IT in Society

12.1: Electronic Currency

An electronic currency is a payment method that occurs in digital form. It does not
involve the exchange of physical currency, such as coins and banknotes. There are
several types of digital currencies which include:

- Digital Currency: It is a method of payment that is similar to paying

with coins and banknotes. However, rather than exchanging physical
bank notes and coins to make the payment, the currency is exchanged
digitally using computers. There are several forms of digital currency,
which include credit cards, mobile phones and smart-watches. A
common reference for this kind of payment is that it is like having an
electronic wallet. Credit cards can be used with card payment machines
that will either allow magnetic stripe to be swiped, the card to be
inserted into the machine and chip to be read, or touching the card to
the computer using the payment called contactless payment.

Advantages Disadvantages
A person does not need to carry physical There is often a monetary limit on contactless
money around, which could be easily lost. payments.
If a card or mobile device is lost, the user can As data is sent electronically, there is always the risk
contact the bank to stop any monetary that the transactions could be hacked.
transactions from the card or device.
All transactions are completed using Some people are anxious about the thought of
encrypted methods, so data is sent securely. contactless payments, believing that they could
walk near a payment machine, and the money
could be deducted from the account.
The use of contactless payments can speed Some may think that people can lose track of their
up the payment for products and services. spending as they are not handing over physical
money for transaction.
If a user is in a di erent country, they do not If a card or device is lost, it is possible for another
need to have the physical currency of that person to use it for contactless payments, before
country available in their wallet. They can use the user has chance to cancel it.
a digital method and the banks involved will
electronically change the transaction from one
currency to other.
ff

 - Virtual Currency: It is also a type of digital currency. However, unlike

the digital currencies discussed, which are centralized systems, virtual
currency is decentralized system. Basically, a centralized system is one
that has central body that is managing and regulating the use of the
currency. A decentralized system is one that does not have a central
body managing process.

Advantages
The major advantage of virtual currencies
is convenience. Payments with virtual
companies are fast and easy due to their
network based nature. The use of virtual
currencies is especially convenient in
international transactions.
Disadvantages
The regulations over virtual currencies are
not comprehensive or systematic enough,
hindering their worldwide acceptance.
Lacking supervision from a central
a d m i n i s t ra t o r, d e c e n t ra l i ze d v i r t u a l
currencies provide opportunities for illegal
transactions and money laundering.

Additionally, decentralizations also avoid Out of charge of a central bank, the value of
intermediaries. It lowers the transaction virtual currency is highly volatile. Therefore,
costs and avoids the security failure of it is a less favorable tool to store value or
the central administrator. medium of exchange.

- Crypto- Currency: The most well known examples are BitCoin and LiteCoin.
Some cryptocurrencies are tracked using systems like blockchain. These
crypto-currencies are also a type of peer-to-peer electronic monetary
system. This type of payment system is designed to allow peers to send
electronic payment to each other without the need for going via a central
body, such as financial institution.

Advantages Disadvantages
The usual charges that apply to bank The decentralized systems allows for a level of
transactions are not present for anonymity that some believe encourages
cryptocurrency. criminal activity, allowing to go untraced.

People are able to invest in bitcoin There have been a number of instances where
and possibly make money if they sell businesses have been hacked and bitcoin has
it at a higher rate. been stolen.

 - CBDC: It is the digital form of what is known as fiat money. Fiat money is the
currency that is physical currency used in a country, that is issued by
governments and banks. It is the bank notes and coins that you can use in
payments everyday. Creating digital fiat money in this way would mean that
banks e ectively create a digital currency. Each unit of currency in CBDC is
equivalent of a paper bank note. It will be similar to bank notes, in that it will
have serial number. There will also be distinguishable characteristics on the
unit that will prevent fake units being created.

Advantages Disadvantages
More e icient and secure payments. Central banks have complete control.

Allows consumers to use central bank directly. Less privacy for users.

