The Impact of Information Technology on

Work and Society

By Ben Meadowcroft.

Introduction
Aim of the report

The aim of this report is to provide a brief summary of some of the main technological
developments that have taken place in information technology and how these
developments have had an influence on the way we work and on society in general, in the
last thirty years.

It would be useful to outline some "working definitions" for some of the terms, which
have been introduced in the opening paragraph. These definitions will help define the
scope of this report.

Definitions of Terms used in the Aim

The first definition is of "information technology". Information technology is the

technology used to store, manipulate, distribute or create information. The type of
information or data is not important to this definition. The technology is any mechanism
capable of processing this data.

Kathleen Guinee wrote, "By information technology, I mean the tools we use to perform
calculations, to store and manipulate text, and to communicate. Some of these twentieth
century tools include: the adding machine, slide rule, and calculator for performing
calculations, the typewriter and word processor for processing text, and the telephone,
radio, and television for communicating."(www.cs.princeton.edu/~kguinee/thesis.html)

The report will examine how advances in constructing and designing these mechanisms
have affected the general society.

The second definition is of "the way we work". The elements of this phrase can be split
up into two main considerations, e.g. what we mean by the way and how we define work.
The "way" will be defined for the purposes of this report as the processes that are used by
individuals or organisations. "Work" shall be defined as when we apply the processes to
accomplish some arbitrary task.

The third definition is of "general society". Society can be defined as "a community,
nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective
activities and interests."(www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/netdict?society) The report will examine
how the technological developments which have occurred in information technology
have influenced a "broad grouping of people" in their "common traditions, institutions
and/or collective activities". This broad grouping of people will primarily be those in the
industrialised world of where "information technology" is commonly available.

The fourth and final working definition in this introduction is "technological

developments". For the purpose of this report this phrase has been defined with a
reference to the previous definition of "information technology". A development in
information technology is any improvement to the mechanism used to "store, manipulate,
distribute or create information". This report aims to provide a brief summary of these
developments. This will be achieved by highlighting only those developments that have
influenced "general society".

Having provided a few "working definitions" for some of the words in the initial
paragraph the aim and scope of the report has been more clearly delimited.

How the report will achieve the aim

The report will provide a summary of the main developments that have occurred in the
last thirty years of information technology.

After presenting this list the report will then justify each which has been identified
primarily in terms of it’s advancement of technology.

After the technological justification the report will then examine what influence if any
these advances have had on society.

Identification of main developments

The identification of significant developments begins chronologically in 1969. It was
decided to arrange the developments in a chronological order. The advantages of this
approach for this section of the report are that the developments are presented in a logical
order. A development in the sphere of information technology often was dependent upon
other developments that preceded it. The chronological order therefore provides a simple
and commonly understood framework in which to present the summary.

Timeline

1969:
The Arpanet is introduced, funded by the department of defence.
(http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/hacker-history/hacker-history-2.html)

1970:
The first automatic teller machine is introduced.
(www.warbaby.com/FG_test/Timeline.html)
E.F.Codd describes the relational model (databases)
(http://www.computer.org/computer/timeline/timeline.pdf)
1971:
The first single chip central processing unit was introduced, the Intel 4004.
(www.co.umist.ac.uk/services/academic/resources/level_1/ct101/lec4.rtf)
The first network e-mail message is sent by Ray Tomlinson of Bolt Boranek and
Newman. (http://www.computer.org/computer/timeline/timeline.pdf)

1972:
Lexitron, Wang and VYTEC introduce Word Processing systems.
(http://www.computer.org/computer/timeline/timeline.pdf)

1973:
The Xerox Paulo Alto Research Centre developed the Alto, an experimental computer
that uses a graphical user interface and a mouse.

1978:
Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adelman introduce the RSA cipher as a public key
cryptosystem.

1979:
The first electronic spreadsheet program is introduced.

1981:
IBM introduces its first personal computer with an operating system developed by
Microsoft.

1983:
The switchover to the TCP\IP protocol marks the beginning of the global Internet.

