ITGS

Chapter 1:

What is ITGS?
- Information Technology in a Global Society is the study of how developing technologies
affect people and society.
- You will be weighing up social and ethical concerns raised from the uses of
technologies.
- Example ITGS topics:
- Workplace surveillance
- Graphics editing
- E-waste
- Violence in computer games
- Internet censorship
ITGS TRIANGLE

STRAND 1: SOCIAL & ETHICAL SIGNIFICANCE

- Reliability & Integrity
- Reliability is how well a computer works: functions or fails
- Unreliability can cause loss of data, time, or money
- Integrity is correctness of data
- Security
- Protecting IT systems from unauthorized users
- Security measures: passwords, firewalls, locks
- Security breach can cause loss of control over data
- Privacy & Anonymity
- Privacy is the ability to control how data about us is used
- Includes: who we give our data to, who they share our data with, how long data is
stored, how the data is used
- Anonymity is having total privacy and hiding their identity
- Intellectual Property
- ‘Creations of the mind’: photographs, films, essays, and art works
- Copyright law is designed to protect intellectual property from unauthorized
reproduction
- Authenticity
- User proving their identity to gain access to a computer system
- Usernames and passwords used to login to a computer system
- Any authentication (fingerprint, facial recognition, etc.)
- The Digital Divide and Equality of Access
- ‘IT-rich’ and ‘IT-poor’
- IT-poor: lack of training, lack of basic resources such as electricity
- IT-rich: technology is progressing faster than in other parts of the world
- Surveillance
- Using IT to monitor people with or without their knowledge or permission
- Performed by governments and law enforcement, or by private groups such as
employers
- Tied to privacy if the subject is monitored without knowing
- Globalization & Cultural Diversity
- IT has allowed global spread of news and culture such as the Internet
- Benefits are more people are knowledgeable about the news
- May cause problems such as loss of traditional cultures, values, and languages
- Policies
- Rules designed to control the way people use IT
- Designed by individuals or organizations such as schools, business or
government
- The fast pace of technology means policies lag in reality and IT is abused before
they can be regulated
- Standards & Protocols
- Technical rules that designers of hardware and software should follow
- Without standards, compatibility and interoperability would be difficult
- People & Machines
- Concerns the way that humans interact with IT
- Many people trust computers, but when they fail there is consequences
- Some people get addicted to IT
- Digital Citizenship
- Being a good citizen in a digital world
- Using IT ethically in a way that does not harm other users or their hardware and
software
 - Using IT that respects the law
ANALYZING ITGS SITUATIONS
- Social Impacts
- How did the IT development emerge?
- Who are the stakeholders- individuals, institutions and societies?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages for the stakeholders?
- What are the social impacts of the IT development on human life? These may
include:
- Economic
- Environmental
- Political
- Ergonomic
- Cultural
- Health
- Legal
- Psychological
- What feasible solutions can be applied to overcome problems?
- Ethical Issues
- Who is responsible?
- Who is accountable?
- What policies, rules or laws apply to the scenario?
- What are the alternative ethical decisions?
- What are the consequences of these decisions?
EVALUATING IMPACTS
- Are the impacts serious? Are they life or death, or merely an inconvenience?
- Is the impact a long term of short term impact?
- Is there an easy solution to the problem?
- Are all stakeholders affected or just a few?
- Are the affected stakeholders a large group or a small group?
- Is the impact a local issue or a global issue?
- Is the impact likely to lead to further problems?
STRAND 2: APPLICATION TO SPECIFIC AREAS
- Business & Employment
- IT can cause problems in businesses with security breaches and employee
time-wasting
- IT can help advertise and sell products or services
- Education & Training
- IT can cause distractions in education
- IT can provide access to more information
- Environment
- IT can cause pollution due to the equipment it contains
- IT can rapidly explore the earth’s environment
 - Health
- IT can cause psychological consequences due to excessive uses of technology
- IT can advance healthcare such as patient record keeping
- Home & Leisure
- IT has changed how we act at home
- IT allows more access to entertainment
- Politics & Government
- IT advances for military raises ethical questions
- IT is used for voting and advertising
STRAND 3: IT SYSTEMS
All information systems consists of:
1. Hardware- to input, process, and output data
2. Software- to control the hardware
3. People- to use the system
4. Data- on which the system performs work

- Hardware
- Software
- Networks
- Internet
- Personal and public communications
- Multimedia/Digital media
- Databases
- Spreadsheets, Modeling, and Simulations
- Introduction to project management