The economic benefits of the Internet • The economies of the world are increasingly powered by the creation, use and transmission of information and entertainment content in digital format. • The deployment of Internet infrastructure impacts t he economy both directly and indirectly. • The effects of broadband technology on the economy are much more far-reaching than the direct benefit created by capital investment in dep loyment and the manufacturing of the components such a network requires. • The most significant economic benefits do not come from the deployment of the technology, but in its use. • As Internet penetration increases, there will be re sulting demand for computer and home network equipment, software applications, wireless devices and other equipment. • Like all infrastructure investment, the economic im pacts of Internet will also include the increased productivity and innovation that it foste rs. • The full economic impact of widespread Internet dep loyment and adoption cannot be captured in even the most sophisticated econometric modelling. • The Internet provides increases in employment and e conomic activity • A study sponsored by Cisco Systems found that full implementation of currently underway or planned Internet business solutions could result in over $528 billion in cost savings to U.S. businesses though 2010. Additionally, this study fi nds that these solutions could result in a cumulative increase of over $1.5 trillion in revenu e to businesses resulting from implementation of Internet business solutions. • The wide-ranging deployment of Internet infrastruct ure will have the direct effect of employing thousands of people: to manufacture, sell , purchase, install, manage, and maintain the equipment and facilities, as well as the result ing services. • The Internet makes the world smaller. The ability t o communicate and exchange information instantaneously and across vast distances has enabl ed more individuals and businesses to participate in the economy, regardless of their loc ation. • Large companies can connect with employees, supplie rs, and partners around the globe, and small businesses can find their customers anywhere in the world. • Businesses can hire knowledge workers almost regard less of where they are, greatly expanding employment opportunities for people in th e United States, and giving developing nations the ability to become economic powerhouses by providing information technology services to the rest of the world. • The Internet, along with other computer technologie s, is literally enabling some developing countries to leapfrog the industrial revolution a nd jump straight to the Internet Age. 29 • The Internet makes the world simpler. For businesse s, the Internet breaks down logistical barriers, offering greater flexibility and power in the way they do business. It shrinks time and distance, simplifies complex business processes , and enables more effective communication and collaboration--a giant corporatio n can now be as nimble as a tiny start- up, while a family firm located in a remote rural v illage now has the world as its marketplace. • Combined with advanced productivity software, the I nternet enables individual knowledge workers to use their time more efficiently, and to focus on more productive tasks. And it gives consumers the ability to shop smarter, to fin d the best products at the right prices. In fact, it empowers them in ways that once were avail able only to large companies, enabling them to join with others to buy products at lower p rices, and bid competitively around the world. The social benefits of the Internet • The Internet brings people closer together. Before the Internet, it was possible to keep in touch with relatives and friends across the country or around the world--but it was also expensive. • Today, communicating with a friend in Japan is as e asy and cheap as communicating with a friend across town, and families regularly use the Internet to keep in touch with far-flung relatives. • Millions of people with shared interests--no matter how obscure--exchange information and build communities through Web sites, email and inst ant-messaging software. • Using innovative accessibility aids, people with di sabilities can use the Internet to help overcome barriers that prevent them from leading mo re productive and fulfilling lives. • Telemedicine and e-Health are broadly defined as th e application of electronic communication technologies to the provision of heal thcare, health education and health services. • Telemedicine applications can use Internet to trans mit detailed medical images, as well as for videoconferencing to connect healthcare clinics in remote rural locations with experts and specialists located primarily in urban centers. • In this way, rural clinics and hospitals can have a ccess to the same medical expertise that is available in the most sophisticated urban hospitals . • Telemedicine applications can allow health care pro fessionals to monitor a patient’s health remotely and, using videoconferencing technologies can have access to critically needed specialists. • The most prominent example of how the Internet has resulted in innovative new services is the development of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protoc ol). 