1985:
Microsoft releases the Windows operating system.
(www.co.umist.ac.uk/services/academic/resources/level_1/ct101/lec4.rtf)

1989:
The world wide web project is proposed to the European Council for Nuclear Research
(CERN). (http://www.computer.org/computer/timeline/timeline.pdf)

1990:
Windows version 3.0 is released bringing a stable graphical user interface to the IBM
Personal Computer.

1993:
The Mosaic NCSA is developed by the National Centre for Super-computing
Applications.

1995:
The first full length feature movie createdby a computer is released. Toy Story.
Late 1990’s:
The emergence of electronic commerce.

Justification of developments selected

Sections dealing with the impact of the developments will show the justification of the
developments mentioned above. However to justify them on a technical scale is also
important. They have been selected as being among the most important developments in
information technology of the last thirty years.

However some of the developments highlighted have been included instead of other
similar developments. This is because of the impact on the general society (which
influence is the main examination of this report) that these specific developments have
had..

It is important to note however some of the potential pitfalls in developing a technical

history. These include "the overemphasis of the contribution made by an individual and
also the distortion of a derived view of current `reality` due to a distorted history."
(www.co.umist.ac.uk/services/academic/resources/level_1/ct101/lec0.rtf)

Impact of developments
The impact of the developments that have been included in the summary will be analysed
in this section. However rather than continue to follow a simple chronologically ordered
summary, organised with the developments as the starting point. The report will first
identify some general areas of society and evaluate the influences which information
technology has had on these areas.

As previously shown society can be defined as "a community, nation, or broad grouping
of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and
interests."(www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/netdict?society). Therefore we shall use the common
traditions, institutions and collective activities and interests as the basis for our
examination of the impact information technology has had on society. We shall also
integrate this examination with the impact of how information technology has changed
the "way we work". This integration will occur in two areas of the analysis of society,
first the institutions and second the collective activities of the society.

Common Traditions

How has the development of information technology influenced the common traditions of
a society?

To answer this question in the context of this report it is helpful to highlight a difference
between "traditions" and "activities/interests". Tradition can be defined as the following:
"An inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behaviour (as a
religious practice or a social custom).
Cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions."
(http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/netdict?tradition)

The influence of information technology on religious practices has mainly been to the
effect of making information about them more accessible. The most relevant question
though is whether the developments in information technologies have influenced the
continuity of social attitudes, customs or institutions. The question of the effect on
institutions will however be dealt with later in the report.

Cultural Continuity

How has the development of information technology influenced the cultural continuity of
general society? (E.g. of social attitudes or customs).

The question of a change in the continuity of social attitudes or customs is a question that
by itself could occupy an entire report. However it shall be dealt with briefly here.

Social attitudes have changed with the effect that citizens of a society now expect the
various elements of that society to be better informed than previously. They also expect
to be able to access more information about a specific product, service or organisation so
that they can make informed decisions with regard to their interactions with that entity.

Institutions

The word institutions can incorporate a wide variety of organisations. For the purposes of
this report the institutions we will examine will be:

• Governments,
• Commercial businesses,
• News & Media organisations,
• Educational organisations.

Each of these could be further refined into more specific types of institution but for the
purposes of the report these abstractions will be sufficient. The influence which
information technology development has had on these areas will be mainly focused on
how the technology has "improved" the processes by which the institution accomplishes
its task or goal.

Governments

How has the development of information technology influenced the way Governments
operate?
The "government" of a nation will be comprised of many varied institutions. However
developments in information technology has helped governments to improve their
"service" to their citizens. Advances in Database technology for example have enabled
the governments of various countries to collate and monitor statistical information that
they can use to combat fraud, manage the economy in a more informed way.

Information Technology has also had a major impact on the defence capabilities of
governments. This covers both a government's capability towage war and their
intelligence gathering capability. Advances in weapons technology and weapons design
has increased the effectiveness of various governments' armed forces. For example it
would have been impossible to design aeroplanes such as the B2 Bomber if it were not
for the advances made in information technology. The B2 bomber relies on a "continuous
curvature" design to minimise radar signature. It would have been impossible to design or
build this machine without the development of computer modelling techniques.

Information Technology has also had a major impact on a government's intelligence

agencies. Encryption of sensitive information has enabled government's to obtain added
security. However attempting to decrypt information is also a major area of work for
those employed by the government.