Eliminate the risk of a commercial bank collapse. Di icult to attain widespread option.

Easy to track. Possible competition between central and

commercial banks.

12.2: Data Mining

Data mining is a form of data analysis. It is also a form of artificial intelligence. The
process of data mining involves searching and analyzing through large sets of data to
establish patterns and trends. This information can be used to identify future trends
that could be valuable to a company. The large sets of data used are data
warehouses. Computers are used for data mining because of the sheer volume of
data that is searched and analyzed. The process of data mining is complex and
involves several stages, which include:

1. Business Understanding: There are three elements to the

business understanding stage: setting the objectives, developing
the project plan and establishing the criteria for success. In order to
establish the kind of data that needs to be mined and analyzed,
the objectives of the business need to be understood. The
business understanding stage is where the needs of the business
are discovered, and an in-depth analysis takes place to ascertain
these.
ff

ff
ff

 2. Data Understanding: The data understanding stage involves an

initial collection of data. This is normally collected from various
sources that are available. Once the data is collected, the
integrity, accuracy and the properties of data is considered, to
make sure that it is visible. Once the data is established as viable,
it can be interrogated using queries developed in business
understanding stage.

3. Data Preparation: This is the largest stage in the project and the
most time consuming. During this stage the data is taken through
a whole process of selection, cleansing, construction and
formatting, to make sure that it is in the form required for the
business. This can then allow for patterns and trends to be
established in the data, relating to the business needs.

4. Data Modeling: During this stage, various test scenarios are

generated to model the data. This will allow the business to
understand whether the models are suitable for their business
needs, and that the models falls in line with the business
initiatives.

5. Evaluation: In the evaluation stage, the results generated by the

models are evaluated. The outcome of this evaluation may
produce new business needs, depending on the patterns and
trends that have been identified in the process.

6. Deployment: The deployment stage normally involves creating a

report and other visual material to present the findings of the
data mining process to the stakeholders to decide what actions
the business will take next. If the stakeholders feel the business
has not achieved an informative enough result, they choose to
repeat the data mining process to further refine the information
gathered from the process.

The use of data mining is increasing. Many di erent organizations make use of data
mining to aid their planning and the actions they choose to take. Sometimes, the use
of data mining can be critical to highly sensitive situations:

ff

 - National Security and Surveillance: Governments make continued use of

data mining to aid nation security. It is used to analyze artificial intelligence
that is gathered to highlight the current activity in a country and predict the
possible future activity. This can help reduce of attack or dangerous activity in
the country. In surveillance, data mining is used in a similar way to how it is
used in national security.

- Business: Businesses use data mining for a variety of di erent reasons, from
predicting product trends and even in hiring sta . Data mining is valuable to a
business because, if they are able to predict what customers will buy, they can
beat the competitor to market and gain competitive advantage. This can
ultimately result in increased sales revenue, and possibly profits, for the
business. One business application of data mining is customer relationship
management. The aim of CRM [Customer-Relationship-Management] is to
improve customer loyalty and implement business strategies that are
customer focused.

- Research: It is a fundamental and imperative parts of so many areas in the

society. It helps revolutionize industries such as medicine, space exploration,
engineering and technology. Data mining is often the underpinning tool in
research. Research companies can also make use of other research
company’s data, through the use of data mining. This can speed up in core
development of these industries.

- Health-Care: Data mining is increasingly used to improve health care. It can

be used to identify success practices in health care and to also help in
reducing the costs. It can also be used to predict the volume of patients
visiting the medical institutions, so that appropriate levels of sta ing can be
put in place.

- Ethical and privacy implications: Individuals and organizations have

concerns about the ethical and privacy implications of data mining. This often
revolves around the use of data mined about individuals that is then used to
target them with products and advertising. There can be certain issues with
this. If a person searches for a certain product or service, they may be
bombarded with the similar products afterwards. The ethical issues also
prompt the privacy issues that many individuals have. Many people feel it is a
violation of their privacy, which is unethical, for companies who have collected
their data to share with other companies.

ff
ff
ff
 Advantages Disadvantages
Allows organizations to make strategic The process of data mining, the software tools and
decisions that can help maintain or the skilled sta required will be extremely expensive.
increase their revenue.

