Lesson 7

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Introduction to the Digital Age

Digital age, also known as Information age, is a period

when the computer and internet were introduced. It is
caused by rapid shift from traditional industry to
computerization all the way to artificial intelligence
which brought by Industrial Revolution. These
technologies enabled people to communicate
information easily and rapidly. Digital Technology
became prevalent and widely used around the world.
Information can be accessed easily specially with the use
of the internet. House chores and jobs are getting
automated with the help of machines and equipment.
Mobile phones became very useful in every areas of life --
in education, entertainment, jobs, etc. Digital
technologies have radically changed the way people
work, consume, and communicate over a short period of
time.
By: Engr. Froilan G. Cantillo
GEE 4
Living in the IT Er
The ICT and its role in Social Change

Information Communications Technology (ICT) has the

power to transform society. ICT is defined as a group of
interrelated technologies (electronic devices) for
accessing, processing, and disseminating information. It
is a system of electronic network activated through a
complex hardware and software systems linked by a vast
array of technical protocols. ICTs are indisputably
important part of our social setting today. The term ICTs
has been used to embrace technological innovation and
merging in information and communication transforming
our world into information or knowledge societies. The
rapid development of these technologies has fainted the
boundaries between information, communication, and
various types of media.

The development of a society mostly depends on the

access to information. The Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) greatly ease the flow
of information and knowledge offering the socially
marginalized community an extraordinary chance to
attain their own rights socially, economically,
educationally, and politically. Despite ICT’s massive
potential, the current global information outburst has
had surprisingly little impact on development activities
and access to practical information for rural
communities, local people, and forefront development
workers in developing countries.
ENTERTAINMENT
With the advent of new technologies, the world of
entertainment is constantly evolving. Digital
broadcasting has completely changed the way we
experience television and radio. Cinema can now be
found at the comfort of your home through application
such as Netflix, iFlix, etc. We get entertained by the
content that we see in Facebook, YouTube, and
Instagram. Computer gaming has also been an important
influence in the development of graphical interfaces.
Technology has been at the forefront of changes in
production and distribution of music. We can now listen
to music and podcast using Spotify. These are some of
the many technologies we use for entertainment that
arise in the Digital Age
BUSSINESS
The impact of ICT on business is particularly significant.
It empowers people to share knowledge and advice
instantaneously and set up an online shop or website at
a low cost, dramatically lowering the barriers to starting
a business. As such, ICT maturity is closely linked to
economic growth.

Businesses in today’s life have promoted a lot with the

coming of ICT. Its impact cannot be over emphasized. For
example, ICT helps to increase productivity in business
with the use of social Media platforms for marketing and
promotion. The use of websites now allowed companies
to develop new and cheaper ways of offering customers
with opportunities of buying goods and services at their
convenient time and enhance the level of customer
service. Online platform has been the marketplace
where people can transact and communicate.
The impact of ICT infrastructure on social businesses
cannot be understated. It has made social impact
affordable, social impact scalable, and enables new ways
to connect to and engage with local communities.
EDUCATION
The impact of ICT on teachers, trainers, learners,
researchers and the entire education society is
tremendous. It is changing the way of the education
delivery system in the world by enhancing access to
information for all. It also ensures effective and inclusive
education. ICT supports the concept of open learning
where the thrust is upon enhanced student access and
the development of student autonomy.
JOBS AND EARNINGS
Beyond income security, employment fulfils a number of
important roles for human wellbeing, such as time
structure, social contact, a sense of purpose, a valued
social position as well as an opportunity for skill use. For
this reason, the labor market effects of the digital
transformation are among the most significant for
people’s well-being. The digital transformation has the
potential to generate substantial changes in the
composition of the labor market as jobs that require
certain skillsets are replaced by a combination of
technology and higher skilled labor, or even completely
automated.

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

The Impact of Digital Technologies

Technologies can help make our world fairer, more peaceful, and more just. Digital advances
can support and accelerate achievement of each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals –
from ending extreme poverty to reducing maternal and infant mortality, promoting sustainable
farming and decent work, and achieving universal literacy. But technologies can also threaten
privacy, erode security and fuel inequality. They have implications for human rights and human
agency. Like generations before, we – governments, businesses and individuals – have a
choice to make in how we harness and manage new technologies.

SOCIAL CHANGE
Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the
philosophical idea that society moves forward by evolutionary means. It may refer to
a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic structure, for instance the transition
from feudalism to capitalism, or hypothetical future transition to some form of post-capitalism.
Social development is the people that develop social and emotional skills across the lifespan, with
particular attention to childhood and adolescence. Healthy social development allows us to form
positive relationships with family, friends, teachers, and other people in our lives.[2]
Accordingly, it may also refer to social revolution, such as the Socialist revolution presented
in Marxism, or to other social movements, such as women's suffrage or the civil rights movement.
Social change may be driven through cultural, religious, economic, environmental, scientific or
technological forces.