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Information technology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Information technology (IT) is the application of computers to store, study, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate
data,[1] or information, often in the context of a business or other enterprise.[2] IT is considered a subset of
information and communications technology (ICT). In 2012, Zuppo proposed an ICT hierarchy where each
hierarchy level "contain[s] some degree of commonality in that they are related to technologies that facilitate
the transfer of information and various types of electronically mediated communications."[3]

The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other
information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with
information technology, including computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom
equipment, and e-commerce.[4][a]

Humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating, and communicating information since the Sumerians in
Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC,[6] but the term information technology in its modern sense
first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Harold J. Leavitt and
Thomas L. Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall
call it information technology (IT)." Their definition consists of three categories: techniques for processing, the
application of statistical and mathematical methods to decision-making, and the simulation of higher-order
thinking through computer programs.[7]

Based on the storage and processing technologies employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of
IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC 1450 AD), mechanical (14501840), electromechanical
(18401940), electronic (1940present).[6] This article focuses on the most recent period (electronic), which
began in about 1940.

Contents
1 History of computer technology
2 Electronic data processing
2.1 Data storage
2.1.1 Databases
2.2 Data retrieval
2.3 Data transmission
2.4 Data manipulation
3 Perspective
3.1 Academic perspective
3.2 Commercial and employment perspective
3.3 Ethical perspective
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links

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