Allows organizations to understand their Many people see the practice of data mining as both
customers and create the products they unethical and an invasion of their privacy.
need.

Allows individuals to see targeted product Storage costs for data are very expensive, therefore
advertising based on the things they this can also increase the cost of the process of data
already like. This means adverts could be mining.
more meaningful to them. It could also help
them see products they would like but not
currently know about.

Allows important institutions to predict The masses of data stored prove a greater security
future crisis that they can then plan issue, as hackers will want to gain access to the data
strategies and solutions to help handle and because it has a high value.
avoid them

Allow businesses to save costs either by
understanding how to streamline what they
already do, or by not investing in a future
product that they can now be aware, may
not be desired.
The outcomes produced by data mining are only
predictions based on the patterns and trends of the
past data. They are not an accurate science and it is
very possible for them to be incorrect.

12.3: Social Networking

It can often seem that the world is obsessed with social networking, but it has grown
to be an inherent part of many people’s lives. They rely on entertainment,
communications, and often as a source for news. People use social networking
methods to share information about their daily lives, including how they feel, what
makes them happy, what irritates them, what they are eating, where they are on a
holiday and what their beliefs are. There are several types of social networking:

- Chat Room: It is an online service that allows multiple users to type

messages to each other, allowing them to chat. They are meant to be
similar to the people gathering in a room and chatting about what
interests them. Chat rooms are often created to allow users to discuss
a particular topic or issue.
ff

 - Instant Messaging: It is one of the earlier forms of social networking,

where it is designed to allow two users to send messages to each
other in real time. Although this happens between two users, it is
possible for more people to be included if there is a instant group
message thread created. Several social media platforms have an
instant messaging service built into them. Many individuals and
organizations use instant messaging facilities. Individuals use them to
converse using text with friends and family. They can also use them to
contact a business, who have a social media presence.

- Forums: They are online place that users can post thoughts, ideas
and questions. Other users can then reply to them to their posts with
their thought, feedback and answers to any questions. Forums are
di erent to chat facilities because they do not have the same level of
live interaction. A user who posts the question on a forum is not likely
be needing an immediate reply from other users.

- Email: It is a message that can be sent by a user to one or more users,

which is similar by sending an electronic version of the letter. The user
writes the letter then addresses it to send it to another user using their
email address. Businesses and organizations use email extensively, for
many, it is one of the main methods of communication. It can be used
to easily send information to everyone within a company.

- Blogs and Micro-Blogs: A blog is an online version of a journal. They

are set up by individuals, or groups of individuals, normally to report
on their lives or a particular topic. Blogs are structured in reverse
chronological order, which means that the most recent post to the
blog will come first. Micro-Blogs are similar to blogs, but posts are
created with a much smaller level of content. A blog may have
thousands of words or more. However, a microblog will have posts
that are just couple of sentences or an image.

Social networking has had a huge impact on both individuals and businesses. Some
feel that it has had a positive impact on the lives of individuals. It has allowed us to
communicate with people on a global scale. This means that family and friends that
live in di erent countries can share more about their lives which can help people feel
more connected and so happier and less alone. Some also feel that it has allowed us
to connect with strangers and make more friends with people who share similar
thoughts and beliefs to us. Social networking has had a large impact on businesses.
ff
ff

It is used by businesses on a regular basis as an e ective marketing tool. It can be vital

to the success of a business to have an active social networking presence. Some
argue that the impact a business can have by social networking is starting to
deteriorate. Individuals now see so many di erent online adverts that they are just
likely to bypass the advert. This means that there is no or little e ect. However, social
networking has allowed businesses to reach audiences on a global scale which can
help increase their sales revenue.

