LIVING IN THE IT ERA

INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL AGE

(MODULE 1)

* Digital Age
* Is a period in human history that started in the 1970s characterized by the use
of computers.
* Also known as the Information Age, Computer Age, or New Media Age.
* It will continue to change over time as new technologies or devices will
developed through search and development.
* ICT (Information Communication Technology)
* Data and Correspondence Innovation/Data Innovation which refers to
advancements that give access to data through media communications. It is like
Data Innovation, yet concentrates fundamentally in advancing communication in
the Digital Age.

Evolution of Communication

* Cave Paintings and Carve Stones

* Imaginative art or some form of communication were discovered by
archaeologists in the cave paintings and carved stones done by Neanderthals
or early homo sapiens that dates backs to around 130,000 to 100,000 B.C.
* Carrier Pigeons
* The use of homing pigeons for communication dates back to at least 2,900 BC.
* By 776, carrier pigeons were used to carry the news of Olympic victories to
Athens.
* Marathon Man
* The story of Pheidippides
* Pheidippides an Athenian Herald or Courier was said to have run from
Marathon to Athens to report that the Greeks won against the Persians in the
Battle of Marathon
* First Daily Newspaper
* The first daily newspaper ever to be distributed was the Einkommende
Zeitungen in July 1, 1960 in Leipzig, Germany.
* The name of the newspaper means “approaching daily papers”.
* Telegraph
* Created in the 1840s by Samuel Morse (1791-1872) and different designer
* Notwithstanding designing the broadcast, Samuel Morse built up a code
(bearing his name) which came to be known as the Morse code.
* Telephone
* Alexander Graham Bell, assisted by Thomas Watson designed and invented the
telephone in 1876.
* History's longest patent fights.
* Radio Signal
* Guillermo Marconi in 1901 transmitted a flag/signal from Cornwall to
Newfoundland – the first to traverse the Atlantic.
* Television Broadcast
* On April 7, 1927, AT&T (Bell Telephone Company) held the first public
demonstration of long-distance television transmission.
* Internet
* Inter-networking began with Packet switching networks like the ARPANET of
the US Protection Office
* World Wide Web
* Developed from 1989 to 1994 at the European Council for Nuclear Research
* Instant Messaging
* AOL Moment Delivery person, or Point, was propelled in May 1997 as a route
for AOL clients to visit each other continuously, by means of content
* Blogging 1999
* In 1999, the word blog sprung up and after five years, the term blog, was
announced the expression of the year by Merriam-Webster.
* Facebook
* The world's most mainstream interpersonal interaction site was launched in
February 2004. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg.
* Twitter
* Created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Business Stone, and Evan
Williams.

Importance and benefits of ICT for Society and Individuals

* For Health
* Easy access to patient records.
* Access to medical information
* Online Appointment/s.
* Database for Medical Inventory
* Organized information about individual patients

* For Education
* Research and Resource over the internet.
 * New ways and style of learning.
* Remote learning.
* Skills for life.

* For the Solution of Crimes

* Media and Communication.
* Storage and access of information.
* Forensic, Tracing and Fraud prevention.
* Database and prevention of fraud.
* Saves time.

* For Communication
* Ways of communication using ICT.
* Communication using E-mail, IM etc.
* Easy communication system benefits

* For Business
* Changing ways of business.
* Information technology.
* E-commerce (selling/buying).
* Online Banking.
* For Work
* Work can be carried out easily.
* Information about work can be accessed from anywhere.
* Work can be taken to different location.
* Efficient and organized way of storing file.
* For Work
Importance of ICT Systems

* By using ICT systems we are:

more productive as we are able to deal with transmit and receive vast
amounts of information and process it quickly.
Digital Development
(MODULE 2)

There are 9 Principles of Digital Development

PRINCIPLE 1.
* Design with the User
* This is different from designing for the user. Designing With The User can only
be attained through conversation, observation, and co-creation with the people,
client, or target market who will be using the eventual digital product or tools.
* Effective computerized activities are established in a comprehension of client
attributes, needs and difficulties. Client focused outline – likewise alluded to as
configuration considering or human-focused plan begins with becoming
acquainted with the general population you are planning for through discussion,
perception and co-creation. Data assembled through this commitment prompts
 building, testing and overhauling instruments until the point when they
successfully address client issues.
The Core tenets of this first principle Design with the User are as follows:
* It should Incorporate multiple user types and stakeholders-in each phase of the
project life cycle to direct feature needs and revise the design.
* It should have clear objectives and open to a process of repetition
* It should improve users’ current processes
* And aside from considering the needs of the under served it should always be
open to people opting out of the design process

