14 ]

Lipsey, who studies the relationship between technological change and economic
development, suggests that the introduction of new technologies can have the
following effects on society

On a societal level, the digital and ICT revolutions make possible better and cheaper
access to knowledge and information. This speeds up transactions and processes
and reduces their cost, which in turn benefit citizens and consumers.

The ability of ICTs to traverse time and distance allows human beings to interact with
each other in new ways.

ICT REVOLUTION AND

ITS CHANGES IN THE SOCIETY
ICT offers many promises and opportunities, even while posing serious risks and uncertainties.
Its impact is likely to be pervasive. Countries must fashion their own responses.
Next, the pervasive and increasing impact of ICT is examined in a few areas
related to public sector, community development, and poverty reduction. This
impact covers organizations and markets, competitive strategies, innovation, finan-

cial services, employment, media and cultural development, regional and urban
development, governance and participatory democracy, education, health, and
poverty.
ICT’s impact is accompanied by downside risks such as: wasting scarce develop-

ment resources; exacerbating inequalities; reinforcing existing power distributions;

and controlling, rather than empowering the individual. None of the promises
or risks is predetermined by the technology; they are outcomes of complemen-
tary economic policies and socio-political choices. This argues for integrating the
ICT agenda into the development and reform agendas in creative and dynamic
ways. Before assessing the revolutionary potential of information and communication
technologies, we need to appreciate the phase we are in and the lead time needed
for the full impact to be realized. The infancy and pace of the ICT revolution
suggest that ICT is still undergoing revolutionary change and that many ICT tools

have yet to diffuse to the majority of mankind. Technical advances in many ICT
areas continue apace and could level or change the playing field for developing
countries, provided policy and institutional changes are made to capitalize on these
advances. These include mobile devices, wireless communications, open source

software, low cost access devices, and the coming paradigm shift to utility comput-
ing. The recent explosive growth of mobile phones in developing countries opens up
massive possibilities for delivering services to rural and remote areas of the world,
as will be illustrated later.

A paradigm shift is underway to deliver Internet-based software service (cloud

computing) and to have computing power made available as a utility (utility comput-
ing), much like electrical utilities (Carr, 2008). This shift will have profound impact
on ICT investment and diffusion: reducing the cost of ICT ownership, emphasizing
the importance of shared infrastructures and broadband communications to real-
ize economies of scale, and accelerating the diffusion of ICT as a general-purpose
technology.
Advances in Internet technology are likely to provide the interactivity and real-

world awareness needed to support business-to-business transactions, even while

demanding limited communication capacity.
ICT is the GPT, General Purpose Technologies, of our age. As in earlier GPTs, the short-term
impact (reflected in
economy-wide productivity surge) may be uncertain, but the long-term impact will
be profound and has been typically underestimated. The lead time for ICT to have
its full impact may be shorter and the impact more transformative than for earlier
GPTs. But advances in the technology are running far ahead of potential applica-
tions and the capacity of institutions and society to absorb and adjust to take full
advantage of these technological capabilities. Moreover, the institutional changes
and complementary innovations necessary for ICT diffusion and effective use in the
public and educational sectors are likely to come at a slower pace than in business.
Governance and Participatory Democracy
The information revolution is changing the institutions of governance and par-
ticipatory democracy. It is enabling more access to information for all, and thus
transparency, accountability, and citizen empowerment. This potential presents
many promises and daunting challenges for governance. Information technology

is decentralizing power over information, fostering new types of community and

different roles for governmentIncreasing transparency in government also increases citizen
involvement in
government, boosts government credibility, reduces corruption, and raises perfor-
mance. Transparency generates accountability, which in turn generates pressure for
improved performance. Applied to government, ICT and the Internet allow citizens
to scrutinize the political process. Corruption flourishes in darkness and thrives on
ignorance.

EDUCATION AND HEALTH

Globalization and the ICT revolution combined are rapidly raising the demand
for, and changing the nature of, education and skills. New competencies are required
for participating in the information society and knowledge economy: e-literacy,
technological literacy, communication skills, problem solving, critical thinking,
self-learning, team work, network management, change management, creativity,
and initiative. Understanding this interplay at a relatively detailed level is critical

to enable firms to adopt and adapt this general-purpose technology in developing

countries and to focus reforms and content in education and training to those critical
to participating in this revolution. Educational systems have to shift from established textbook
knowledge to
teaching how to learn and enabling individuals and organizations to become agile
problem solvers. A lifelong learning system covers learning from formal and infor-
mal sources. Much of this learning has to occur through networks that cut across

academic, business, local, and global communities. Digital communication and the
recent tools of social networking and collaboration technologies further enable the
creation and dynamism of these learning systems. ICT is more than a tool to access and transmit
information, but more broadly,
a new medium through which people can simulate, create, express, and interact.
Computers can be seen as a universal construction material, greatly expanding what
children and adults can create and what they can learn in the process.
Indeed ICT
revolution has brought many changes in many fields in the society. Some of this
changes are positive while some are negative, for instance, positive changes
have been seen in the fields of; Health, Education, Business, Communication,
Management , Weather ,Religion and While negative changes have been seen in
terms of way of life adopted by society, robbery activities and huge loses
experienced in banks and other financial institution.
POSITIVE EFFECTS OF ICT REVOLUTION