Advantages Disadvantages
Allows communication to occur on a global People can be overwhelmed by all the information
scale between individuals, businesses and and communications they encounter.
organizations.

Allows people to feel included as they can Some people can feel excluded and feel that
share thoughts and ideas with those who everyone seems to have a better life than they do.
share similar options.

Allow organization to distribute important Some organizations could falsely represent certain
information to people that could be situations and in luence opinions of people that are
lifesaving in critical situations. built on censored information.

Allows some individuals to make a living Social networking in luencers can sometimes lead
writing an online blog that others enjoy people to think or do things that are harmful, such as
reading. over exercise or spend too much on expensive
clothing.

12.4: Technology enhanced learning

Teaching and learning has been improved by technology. A large part of technology’s
growing influence on society is the introduction of online learning and online courses.

There are many tutorials available on websites such as YouTube, and more
educationally oriented sites like lynda.com and edx.org. This means that people can
now gain access to teaching, often without a fee, other than the cost of internet
connection. This also means that people can learn at their own pace and time.

- Online Tutorials: One of the biggest online platforms used for tutorials is
YouTube. There is an extensive set of tutorials and a huge variety of topics,
where it is normally delivered using di erent media and aims to teach the
viewer how to achieve a specific goal or outcome. Online tutorials allow a
user to learn at their own pace and in their own time. They are also able to
view the tutorial repeatedly until they think they have the understanding
that they need for the desired outcome.
f
f

ff

ff
ff
ff

 Advantages Disadvantages
There are online tutorials available on The quality of online tutorials may di er greatly, and
almost any skill or issue that a person may some may be poor quality, meaning it is time
want information about. consuming to ind one that is good.

Users can learn in their own time in their An online tutorial could teach a person in an incorrect
own pace. manner. This will depend on the ability of the person
who is acting as the educator.

- Networked Learning: It is a form of online collaborative learning that

helps learners to connect with other learners as well as their tutors. It is
designed to help learners develop relationships with each other as well as
their tutor. This can help the learning process because there are a number
of di erent people from whom learners can gain feedback and partake
discussions. The aim of networked learning is that learners are
encouraged to support the learning of other learners.

Advantages Disadvantages
Learners get to work with other learners Some learners may ind it di icult to contribute to the
and build relationships that could take process, as they are not sure what to give as
forward beyond the course. feedback.

Learners are exposed to both ability to gain
and to provide feedback. This means that
they build new skills and knowledge and
o er the skills and knowledge they have to
others also.
Some learners may be overbearing it and dominate
all the discussions that take place, not allowing
enough contribution to encourage learning from
others. Some tutors may ind these people di icult to
manage.

Learners may be more motivated to Learners may just be inclined to just provide positive
complete the tasks as the learning of others feedback as they do not feel comfortable criticizing
is also dependent on them. the work of others.

- Massive Open Online Courses: One of the biggest online learning methods
is MOOCs. These are the courses that are not limited in the number of people
that can access them and have open access using the web. MOOCS are free
and will be used by a large number of learners at any one time. They will often
include filmed lectures and other resources, and have forums that can be used
to interact with other educators and learners.
ff
ff
f
f
f
ff
ff
ff

 Advantages Disadvantages
Large selection of courses are available. Some people may get overwhelmed by the number
of courses available, and may not know which one
would be best to take.

Can provide an employee with the There are often large numbers of people on the
competitive advantage as it demonstrates courses, so that the educators may not have a lot of
the motivation to learn and improve in their time to dedicate to helping each learner.
own time.

They are free of cost. It may be di icult for educators to keep track of the
progress of all learners, so they may not recognize
that some are struggling.

The number of people on a course is often Some learners may struggle with the motivation to
a large amount of unlimited, so people do complete the tasks, and may only choose to
not have to wait for a place to become complete those properly that they know will be
available. assessed.