PRINCIPLE 2.
* Understand the Existing Ecosystem
* All around outlined activities and computerized instruments consider the specific
structures and needs that exist in every nation, locale and group. Dedicating
time and resources to analyze the ecosystem, or context where you work, helps
to ensure that selected technology tools will be relevant and sustainable and will
not duplicate existing efforts. Ecosystems are defined by the culture, gender
norms, political environment, economy, technology infrastructure and other
factors that can affect and individual’s ability to access and use a technology or
participate in an initiative.
* The Ecosystem is the political, economic, social, technological, environmental,
legal and other factor within the group or geographical location where the final
design product will be used. A very important thing to note is that the ecosystem
is ever-changing thereby requiring that digital developers check and analyze
their assumptions.
The Core tenets of this principle are the following:
* Coordination, consultation, and constant engagement with civil society groups,
the government, or all stakeholders from the start of the project until project
completion to avoid duplication and ensure smooth integration with the existing
technical system if any
PRINCIPLE 3.
* Design For Scale
* Achieving scale is a goal that has been elusive for many digital development
practitioners. The mHealth field, for example, has identified the problem of
pilotitis, or the inability to move initiatives beyond pilot stage. Achieving scale
can mean different things in different contexts, but it requires adoption beyond
an initiatives pilot population and often necessitates securing funding or
partners that take initiative to new communities or regions. Different
implementer may define scale as reaching a certain percentage of a population
or a certain number of users.
* The elusiveness of achieving scale is a goal that has been hard for digital
developers because of pilotitis. The mHealth describes it as the inability to move
initiatives beyond the pilot stage. From the start it is a must to Design For Scale.
Designing for scale means planning and strategizing beyond the pilot stage.
Aside from the obvious concern about funding the initiative and continuously
 funding it after the pilot stage, digital developers must take into consideration its
usability and bottom line affordability in order to achieve scale in the future
The Core tenets:
* Design and Plan for Scale from the start. Keep the design simple but flexible
and adaptable. Devise a funding model that incorporates the partners who can
help fund and sustain the initiative. And remember to demonstrate the impact
after gathering enough evidence that validates the initiative before any attempt
to scale.

PRINCIPLE 4.
* Build for Sustainability
* Building sustainable programs, platforms and digital tools is essential to
maintain user and stakeholder support, as well as to maximize long-term
impact. Sustainability ensures that user and stakeholder contributions are not
minimized due to interruptions, such as loss of funding. A program built for
sustainability is more likely to be embedded into policies, daily practices and
user workflow
* Very closely related to designing for scale is building for sustainability because
this fourth principle is about ensuring user and stakeholder support be
maximized and uninterrupted. Working hand-in-hand with NGOs, Corporations,
or the Government ensures that the initiative achieves institutionalization in the
policies, processes, and user workflow
The 4th principle’s core tenets are
* Plan, build, and implement a sustainable model from the start. Collaborate and
engage with all stakeholders particularly partners for funding. And design a
program that is adaptive to changes in user context.

PRINCIPLE 5.
* Digital Development is Be Data Driven
* No amount of data will lead to accelerated impact if it is not used to inform
decision making. When an initiative is data driven, quality of information is
available to the right people when they need it, and they are using those data to
take action.The data produced by a digital initiative should be used for more
than just outputs, such as published work or donor reporting
* Informed decisions by the decision makers can only be achieved if the initiative
is data driven. Data produced and collected from such as those from
surveillance, research, operations, project management, and even secondary
sources enable the right people to make the right course of action
The core tenets are:
* Always design with a focus on the outcome which is measurable and
incremental. Similar to starting the initiative where in developers engage all
stakeholders, data sourcing, collection, and analysis must also be holistic. It
must also bridge the gaps of knowledge within the development community and
adhere to international standards of interoperability.

