INFOGLOBE                                                                                                        The Knowledge Centre

Information Technology (IT) has enabled people in different parts of the world to exchange information freely and with ease. In effect, IT makes us realize how small the world, we live in, is as it removes physical constraints such as distance between people in exchanging information.

By considering the functions performed by the various components, a computer can be represented as a collection of logical components as in the following figure. The main hardware components of a modern computer system are the central processing unit (CPU), the main memory, the secondary storage and the input-output devices.

What do you know about the history of computers ? The history of computers is unique because of the fact that it is really very recent and full of controversy. Because it is very recent, we have the ability to learn what happened firsthand from the pioneers.Human attempts to create tools to manipulate numbers date back at least as far as 3000 B.C. All the earlier efforts to juggle numbers had two things in common. They were mechanical and made up of parts big enough to be assembled by hand.

The Internet is a network of autonomous computer networks that spans the globe. It provides an infrastructure for global electronic information exchange. Today the Internet is used by millions of people to facilitate various activities such as business, education and plain communication. The Internet grew out of a United States Department of Defense project, the ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency Network) started in late 1960s. Its main objective was to provide network links between universities, research organizations and remote computer centers.

 

 

 

Communication
You may be wondering how the computers send and receive data across communication links. There must be some set of rules to instruct computer systems and devices as to how exactly data is to be transferred from one place to another. For example, there are some rules and procedures to use a telephone network which leads to a sequence of activities such as pick up the phone, listen for a dial tone, dial a number having a specific number of digits, wait for the phone to ring, and say hello.

It can take days to send a letter across the country and weeks to go around the world. To save time and money, more and more people are using electronic mail. It's fast, easy and much cheaper than the using the post office. Today, e-mail has become the most popular service on the Internet.

A number system defines a set of values used to represent quantity. We talk about the number of people attending class, the number of modules taken per student, and also use numbers to represent grades achieved by students in tests.Quantifying values and items in relation to each other is helpful for us to make sense of our environment. We do this at an early age; figuring out if we have more toys to play with, more presents and so on. 

It is important to note that a computer cannot do anything on its own. It must be instructed to do a desired job. Hence it is necessary to specify a sequence of instructions that a computer must perform to solve a problem. Such a sequence of instructions written in a language that can be understood by a computer is called a computer program. It is the program that controls the activity of processing by the computer and the computer performs precisely what the program wants it to do. The term Software refers to the set of computer programs, procedures, and associated documents.

A system is a collection of interrelated components that work together to perform a specific task. In a system the different components are connected with each other and they are interdependent. Each component is a subsystem of the original system and carries out part of the system task. 

Today ICT is used not only as a tool in the office environment for office productivity. It is increasingly utilized as tool or vehicle for Development in the Society. It is used to empower or enhance the traditional development processes.