30 • VoIP allows high quality two-way voice transmission over broadband connections, and is already revolutionizing the telecommunications indu stry. • Calls made using IP technology or over the public I nternet provide significant cost savings to consumers by eliminating most per minute long dista nce and local toll charges. • Many VoIP providers are offering unlimited local an d long distance calling plans for as low as N22 per minute. • In addition to significant cost savings, VoIP facil itates advanced applications and capabilities including mobility, location independence including choice of area code, integrated messaging applications, voice access to e-mail and a common mailbox for voice, e-mail and Instant Messaging. • Cable companies and Broadband Over builders already offer television and video over their broadband networks. • Telephone companies are seeking to offer similar se rvices, delivering their own “triple play” to consumers. • The increased capacity of these broadband networks combined with advances in data storage technology will spur increased Video on Demand appl ications. • Smart Homes: Homeowners can utilize broadband techn ologies to control the electronic devices in the home remotely. Lighting, heating and air conditioning, appliances, and home security and other systems can now be remotely moni tored and controlled. • In addition, advanced energy metering technology in the home will allow consumers to control their energy demand and respond to market s ignals. • E-government has become the prime tool for supporti ng government functions and interaction with citizens and businesses. The political benefits of the Internet • Many political organizations and individuals have e stablished Web pages. • At their simplest, Web pages provide information ab out the group or individuals policies, contact details and some brief biographical informa tion, and perhaps link to related pages. • More sophisticated Web pages provide interactive fa cilities so that the user of the page can provide feedback about the content of the page, exp ress opinions about the policies or issues, offer assistance through donations or volunteering, download software, and use specifically designed programs to find detailed information. • The following list summarizes some of the facilitie s that are found on political Web sites: - Policies, platforms, rules and other organisational details 31 - Biographical details about key people, and links to their home pages - Statements about achievements - News items and press releases - Links to stories at news Web sites that support the ir point of view - Listings of mistakes made by opponents, or details about social ills they blame on opponents - Registration forms for potential volunteers or inte rns - Guest books, so that visitors can leave their comme nts, and/or user surveys that can be used to improve the site - Links to sites belonging to organizations they supp ort - Subscription forms for e-mail distribution lists - Links to how opponents have voted on issues - Links to pages that denigrate opponents - Spreadsheets that can be used to calculate the effe ct of an opponents policies - Interactive chat rooms where citizens can share a nd debate ideas and where politicians can participate in question and answer sessions - Links to audio or video resources - Calendars of events and chronologies that may be se archable - Links to Federal/State/Local governments - Free software that can enable the users browser to access extra resources (i.e. Real Video technology) - Screen savers consisting of images of key individua ls, slogans, etc. - Games which reinforce their political messages - Sales of fundraising merchandise - Forms to solicit donations. • Internet voting is a type of voting, embracing elec tronic means of casting a vote. It can also involve transmission of ballots and votes via the I nternet. • Internet voting technology can provide improved acc essibility for disabled voters. However, there has been contention, especially in the United States, that Internet voting especially could facilitate electoral fraud. • Internet voting systems have gained popularity and have been used for government elections and referendums in the United Kingdom, Estonia and Switzerland as well as municipal elections in Canada and party primary elections in the United States and France. The educational benefits of the Internet • The internet provides a powerful resource for learn ing, as well as an efficient means of communication. Its use in education can provide a n umber of specific learning benefits, including the development of: - independent learning and research skills, such as i mproved access to subject learning across a wide range of learning areas, as well as i n integrated or cross-curricular studies; and - Communication and collaboration, such as the abilit y to use learning technologies to access resources, create resources and communicate with others. 