Governments also have had to have a renewed care towards their sensitive information.
The proliferation of Internet technologies has led to stories such as that highlighted
below:

"The Web becomes the focal point of British politics as a list of MI6 agents is released on
a UK Web site. Though forced to remove the list from the site, it was too late as the list
had already been replicated across the Net. (15 May 1999)"
(http://info.isoc.org/guest/zakon/Internet/History/HIT.html)

The advance of information technology has also led to a need for new legislation to be
introduced, for example in the United Kingdom the Data Protection Act of 1998. The
governments data protection act Web Site gives the following eight rules regarding
personal information:

1. It must be fairly and lawfully processed;

2. Processed for limited purposes;
3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive;
4. Accurate;
5. Not kept longer than necessary;
6. Processed in accordance with the data subject's rights;
7. Secure;
8. Not transferred to countries without adequate protection.

(http://www.dataprotection.gov.uk/principl.htm)

Commercial Businesses
How has the development of information technology influenced commercial businesses?

The advances in information technology have heavily influenced commercial businesses

in several ways. The most important role of information technology in a commercial
business however is to provide a commercial advantage. Advances such as computer
aided design, relational database technologies, spreadsheets, and word processing
software all provide a commercial benefit to the business, as does automation of
manufacturing processes (as Sara-Lee did in 1964).

It is beyond the scope of this report to go into detail about how the various software
developments can be used to provide a commercial advantage, other than increaseing the
productivity and innovation of the workforce.

It is interesting to note however that as different businesses compete with each other, the
commercial advantage one can have over another may depend primarily on it's use of
information technologies. For example being able to extract information as to what the
customer really wants and how to provide for that want can provide a significant
advantage. This extraction of information is facilitated and indeed made possible by the
technology used to store and manipulate this information. As the hardware and software
mechanisms used to store and manipulate the information become more sophisticated and
quicker the business can utilise its stored information to maximise it's commercial
advantage.

The use of information technology to monitor a businesses performance can also enable
the business to highlight areas where they are not making the most use of their resources.
The use of information technologies can also increase the businesses income through
advertising in the various available forums. Advances in information technology over the
last thirty years have lead to the television for example being more widely used today
than thirty years ago (e.g. the introduction of transistor based televisions reduced costs
while increasing reliability).

News & Media organisations

How has the development of information technology influenced the way news and media
organisations deliver content?

Due to the nature of news and media organisations, the information technologies have
particular relevance to them. As noted earlier "Information technology is the technology
used to store, manipulate, distribute or create information". News and media
organisations are intimately acquainted with each of these elements of information
technology. However this report will focus on the distribution and creation of
information.

Developments such as the Internet and satellite television have created new medium and
audiences through which and to which these organisations can disseminate their
information.
Given the situation thirty years ago the developments that we have seen have enabled the
news and media organisations access to more people, they have a wider audience. The
audience however now has a wider, global choice. News reports can be received which
highlight many different sides of an international conflict for example than was possible
before. The relative cheapness of being able to publish information on the Internet for
example means that virtually anyone can publish information accessible anywhere in the
world.

Educational organisations

How has the development of information technology influenced the way educational
resources are provided?

As information technology has developed over the last thirty years, educational
establishments have been influenced in various ways. The most obvious example has
been the introduction of information technology related courses. These courses are
introduced to try to satisfy the demand that society has for qualified people to develop
these information technologies.

The developments that have occurred in information technology have also had other
influences on educational establishments. As was discussed earlier about news and media
organisations, educational organisations also have a goal to distribute information from a
source (lecturer, books, on-line resources etc.) to the student. The processes by which
educational establishments distribute information have become increasingly diverse, and
the effectiveness of the process has also improved.

The distribution of information is not the only concern of educational establishments. For
example one of the aims of Universities is to create information. This "creation" is done
by research. Information technologies have enabled researchers to access a wider source
of information than previously available through such technologies as the Internet (the
original ArpaNet being set up primarily to assist research). The Internet and other related
technologies such as electronic mail, also enable collaborative projects to be undertaken
between geographically distant groups.