- Video Conferencing: This is when people communicate using computers,

displaying a video stream, using an internet connection. The video will often
show the user and any other resources that they want to provide. Video
conferencing software often has a facility that will allow a user to share the
content on their screen with other users that are part of the conference.

Advantages Disadvantages
As learners can ask questions in real time, Video conferencing software can require high
this may improve their level of learning and broadband speeds that may not be available in some
understanding. areas.

As learners can see and hear their educator,
this may feel like a more personal learning
experience and may create an increased
level of motivation for the learner as they
ind it more engaging.
Only a small number of learners will be able to be part
of video conference, and this will be limited by the
capabilities of the software and the internet
connection. This may leave some people waiting a
long time for a place on a course.

12.5: The Impact of IT

The use of IT has revolutionized many of our industries and areas of society:

- IT in sport: In sport, IT has been introduced to aid referees in making

important decisions that could change the outcome of the game. In
rugby union, the referee regularly uses IT to see if the ball was put over
the goal line for a try to be scored. IT is used in sports, such as tennis,
to allow the players to challenge the decisions of the o icials judging
the match.
f
ff

ff

 - IT in manufacturing: Manufacturing uses robotics to create

assembly lines for products such as cars, where heavy elements like
the chassis are moved to an area where humans can fit items to them
to build a car. This has meant that humans can be removed from
working on more dangerous elements of manufacturing. By using
robotics in manufacturing, it is possible to create a more consistent
and accurate product. This is because the robot can be programmed
to produce a product and will do this to the same standard repeatedly.

- IT in medicine: In medicine, IT has given us the ability to monitor

patients and make sure they are healthy. We are able to measure their
heart rate, analyze DNA samples to see if an infection is present, and
even use technology to train doctors and nurses in how to perform
certain procedures through simulations. IT has enabled many
advancements to occur in medicine. It is now possible to provide
people with artificial limbs that can be controlled through the use of
technology. The use of nanotechnology in medicine has provided
great advancements, especially in the use of drugs to treat disease.

- IT in banking and finance: Banks rely heavily on the use of IT to keep

very large databases of records about all the transactions that are
made on a daily basis. IT is used to enable people to access physical
currency through the use of ATMs. The introduction of IT for this
purpose meant that people no longer needed to queue in the bank to
withdraw money. It also introduced the ability for people to access
their money 24 hours a day, and not only when the bank is open.

- IT in education: The use of IT in education is a growing trend. The

usage of technology in the classrooms helps in making the lessons
visually appealing. This may enhance the learning process for the
students. It is also being used to aid learning online with the practice
of technology based learning.

- IT in news and media: The use of IT has allowed the people to have
quick access to news stories around the world and has made people
even more aware of world events. The use of IT has also allowed
people to be amateur journalists themselves, by recording events as
they happen and using social media platforms to broadcast this to a
wider audience.

 - IT in E-Business: Business has changed hugely through the

introduction of IT. Online business is now commonplace and is often
seen as an easier way of buying goods and services than in physical
store. Goods and services are often cheaper online due to the cost
savings from businesses not needing a shop space and reduced from
utility bills. Online shopping has become even more popular with the
rise of smart devices, because of applications that allow you to order
anything online by using your phone, regardless of where you are.

- IT in Government and Politics: The use of IT has become more

prominent in governments and politics. Social media is often used to
to raise awareness of di erent political causes and issues. Many online
petitions are set up daily that try and encourage people to sign for the
resolution of issues that they support. The use of IT in politics in this
way can allow government to see what issues the people have, and
this may prioritise what they discuss in government.

- IT in family and home: The introduction of IT into the home has

developed in many ways. People now have devices and use them for
many di erent services in the home, such as lighting or heating. A user
is able to control these systems from a remote location.

- IT in monitoring and surveillance: The use of IT in monitoring and

surveillance has become very prominent. Many police authorities
around the world use it to monitor possible criminal activity and to
locate criminals when crimes have been committed. One example of
its use is to combine facial recognition software with the CCTV
footage.
ff

ff