PRINCIPLE 6.
* Open Standards, Open Data, Open Source, and Open Innovation
* Too often, scarce public and international development resources are spent
investing in new software code, tools, data collection, content and innovations
for sector-specific solutions that are locked away behind licensing fees, with
data only used by and available to specific initiatives. An open way to deal with
computerized improvement can build coordinated effort in the advanced
improvement group and abstain from copying work that has just been finished
* More often than not, digital content and innovations are locked away behind
licensing fees only to be used and available to specific sectors. To help increase
collaboration in the digital development world an open approach through open
source technologies, open innovation, open data and open standards that still
takes into account the practical, technical, security, and privacy constraints
should be the way to go
The core tenets of the 6th principle are:
* Develop new digital codes or technologies that are freely viewed, copied,
modified, shared, and distributed in open or public platforms. In the same
manner adopt and expand on open data, standards, or innovation done by other
digital developers in the community. This enables a wide collaboration and co-
creation of software, systems and tools

PRINCIPLE 7.
* Reuse and Improve
* Instead of starting from scratch, programs that “reuse and improve” look for
ways to adapt and enhance existing products, resources and approaches.
Reuse means assessing what resources are currently available and using them
as they are to meet program goals. Improve means modifying existing tools,
products and resources to improve their overall quality, applicability and impact
* This is very much related to the 6th principle. Reusing and improving an existing
or currently available resource, tools or products greatly makes you more
efficient because of reduce costs of development and testing. Your
improvement of the existing technology will help the global development
community once you have shared it openly.
The 7th principle’s core tenets are:
* Identify and evaluate existing tools or software used by your target market or
users and see how you will be able to improve them. Ensure that what you
reuse, develop, and improve on will also be easily adopted and further improved
by others.
PRINCIPLE 8.
* Address Privacy and Security
* Addressing privacy and security in digital development involves careful
consideration of which data are collected and how data are acquired, used,
stored and shared. Organizations must take measures to minimized collection
and to protect confidential information and identities of individuals represented
in data sets from unauthorized access and manipulation by third parties
* This involves careful consideration about which data are collected and how they
are stored and shared. Organizations or entities collecting data should be
 responsible enough to be transparent in how they collect and use personal data.
Security measures and policies that protect and uphold an individual’s dignity
and privacy should be in place and made known to the individual
The core tenets are:
* Consider and understand the risks by performing a risk-benefit analysis not only
to countries but more so to individuals and communities who would be impacted
positively or negatively if the data collected leaks out. Always keep the best
interest of the individuals or end-users particularly their privacy and security
before collecting any data. It is imperative to define who will own the data, who
will have access, and how collected data will be used before any data can be
collected or captured. Always implement an informed consent so that
participants understand why data is being collected and that they have an
option to refuse participation will also be easily adopted and further improved by
others.

PRINCIPLE 9.
* Be Collaborative
* Being Collaborative means sharing information, insights, strategies and
resources across projects, organizations and sectors, leading to increased
efficiency and impact. This principle brings all the others together in practice.
People working in digital development have a shared vision to create a better
world, and collaboration is essential to making this vision a reality
* This principle not only brings all other principles together but is actually part and
parcel of each and every principle of digital development. Simply put,
collaboration is the sharing of strategies, insights, and information across
individuals, sectors, projects, and organizations leading to increased impact and
efficiency of the initiative.
The core tenets are:
* Engage with local and international partners, leaders, experts and organizations
across disciplines, industries, and countries in all phases of the project life
cycle. Document and share findings and advancements in a Creative Commons
License as well as participate in conferences of the digital community.

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE
(MODULE 3)
What is Technology?
Depending on when and how the word is used, technology is defined as:
 Those devices and machines that assist us to tackle issues or do new things;
 It is also a term to portray the level of accomplishment in science, mathematics
and designing of a gathering or culture
  It is a branch of knowledge that deals with applied sciences or engineering
 The devices and machines that assistance to tackle issues or do new things;
 The procedures, abilities and techniques for taking care of an issue, (for
example, building innovation or medicinal innovation);
 A culture-shaping action, (for example, fabricating innovation, or space-travel
innovation).
 Utilizing assets to take care of an issue, (for example, information, abilities,
forms, strategies, apparatuses and crude materials).
 A term to portray the level of accomplishment in science, arithmetic and
designing of a gathering or culture.
 In financial aspects, innovation is the present condition of our insight into how to
assemble assets to deliver needed items (and our insight into what can be
created).

How technology evolves?

 According to Brian Arthur of the Sante Fe Institute “Technology evolves over
time” and that technological evolution happens because of the phenomenon
that he calls as combinatorial evolution.
 The greater number of new technologies and the combinations that are and can
be generated from them the faster will be the technological advancement or
evolution.

