THE IMPORTANCE OF ICT COMMUNICATION IN TODAY'S SOCIETY - TECHNOLOGY - 2025

The importance of communication measured by ICT in today's society is enormous, since it affects sectors such as education or relationships. For example, it affects new learning and education styles, health care, new ways of socializing, among others.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are those tools necessary for the processing of information, in particular the use of computers, communication devices and software applications to convert, store, protect, process, transmit and retrieve information from any place and at any time.

The significance of ICT cannot be delimited due to the dynamic nature of the concepts, methods and applications it encompasses, which remain in constant evolution. ICTs interfere with almost every facet of everyday life and have become one of the highest priorities in formal and informal education.

Its scope is not limited to the educational field, since ICTs have become key factors of culture, economy and politics with profound effects on the world population even in remote and underdeveloped areas that do not directly use technology.

The main objective of ICT is the empowerment and independence of individuals to improve society. The technological revolution has profoundly modified many aspects of daily life, facilitating communication, socialization and the development of long-distance relationships.

However, it is necessary to reflect on how the behavior, values ​​and competencies of individuals, organizations and societies can be influenced, manipulated and directed by these technologies.

What is the importance of communication measured by ICT in today's society?

New forms of socialization

When looking at new generations and ICTs, it is impossible to overlook the fact that today's youth simultaneously inhabit multiple worlds. Many young people develop their identities in their bedrooms, chatting on their personal computers.

Young people today are faced with a global media culture that represents a unifying force, a type of cultural pedagogy that teaches them to consume and act "what to think, feel, believe, fear and desire."

ICT-influenced culture creates an environment in which traditional modes of socialization are altered and, at least to some extent, replaced by new ones. In today's world, ICTs are a potentially more powerful force for socialization than home or school.

As Jennifer Light points out, "Technology is not a neutral tool with universal effects, but rather a medium with consequences that are significantly shaped by the historical, social and cultural context of its use."

Health Care

For the healthcare industry, electronic data storage and rapid access to information represent significant improvements in diagnostic times and avoid unnecessary testing.

With the help of ICT, health systems are trying to advance preventive medicine and patient education, bringing considerable financial savings and health benefits.

ICTs and smart living environments can also play an increasingly important role in caring for the elderly at home, helping the elderly to cope with daily activities, increasing their independence.

When the elderly can survive in the home more independently, they are more active. In this way the weakening of memory is delayed. Thus, in the long term, the need for expensive institutional care may be reduced and the quality of life improved.

Education and learning

ICT for education refers to the development of information and communication technology specifically for teaching / learning purposes.

The adoption and use of ICT in education has a positive impact on teaching, learning and research. ICT can affect education and allow greater access to it, since:

1. They increase flexibility so that students can access education regardless of time and geographic barriers.
2. It influences the way students are taught and how they learn.
3. They provide the right environment and motivation for the learning process, offering new possibilities for students and teachers.

These possibilities can have an impact on student performance and achievement. In the same way, a greater availability of best practices and the best didactic material in education, which can be shared through ICT, promoting better teaching and improving the academic performance of students.

Work environments

ICTs allow collaborative work in which links of companies and their environments participate that rarely meet physically.

These technologies use global and always-on communication infrastructures, which allows immediate interactions between individuals, groups and organizations, improving the exchange of information and the coordination of activities.

Some of the additional benefits of ICT within organizations are listed below:

1. At the managerial level, it allows supervising the tasks carried out by the work team by using monitoring systems.
2. Greater flexibility for some workers by being able to carry out most of their activities from the comfort of their home and with more flexible hours.
3. Increase market reach beyond traditional borders, through electronic commerce.

ICTs are complementary to other factors of production, in particular knowledge, innovation and skills of workers. Technology can be used more effectively by skilled workers than unskilled workers. Also, skilled workers become more effective with better technology.

Society and private life

Multiple questions also surround freedom of expression and content regulation through ICT.

Devising mechanisms to control content opens the debate to find a reasonable solution, because the same technology that seeks to filter materials because they are considered inappropriate can be used to filter truthful and interesting content. In this sense, censorship does not seem to be an option.

ICT also raises a number of questions about the protection of intellectual property and the creation of new tools and regulations to solve this problem.

The remarkable power of ICT has generated considerable privacy concerns, in both the public and private sectors. Reductions in the cost of data storage and information processing make it likely that computer hobbyists will be able to collect detailed data on all citizens.

No one currently knows who collects data about individuals, how this data is used and shared, or how it can be misused. These concerns diminish consumer confidence in ICT.

ICTs have numerous economic, political and social impacts on modern life and require serious social science research to manage their risks and dangers.

Accessibility to information and communication technologies

As information and communication technology has become more sophisticated, it has also become more affordable and accessible. Complex computer skills are no longer required.

The available products offer non-experts the opportunity to take advantage of ICT to create new knowledge and information networks. The way of communicating and seeking knowledge has been transformed.

People are instantly accessible through common forms of communication with electronic devices, as the Internet allows access to large amounts of information and the transfer of knowledge with unprecedented speed.

The dissemination of information through electronic publishing allows people to instantly communicate with others around the world from their home or office. Wireless connections in cafes and elsewhere have also increased communication opportunities through mobile devices.

References

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