Collective Activities and Interests

One of the aims of the report is to analyse the influence of "information technology" on
the collective activities and interests of a broad range of people. The phrase "collective
activities and institutions" has a wide scope. This report divides these into two main
areas:

1. Work processes,
2. Social.
This section of the report will examine how information technology influences how
individuals in a society have had the way they function in their interactions with each
other (social), and their interactions with institutions (work processes).

Work Processes

How has the development of information technology influenced the interactions between
institutions and individuals from the individual point of view?

Developments in information technology in the last thirty years have led from institutions
with large single computers being able to only accommodate one user at a time, to a point
now where powerful computing power is available to individuals rather than an
organisation. Thirty years ago computers were much larger than now, often filling large
rooms. The move from individuals in an organisation (whether commercial or academic)
not having access to computing facilities to a position where users could have a link to
computing facilities first began with Fernando Corbató's CTSS operating system (the first
multi user operating system), giving users the impression they had possession of a
computer. (In fact their terminals were sharing time on the computer with other
terminals).

Further development in this area occurred with the introduction of several developments.
These included developments such as mass-produced mini-computers such as the PDP-8,
which enabled more institutions to obtain computers at a lower cost than be fore. Later
developments such as the personal computer, have brought computing power even closer
to the individual in the organisation. And as graphical user interfaces have evolved from
the early experiments at Xerox PARC to the Windows operating system, the individuals
in an organisation can even more easily harness computing power. This leads to an
increase in the individuals ability to complete tasks quickly and efficiently.

Social

How has the development of information technology influenced the interactions between
individuals?

Interactions between individuals have been enhanced by the development of information

technologies. New channels of communication have been opened between people in the
last thirty years. These developments have been assisted by such projects as the ArpaNet.
The forerunner to the Internet. The ArpaNet was commissioned as an aid to research
between various institutions. This institutional use was also accompanied by an unofficial
use between individuals. The ArpaNet hosted mailing lists, some of which individuals
used to communicate with each other on non-institutional business. These included the
science fiction mailing list (http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/hacker-history/hacker-
history-2.html)
As other developments occurred, such as the widespread availability of modems and
personal computers became more widespread, the general population was integrated into
what is known as the Internet.

Individuals then have the ability to interact with other individuals through such
developments as e-mail, chat-rooms and the Usenet.

This proliferation of Internet technologies has enabled people with disabilities such as
those who are blind or visually impaired, physical disabilities or others to be able to enjoy
access to sources of information and ways of communicating they may not have had the
opportunity to have used before.

As Christopher Murphy wrote "Of greatest importance to disabled people, perhaps, is the
ability of the computer and modem to immerse them into a world that might otherwise be
off limits. A disabled person using a computer has access to vast amounts of information
at his fingertips. People with disabilities can tap into practical disability-related
information or converse with other disabled people. Not only that, they can also enter the
mainstream. With the help of these computer devices and advanced software many
disabled people can be just as competitive as anyone else."

(http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs3604/lib/Disabilities/murhpy.AT.html)

Conclusion
To offer a conclusion to this report we should detail the aspects of the aim that we have
fulfilled. Here then was the initial aim.

"The aim of this report is to provide a brief summary of some of the main technological
developments that have taken place in information technology and how these
developments have had an influence on the way we work and on society in general, in the
last thirty years."

By giving a timeline of some of the developments that have been seen in information
technology, we have provided the brief summary of the main technological
developments.

The sections following that which, deal with the impact of information technology on the
common traditions, institutions and the collective activities and interests provide an
analysis of how the developments impacted on the general society.

It has been shown that the developments in information technology have had an impact
on general society perception of information. Without going into specific detail about
individual situations, it has been shown that that impact has been fourfold:

1. storage,
2. manipulation,
 3. distribution,
4. creation.

These four areas dealing with information are the four areas in which societies perception
of information has changed. As communication and information technologies have been
developed, the various elements that makeup society, whether they be individuals or
organisations, expect to be able to use information in ways that were not possible thirty
years ago. Society expects to be able to store more than was previously conceived.
Society expects to be able to manipulate the information they have for their benefit, to
increase understanding and discover new relationships. Society expects to be able to
distribute information quickly, efficiently and cheaply. Society now expects the creation
of new information to be facilitated by these new technologies.