What are the factors that affect technological evolution?

1. Systems Theory
 Simply put, a successful system is one that is stable but is able to adapt over
time.
 Richard Dawkins has expressed that advancement is only a "unique instance of
the more broad law of survival of the stable". So truly, we are keen on those
frameworks that endure for longer measures of time - a framework being
characterized as some element containing parts with reliable and tenacious
examples of association. Effective frameworks are those that are steady in
some shape, for example, a human, a business, an environment, or an
economy

2. Feedback between Technology and Society

 Societal needs create the need for new and improved technologies, as new
technologies spawn new needs of society. Technologies that fail to meet or
adjust to the needs of society will become extinct and be discontinued but those
that are able to answer and meet the needs of society will continue to thrive.
 Innovation by and large, and particularly Information Technology, has influenced
individuals and society in various ways. The best example is the present
worldwide economy

3. Maladaptive Features
  Successful or stable tools, systems, or software in one platform may be
unstable or unsuccessful in other platforms thereby digital developers needed to
improve the product or evolve the technology in order to adapt.
 In stable frameworks where versatile change comes gradually, some of the time
highlights can wind up maladaptive.
 Successful PC softwares like that of the Windows CE was uncompatible with
mobile devices

4. Niche Construction
 Technological companies like that of Apple who are able to create demand for a
technological product through their-marketing initiatives are able to create a
niche market. That niche market on its own was able to create evolution of
technology for that niche market but at the same time able to change the
landscape of the overall technological environment.
 Specialty development is the procedure in which a living being adjusts its own
particular condition or the one of different animal groups, much of the time as a
methods for expanding its odds of survival. It is as critical to advancement as is
common determination. A situation causes changes in species through choice
and species cause changes in their condition through specialty development.
Apple's accomplishment as of late can be viewed for instance of this procedure

5. Competition for the same niche

 Two technologies can co-exist if their overlap on a niche is minimal. Technology
manufacturers today try to avoid competing on one and the same niche and
they just try to build their own niche market. Sometimes though because of the
needs of society, technological advancements or products even from the own
line-up of products of a single manufacturer compete or overlap in a niche. That
which answers better the needs of society survives.
 At the point when two or more advancements or tech companies overlap in their
product niches but is insignificant, then those products or innovations can co-
exist

6. Niche Differentiation
 Two important kinds of differentiation are morphological and conditional.
Morphological differentiation is when two competing products or
technologies evolve and move into distinct niches. Conditional
differentiation on the other hand is when two competing technologies or
products differ in their abilities or features to be used by consumers in
different situations. Product differentiation (morphologically or conditionally) is
the key to be able to coexist with other technologies competing in the same
market, a very good example of morphological differentiation to be competitive
is the dual-use ultra book with detachable tablet screen.
 Product differentiation (morphologically or conditionally) is the key to be able to
coexist with other technologies competing in the same market, a very good
example of morphological differentiation to be competitive is the dual-use
ultrabook with detachable tablet screen
7. Selection Pressure
 The evolution or development of the smartphone is a concrete example of
selection pressure also known as environmental or market pressure. That
pressure exerted by the end users of a technological product. The inclusion of
different features and functionalities in the smartphone from its inception to the
current models is due to the pressure of society on technology to adapt to the
needs of society

8. Evolutionary vs. Revolutionary Products

 The development of evolutionary products requires an understanding of
customer needs, while the development of revolutionary products depends on a
visionary approach. Tech companies that want to be successful need to work on
both evolutionary and revolutionary products in order to be profitable and
sustainable in the long term. Diversification can be a good strategy to survive
the unstable moments, but this costs of production will have to be taken into
consideration.
 Most new classes of items begin sans preparation, and in this way there isn't
adequate data to decide how they will be utilized. Counting numerous highlights
toward the start does not give much advantage. At first MP3 players just
allowed to stack music documents from a PC and play them in a hurry. Later
clients characterized the fundamental arrangement of wanted highlights. These
days, the MP3 player is an element on a complex cell phone. The test is for item
makers to emphasize adequately sufficiently quick to convey or coordinate new
highlights and enhance existing highlights on their items

9. Cultural Variations
 Basically points out that differences in culture, beliefs, attitudes, skills, customs,
and even financial capabilities also affect how technology advances and
evolves in a particular geographical area or culture.