Session 5

Brief Overview/Summary

The fifth TWC lesson was about ICT and World Change, notably in the areas of mass media, the Internet, Wireless and Interactive Telecommunications in the past, present and the future.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

Prof Shahi started the lesson by talking about the different areas of interest regarding ICT and World Change.

The discussion of mass media involved its advancement from the use of bongo drums and smoke signals, to the use of radio, television and the Internet to spread knowledge and information. The use of mass media was actually very passive in the past, where it was from one to many, rather than many to one. Today, mass media has become more interactive than before. The spread of information is less passive, which moves from many to one.

With regards to the Internet, in the past, Web 1.0 was a one-way street with information reaching out from one to many passive recipients. It has now advanced to Web 2.0, which is a two-way track where people are both providers and recipients of information. Such platforms include Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter and MySpace. The world is now moving towards Web 3.0, where the Internet is becoming interactive and ‘invisible’ at the same time. The Internet will be running without people knowing, and different appliances will be used through the Internet. This works through the Semantic Web, which is the extension of the World Wide Web (WWW) that enables people to share content beyond the boundaries of applications and websites. The use of Web 3.0 will be able to simplify our lives and make us more productive today.

Through social networking sites today, people are able to see connections that are hidden in the real world. They are able to find mutual friends, and are able to reach out to people whom they never expected to. For example, through Facebook, people are able to meet mutual friends or friends from the same community. Also, people are also able to ‘follow’ and comment on celebrities’ posts that can be seen from anyone. This has never been possible before the emergence of social networking sites.

Crowd sourcing refers to looking out for information and solutions from people outside of your networking circle. A good example of a company, which uses crowd sourcing, is Wikipedia. They depending on others’ knowledge and understanding to upload and share information, approximating nearer and nearer to the truth.

Cloud Computing refers to the ability to access information not in one’s device by taking advantages of resources outside the device to store information. A cheap browser with access to cloud computing is very useful. This works through multi-tenancy. In a multi-tenant app, there isn’t a copy of the app for each business using it. It is one app that everyone shares, but it is flexible enough for everyone to customise it his or her specific needs. It is like a giant office building, where everyone shares the infrastructure and services, such as security, and each business can customise their own office space. This means that apps are elastic, and can scale up to tens of thousands of users, or down to only a few.

Knowledge Management means making sense and filtering all the information that we have today by seeing patterns and big pictures that help organisations make right decisions for its own growth.

Have we captured the potential of ICT?

1)   ICT promotes greater access to information and knowledge. (Google, Wikipedia)

2)   It promotes the knowledge economy, where people are rewarded for the work they do with their minds.

3)   The advancement of ICT has not helped to alleviate poverty.

4)   It has not helped dealing with the digital divide.

5)   It is a limited driver for healthcare, agriculture and modern democracy.

6)   Although it is used as a ‘reader’ for education, it does not engage people to grow and learn.

Prof Shahi also showed us a video – Project Natal Milo Demo from E3, which features a fictional character, Milo, who is able to communicate and interact with people. Milo is able to express emotions and feelings, and was able to recognise human drawings. This shows how the gaming industry has evolved through the years.

The gaming industry has advanced rapidly in the recent years. They now have new and dynamic storytelling devices categorised for all ages, in-game chat, and are able to create many different scenarios to help people cope with real-life situations. For example, mental gymnastic games are available to help senile people; military scenarios in games help soldiers’ experiences war-like scenarios, and surgical scenarios help train surgeons. Through gaming, these activities are able to leave a psychological impact on the different people and help them improve in their respective roles.

I was also very impressed with Daniel’s presentation on what would happen if the Internet crashed. His presentation also led to a discussion in class: Is access to the Internet considered a human right?

In countries such as Finland and France, the access to Internet is already declared a human right. The access to Internet allows people to grow the right seeds and to receive knowledge. The benefits of it far exceed the cost of making it accessible to the people, thus important to provide satellite access to everyone in the world.

So, the question is, is access to water more important the one’s access to Internet?

Through the Internet, people are able to gain knowledge and education (because the internet is a powerful sources today), and thus are able to figure out ways of livelihood such as how to get access to water and food. However, it must also be argued that the access to Internet may not be able to alleviate poverty in poor countries if it is not utilised the right way. The rights to Internet when used may also cause political turmoil and social problems in many countries if people are exposed to corrupting influences.

Key Takeaways

1)   There are many forms of ICT, and all of them have rapidly advanced over the years.

2)   Although the advancement of ICT is beneficial to developed countries, it is unable to reduce the digital and economical divide present in today’s society.

3)   The advancement of ICT also posits some risks. They are such as security concerns, espionage, invasion of privacy (cloud computing), and identity theft.

4)   YALI’S QUESTION: The uneven development of today’s world is exacerbated by the advancement of ICT, which widens the digital divide between the developed and underdeveloped countries. The widening of the digital divide has a detrimental impact on the knowledge gap, worsening the uneven development around today.

Issues for Further Discussion

1)   Is it possible for the Internet to be considered a basic human right all around the world?

2)   How is the importance of access to Internet as compared to other basic human rights?

3)   Is it possible for the future advancement of ICT to move towards a more secure and private technology?

4)   Are people putting more trust, or being more wary of the advancement of ICT? (Cloud computing, Wireless technologies)

Personal Ratings

I would rate this lesson a 9/10 as I felt that I learnt a lot from this lesson, and the presentations were very interesting and relatable.