Module 7 IT, Culture and the Society
Lesson 11 The Impact of IT on the Society
At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Recall the current trends in the field of information technology
2. Discuss the Internet of Things and its influence on the society
3. Explain automation and its impact on the society
4. Analyze how IT influences culture and social behavior
5. Enumerate the rules of netiquette
6. Describe cyberbullying and identify the steps to combat it,
7. Familiarize themselves with and demonstrate the imperatives of professional conduct for IT
professionals
There are seven major trends in IT for 2017 are as follows:
1. IoT and smart home technology
2. Augmented reality and virtual reality
3. Machine Learning
4. Automation
5. Big Data
6. Physical-digital integrations
7. Everything on demand
Nowadays, majority of organizations and companies have taken these major trends into account,
shifting manual business processes to automated ones and using ICT to improve their products and services.
Among these seven trends, the Internet of Things (IoT) and automation seem to have greatly influenced the
present-day culture and society.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Internet of Things is a set-up of devices and objects which are connected together in a given
network. Their connection, often wirelessly, is possible using both hardware and software.
The hardware part is often made up of sensors that collect data, which are then sent to other
devices for analysis and possible interpretation. Popular examples are health wearable devices such as step
counters that are connected to a mobile phone via Bluetooth. An app installed in the phone records the
results in daily, weekly or monthly basis for the mobile phone user to keep track of his or her progress.
Capabilities of IoT
A major requirement for IoT is a strong internet connection, as all devices must be able to
communicate with one another for the upload and download of needed data. But aside from connectivity,
IoT should also be capable of the following (Mattern & Floerkemeier):
1. Integration across technology and business
Sensors can be used to help improve business processes, such as machines used for
manufacturing and production, security systems, and even simple ones like automatically
turning on and off a light switch. Obviously, technology used for each application may vary,
depending on the complexity and use. Software used to interpret incoming data and sending
commands to the hardware must also be taken into account. Add to that are the different
protocols and standards used for connecting such as WiFi, Bluetooth, etc. An IoT platform
must be capable of integrating all of these so that the data may be used efficiently to improve
productivity and even make predictions for optimum system performance.