ICT AND
HEALTH
In the field
of Health, to start with, there have been many positive changes. ICT has been
used in different ways. ICT has been used in to assist patients in many ways
for example the use of computerized X-rays machine to identify bone fractures
among patients for medical action to be administered. Also in this field ICT
has assisted in communication among medical officers in different location to
bring about joined effort and thus lifesaving.
ICT AND
EDUCATION
In the field
of Education, ICT has helped a great deal in the ways teaching is done. ICT has
brought about the use of projectors in learning unlike in the past when
teaching was done by use of chalk writing on black walls which was very
tiresome. Teaching using projectors is easy since a teacher doesn’t have to
strain writing on the walls but to just project on walls. Writing on the walls
in the past brought a lot of complication in the past such as coughs due to
continuous inhalation of chalk dust by teachers who had allergy to dust unlike
in the current which dust free. On the other hand, teaching using projectors
has improved understanding in student since the use of audio-visuals is more
appealing than when learning through teaching by a teacher. This has helped
improve Education system in the society.
ICT AND
BUSINESS.
ICT
revolution has brought many positive changes in the business in many ways. For
instance, ICT has made numerous transactions to be easy. Use of ATM cards and
automatic vending machines resulted from ICT evolution. The use of ATM cards
has lessen the initial cost of carrying cash. Carrying money in ATM cards has
also minimized cases of robbery since it is not easy to detect someone having
the card.

ICT
revolution in business is also seen in terms of use of secret pin in opening
bank accounts to transact money. This has replaced the initial way of
transaction which was mainly based on cash.

ICT has also

brought changes in the field of Business in the society in many ways.
Communication for instance, a major resource in business, has been revolutionized by ICT. Use
of mobile phones for communication between buyers
and sellers has improved business activities between the two parties. Some
devises, for example laptops and mobile phones, have some programs for language
translation installed in them therefore enabling business between people from
different parts of the world. Sellers and buyers of goods from whole over the
world use such programs to communicate therefore through this, business is
promoted.

Another way in which ICT has improved business

in the society is seen in large business organizations such as supermarkets and
malls where computers are used for keeping and retrieving large volume of
information for long period of time. This help in close monitoring of business
activities in the organization therefore loses are avoided hence smooth running
of the business. This
has also reduced the cost of running a business since operation of businesses
today is done by use of computers hence reduces the number of workers needed in
the operation therefore reduces the wage bill hence increase profits thus
promoting business activities in the society.

Also ICT has helped to cap shoplifting in

supermarkets and other large business premises through the use of video cameras
hence ensuring smooth running of the business.

ICT also has helped reduce fraud among

employees through the use of automatic vending machines that operate without
the services of a sales person. This also reduces the cost of hiring services
of a sales person..
ICT AND
COMMUNICATION

ICT
revolution has eased communication among members of the society for instance
the use of mobile phones and computers has replaced the initial way of passing
information. I n the past, information was being passed by sending a person to
run and deliver the message by word of mouth. This used to take a long time for
information to reach the intended destination unlike current use of mobile
phones where message is received instantly by the recipient. There was also no
storage of information send in the past in case one unlike today where information
send can be stored and retrieved when needed.

Also, the
society has been easily managed by their leader through communication.
ICT AND
MANAGEMENT
ICT has eased management of the community for instance, the government uses television,
mobile phones and other devices to pass information to the community hence
management of the society becomes easy unlike when ICT had not yet played part
in the society and information passing was not easy.

ICT AND
WEATHER.

ICT
revolution in weather has been applied in weather forecasting station to
interpret predicted weather changes. This has helped the society in planning of
their farming activities appropriately according to the foretold weather
changes.

ICT
revolution in weather has also informed the society of on the type of clothing
to plan for according to the predicted weather changes. These enable them to
cope with the changing weather elements hence avoid some of the hazards that
could occur for example, common cold and other related infections.

ICT has also

enabled the society to plan on the sporting activities according to forecast ed
data in weather changes. This enable them to plan accordingly to avoid delays
during sports.

ICT
revolution in weather has also enabled people to plan on the type of housing to
build. For example extreme weather changes predicted in favor of rain and
extreme weather conditions predicted in favor of sunshine. In case of favor of rain, the society
are
informed to focus on thick walled houses thin walled houses in case of vice versa.
This has enabled the society avoid their crude way of weather forecasting which
sometime never came to be true.

ICT AND
RELIGION.
In the past,
pastors and other religious people used to carry bibles and their mobile phones
altogether. This was tiresome. Currently, due to ICT revolution, pastors carry
only their mobiles phones to religious places. This is because they have got
Bible programs installed in their mobile phones. This has eased the spread of religion.

Also, due to
ICT revolution, the word in the bible and other religious books has been able
to be send through the internet to a place where it is suppose to reach or to a
place where the information has been requested. This has greatly eased the
spread of religion in the society.

NEGATIVE CHANGES
BROUGHT BY ICT
ICT AND THE
WAY OF LIFE
Due to ICT
revolution, the society has been exposed to western culture. This has led to the spread of many
evils in
the society. Internet for example has exposed the youth to pornographic
materials. The society has therefore
adopted a bad culture.
ICT AND
ROBBERY
ICT has eased communication among robbers hence making possible for them to carry out
their robbery plans.
ICT AND
LOSES.
ICT
revolution has brought loses in the society in many ways. For example, In case
of ICT tools delays or failure to function it can lead to loses. ICT tools may
include record keeping tools such as computers in banks. This can slow down the
process and therefore loses in terms of expected profit.

Failure may
also result to lose of customers by banks hence reduced profit and this may in
long terms lead to financial loses.