ICT: Concepts, Evolution and Societal Impact
Domain 1 - ICT: concepts, evolution and impact
This section tests whether you can distinguish data, information and knowledge, describe ICT components, and evaluate ICT's effects on work, education and society.
Core ideas
- Data are raw symbols; information is processed data with meaning; knowledge applies information with judgement.
- ICT combines hardware, software, networks, data and people/processes.
- Evolution: mainframe/batch → personal computer → client–server and Internet → mobile/cloud → IoT/AI. Each shift changes cost, access and control.
- Impacts include automation, telework, e-government, digital divide, e-waste and privacy pressure.
- A system view: input → process → output → feedback, with people and procedures as components.
Worked example
A school replaces paper attendance registers with a cloud-based SMS system. Identify data, information and a social impact, with reasoning. The raw student ID and timestamp are data. A weekly attendance percentage sent to parents is information because it is processed and meaningful. A social impact is improved parental involvement, but a digital divide arises if some families lack phones or connectivity. The system also creates personal data, so access control and retention rules are needed. Thus the change is not only technical: it alters procedures, skills and privacy obligations.
Traps
Do not call all computer output “information”; it must be interpreted. Do not treat ICT as hardware only. Avoid claiming technology always reduces inequality; access and skills matter. In impact questions, separate economic, social, environmental and legal effects.