Journal of Technology The Role of Information and Communication ...

Volume 6 No. 1, January 2016

ISSN 2223-4985

International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research ©2016 ICT Journal. All rights reserved http://www.esjournals.org

The Role of Information and Communication Technology in Computing Daniel Otanga, Jairus Odawa, Leonard Wamocho Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology

ABSTRACT Computing is a day-to-day activity that we encounter in our daily operations. Most of the operations that we carry out require technology of one type or the other. Information and communication Technology has drastically advanced and organizations have had no choice but to automate their key operations to remain relevant. Activities which we undertake such as buying or selling of goods and services, communication, learning and teaching, among other activities, utilize technology. With the significant advances in ICT over the last half century, there is an increasing perception that computing will one day be the 5th utility. ICT is likely to provide the basic level of computing service that is considered essential to meet the everyday needs of the general community. This paper examines the role of ICT in computing by reviewing literature in the related fields. Keywords: ICT, Computing, Information Technology

1. INTRODUCTION The notion of computing is much more fundamental than the notion of a computer, because computing can be done even without computer. According to Banerjee & ArunKumar, (2013), computing has been ongoing ever since we entered primary school, mainly using pencil and paper. The author observed that since then, we have been adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and computing lengths, areas, volumes and many other things. In all these computations it was noted that some unambiguous set of rules are followed. However, Business Dictionary (2015) defines computing as the process of utilizing computer technology to complete a task. It further states that computing may involve computer hardware and/or software, but must involve some form of a computer system. Most individuals use some form of computing every day whether they realize it or not. Swiping a debit card, sending an email, or using a cell phone can all be considered forms of computing. An article by What is Computing? (2012), defined Computing as the study of how computers and computer systems work and how they are constructed and programmed. Its primary aspects of theory, systems and applications are drawn from the disciplines of Technology, Design, Engineering, Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences. A further subfield, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), focuses on the challenges in making computers and computations useful, usable and universally accessible to people. The Theory of Computing underlies many aspects of the construction, explanation, and understanding of computers (Science News, 1999). The article further states that, many theoretical concepts from different sources have now

become so embedded in computing and communications that they pervade the thinking of all computer scientists. One strength of theory of computing is that it is not tied to any particular technology, but provides tools for understanding and reasoning about technology in general. For example, the concept of an abstract machine and the simulation of one abstract machine by another, though invented by theoreticians decades ago, can help to understand the modern web browser. The web browser provides users with a common abstract machine across different computing platforms. When a user follows a link to data, a browser invokes the proper interpreter to process the data, for example, to view an image or run a Java program (Science News, 1999) According to Hakken (2010) the dynamics of social formation reproduction have changed, and computing has much to do with the change, and the change is manifested in, but not caused by new relationships among workers, managers, and consumers at the point of production. Computing is being transformed to a model consisting of services that are commoditized and delivered in a manner similar to traditional utilities such as water, electricity, gas, and telephony. In such a model, users access services based on their requirements without regard to where the services are hosted or how they are delivered [1] Software mainly directs and coordinates computer hardware. In its function, software directly provides instructions to the computer hardware and serves as input to another piece of software to facilitate computing. According to Educate Maine (2013), computers have changed the world; the article pointed out that you don't remember what life was like before there were computers, tablets and cellphones in almost every U.S. household. In the past, most companies did business with typewriters, telephones and


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mail. Educate Maine (2013), observed that, most businesses rely on cyberspace and the technology that gives us access to it. Many Maine businesses have a hard time finding educated people who can manage their computers and applications. This is as a result of high demand of those who have the computing skills.

2. COMPUTING UTILITIES Van Gemmel et al (2003) noted that the vision of the computing utility based on the service provisioning model anticipates the massive transformation of the entire computing industry in the 21st century whereby computing services will be readily available on demand, like other utility services available in today’s society. Similarly, Gammel et al, (2003) observed that computing service users need to pay providers only when they access computing services. This statement describes the role of cloud computing, the trend that has been adopted in most organizations. Since customer satisfaction is the crucial success factor to excel in the service industry, they further noted that computing service providers have to be aware of user-centric objectives and meet them in order to achieve customer satisfaction. The creation of the Internet has marked the foremost milestone towards achieving this grand 21st Century vision of ‘computer utilities’ by forming a worldwide system of computer networks that enables individual computers to communicate with any other computers located elsewhere in the world, [2]. This internetworking of standalone computers reveals the promising potential of utilizing seemingly endless amount of distributed computing resources owned by various owners.