32 • •• • Access to resources: The internet is a huge repository of learning mater ial. As a result, it significantly expands the resources available to st udents beyond the standard print materials found in school libraries. It gives students access to the latest reports on government and non- government websites, including research results, sc ientific and artistic resources in museums and art galleries, and other organisations with inf ormation applicable to student learning. The internet can be used for undertaking reasonably sop histicated research projects. • •• • The internet is also a time-efficient tool for teac hers that expands the possibilities for curriculum development. • •• • Communication and collaboration: The internet is a powerful tool for developing students’ communication and collaboration skills. • •• • Above all, the internet is an effective means of bu ilding language skills. Through email, chat rooms and discussion groups, students learn the bas ic principles of communication in the written form. This gives teachers the opportunity t o incorporate internet-based activities into mainstream literacy programs and bring diversity to their repertoires of teaching strategies. For example, website publishing can be a powerful m eans of generating enthusiasm for literacy units, since most students are motivated b y the prospect of having their work posted on a website for public access. • •• • Accessibility to Learning Opportunities & Resources : One of the primary advantages of the Internet is that it can make learning more accessib le. It can remove the physical boundaries of classrooms, reduce class scheduling restraints, and offer easy access to searchable databases and a vast array of other world-wide reso urces. • •• • The Web is playing an increasingly important role i n the area of distance education. Web- based learning can supplement or replace traditiona l distance educational opportunities which have been provided in the past via postal correspon dence, printed materials, audio or video cassettes, and television. • •• • According to Bates (1995), Access is usually the m ost important criterion for deciding on the appropriateness of a technology for open or dis tance learning. • •• • The Internets great strength is that it can make i nstruction time-independent and location- independent; it is able to reach students whenever and wherever they find it convenient to learn (in their homes, at work, etc.). 33 The cultural benefits of the Internet Culture is defined as shared behaviors, ideas, and artifacts that create a way of life passed from one generation to another. Every one grows up in at least one culture and their lives are influenced everyday by being surrounded in that cul ture. Cultural differences occur because every culture fulfills its needs in different ways and those ways are passed on from generation to generation. There are millions of different culture s throughout the world and each one has its own unique identity and way of life. Culture has gr eatly benefitted from the invention and use of the internet. It has advanced in education, marketi ng, communication and cultural practices. The cultural benefits of the Internet are as stated below: • Cultural Advancement: With the easy accessibility o f information, cultures have been able to advance in many ways. Education is a way in which a dvancement of cultures has occurred. People can now learn about anything using the inter net as a means of information. • Cultures have also advanced economically because th e internet allows for marketing and sales transactions. Marketers now have a whole new way of advertising and selling products or services. They can now post something on the int ernet and anyone, anywhere at any point in time can see that add. This leads to an increase in business. Businesses are also growing because the internet allows for businesses to be in ternet based. They can solely run on the internet (facebook) or they can have a land busines s and increase exposure with a website and/or internet business as well. World wide organi zations are now able to exist and run with ease because of the advancement of communication by the internet. • Exploration of Cultures: Cultures can more easily e xplore other cultures now that the internet is available. To learn about a culture one can just use a search engine and quickly access information about the desired culture. Prior to the internet, a person would have had to either travel to where the culture was at or find a book w hich entailed information about that culture. Both of these ways are time consuming and have the potential to be very expensive. • Another benefit to using the internet for cultural information is that one can learn about the beliefs of that culture before experiencing it if h e/she is interested in going there. An example is learning what that culture finds offensive so th at he/she does not make the mistake of acting or speaking in a way that offends the people of that culture. This helps with business transactions and any kind of intercultural travel. • Homogenization of Cultures: With the newfound explo ration of cultures, cultural uniqueness has decreased because people see there are other po ssible ways of living life. A person of one culture may like the way another culture does somet hing and then start to do that something themselves. This can spread throughout the culture and soon the two cultures will contain fewer differences. An easy example of this is cultu ral food. In the United States, we have Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, and Thai resta urants. This is because we have learned about the different foods from these cultures, like d it and started eating it ourselves. The internet makes this process very easy by providing recipes from these cultures online. Cultural homogenization will continue to occur as t he number of cultures on the internet increases and the “diversity of the internet’s cont ent grows”. Individuals, organizations and cultures can come together on the internet because of a shared interest or goal They can then
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 12:45:42 +0000
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