Different between IT and ICT
IT (for the West) and ICT (for the developing world) are not only different acronyms (IT stands for information technology, ICT add communications to the mix) but very different challenges. In the west, communications technology are taken for granted due to their pervasiveness. In the developing world this is not the case. In many places, information technology such as computers and internet are being implemented alongside communications technologies. Thus, they are grouped together into one major concern, ICT development.
Part of the reason this is true is that traditional communications technology in the west are dependent on heavy-duty infrastructure requirements. There is a vast network of physically wired networks, a grid that spreads across the West. This network was the basis of all communications technology (except for satellite) in the west until very recently. It is still the basis of most western communications technology. The infrastructure was paid for by amortizing the cost over decades, and funded by state-run monopolies (the Bells).
On the other hand, most developing nations never developed such an infrastructure of wires. It is very expensive and easily destroyed by various human and natural forces. The cost of building out such a network is in the billions. Thus, with the advent of the cell phones, a dramatic change was seen, in which cell-phone penetration in the developing world matched or even exceeded the West.
Compared traditional physical communications infrastructure, cell phone deployments are inexpensive and sturdy. Cell phone towers are small, enclosed, and can be run off the electricity grid using generators. Thus a recent advance in this wireless communications technology enabled a dramatic improvement in the availability of telecommunications.
In this way and in many other ways, ICT development (unlike IT) intrinsically includes bringing communications technology, like telephony, to places that never had it before.
Part of the reason this is true is that traditional communications technology in the west are dependent on heavy-duty infrastructure requirements. There is a vast network of physically wired networks, a grid that spreads across the West. This network was the basis of all communications technology (except for satellite) in the west until very recently. It is still the basis of most western communications technology. The infrastructure was paid for by amortizing the cost over decades, and funded by state-run monopolies (the Bells).
On the other hand, most developing nations never developed such an infrastructure of wires. It is very expensive and easily destroyed by various human and natural forces. The cost of building out such a network is in the billions. Thus, with the advent of the cell phones, a dramatic change was seen, in which cell-phone penetration in the developing world matched or even exceeded the West.
Compared traditional physical communications infrastructure, cell phone deployments are inexpensive and sturdy. Cell phone towers are small, enclosed, and can be run off the electricity grid using generators. Thus a recent advance in this wireless communications technology enabled a dramatic improvement in the availability of telecommunications.
In this way and in many other ways, ICT development (unlike IT) intrinsically includes bringing communications technology, like telephony, to places that never had it before.
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