3. COMPUTING SERVICES Computing Services focus on the linkage between business processes and IT services so that business processes can be seamlessly automated using IT services. Abramson, et al, 2015 gave examples of services computing technologies as Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Web Services. The SOA facilitates interoperable services between distributed systems to communicate and exchange data with one another, thus providing a uniform means for service users and providers to discover and offer services respectively. The Web Services provides the capability for self-contained business functions to operate over the Internet. Market-oriented computing views computing resources in economic terms such that resource users will need to pay resource providers for utilizing the computing resources [3].

Cloud computing, is a technology which promises reliable services delivered through next-generation data centers that are built on virtualized compute and storage technologies [4]. Weiss, further observed that consumers will be able to access applications and data from a “Cloud” anywhere in the world on demand. Computing services need to be highly reliable, scalable, and autonomic to support ubiquitous access, dynamic discovery and composability. Woody (2003) noted that the potential for designed product systems is through the cell phones interaction with the world, which will only continue to increase in its frequency of interaction with other objects. An example of potential future uses of cell phones is shown through a technology that enables a user to pay for a parking meter, Water services, electricity and other pay services through its interaction with their cell phone. According to Bichsel (2012), research-computing resources can provide advantages for all institutions, regardless of research intensity. ICT can enable data-intensive research with the provision of the specialized staff and infrastructure that facilitate collaboration, efficiency, and data storage. This study assesses the current state of research computing in higher education, explores the advantages of research computing, outlines the roles of ICT in computing support, and provides recommendations for progress in computing strategies and practices. Deloitte (2011) outlined the role of cloud computing as follows: first, cloud computing plus adjacent technologies have the potential to deepen consumer and customer relationships at a lower cost. Second, cloud computing has the potential to increase agility related to new market growth with less upfront investment in IT. Third, cloud computing has the potential to drive faster, shorter innovation cycles by increasing accessibility of computing power during product design, formulation, and testing. Also, cloud computing could reduce cycle time for IT application development by bypassing in-house infrastructure setup times. Cloud computing combined with social computing, mobile technologies, and data analytics could play a prominent role in deepening customer relationships, increasing agility to achieve new market growth, and accelerating innovation. At present, it is common to access content across the Internet independently without reference to the underlying hosting infrastructure. This infrastructure consists of data centers that are monitored and maintained around the clock by content providers [1] According to Buyyaa, et al (2009), service providers such as Amazon, Google, Salesforce, IBM, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems have begun to establish new data centers for


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hosting cloud computing applications in various locations around the world to provide redundancy and ensure reliability in case of site failures. Since user requirements for cloud services are varied, service providers have to ensure that they can be flexible in their service delivery while keeping the users isolated from the underlying infrastructure. Recent advances in microprocessor technology and software have led to the increasing ability of commodity hardware to run applications within Virtual Machines (VMs) efficiently. O’Rourke (2014) observed that with the cloud, ICT managers can help the business bring a new service to market faster than the competition. It can also help ICT take advantage of extra computing horsepower to meet seasonal demand without acquiring new hardware and software. ICT can use the cloud to offload the management and delivery of traditional applications, such as email, in order to devote more time and resources to implementing new, strategic solutions. According to Microsoft (2014) Students live in an on-demand, technology-dependent world. They learn differently and approach schoolwork differently than students did a few years ago. This impacts learning, and some school districts are addressing students’ need to get answers instantly, to communicate as they learn, and to create information and share it with others. With computing and wireless Internet access, students are able to learn in an environment where technology brings subjects to life and where students can own their learning environment and are so engaged that learning is meaningful. Methodological change is one type of influence computing technologies have had on the field of product design through the advancement of virtual prototyping, the development of collaborative work tools, and shifts in manufacturing techniques [5]. She observed that the development of virtual prototyping has increased designers, clients, and evaluator’s abilities to visualize design proposals. With faster and better visualization tools, designers and architects are better able to show their proposals in order to maximize the understanding of any particular design. Munson (2004) further observed that shift is occurring from mechanical based products to interactive ones as computers become embedded in many of the objects that surround us, including products such as cell phones, digital music players, ATM machines, digital cameras, and computers.

4. SUMMARY Computing is a technique of enabling users to accomplish a given task effectively. The technologies have in the resent past advanced due to advancement in ICT. There has been an improvement both hardware and software a trend that has

enabled organizations move with speed to adopt the changes. As a result almost all services in organizations have been automated to serve customers efficiently. The development of enabling infrastructure has also boosted the advancement of ICT. Most areas in Kenya have internet connectivity partly as a result of infrastructure investments by mobile service providers such as Safaricom, Orange, Airtel among others and government mission on rural electrification. Mobile technology has also boosted computing where the use of mobile devices has increased. Mobile phones have become a household device. Currently, many people use mobile phone in one way or another improving computing technology.

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