{{Short description|Computer-based technologies}} {{about|the study or use of informational technology|the Hong Kong group|Information Technology (constituency)}} {{redirect|IT|the book by Stephen King|It (novel)|other uses|It (disambiguation)}} {{redirect|Infotech|Infotech Enterprises|Cyient}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}} {{Information science}}
[[File:CSIRO ScienceImage 8130 The computer lab on RV Southern Surveyor.jpg|thumb|right|A computer lab contains a wide range of information technology elements, including hardware, software and storage systems. ]]
'''Information technology''' ('''IT''') is the study or use of [[computer]]s, telecommunication systems and other devices to create, process, store, retrieve and transmit [[information]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100003879 |title=Information Technology – Oxford Reference |publisher=Oxford University Press|website=Oxford Reference}}</ref> While the term is commonly used to refer to computers and [[computer network]]s, it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as [[television]] and [[telephones]]. Information technology is an application of [[computer science]] and [[computer engineering]]. <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Fanlin |last2=Lv |first2=Jianing |last3=Zhao |first3=Xiaoyang |title=How do information strategy and information technology governance influence firm performance? |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |year=2022 |volume=13 |article-number=1023697 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1023697 |doi-access=free |pmid=36582310 |pmc=9792777 }}</ref> <ref>{{cite web |title=What Can You Do With an Information Technology Degree? |website=American Public University |url=https://www.apu.apus.edu/area-of-study/information-technology/resources/what-can-you-do-with-an-information-technology-degree-guide/ |access-date=2026-04-12}}</ref>
An '''information technology system''' ('''IT system''') is generally an [[information system]], a [[communications system]], or, more specifically speaking, a [[Computer|computer system]] — including all [[Computer hardware|hardware]], [[software]], and [[peripheral]] equipment — operated by a limited group of IT users, and an '''IT project''' usually refers to the commissioning and implementation of an IT system.<ref>Forbes Technology Council, [https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/09/10/16-key-steps-to-successful-it-project-management/?sh=502aefc07865 16 Key Steps To Successful IT Project Management], published 10 September 2020, accessed 23 June 2023</ref> IT systems play a vital role in facilitating efficient data management, enhancing communication networks <ref>{{cite journal |last=Li |first=Chan |last2=Peters |first2=Gary F. |last3=Richardson |first3=Vernon J. |last4=Watson |first4=Marcia Weidenmier |title=The Consequences of Information Technology Control Weaknesses on Management Information Systems: The Case of Sarbanes-oxley Internal Control Reports |journal=MIS Quarterly |year=2012 |volume=36 |issue=1}}</ref> , and supporting organizational processes across various industries. Successful IT projects require meticulous planning and ongoing maintenance to ensure optimal functionality and alignment with organizational objectives.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hindarto |first=Djarot |date=2023-08-30 |title=The Management of Projects is Improved Through Enterprise Architecture on Project Management Application Systems |url=https://journal.lembagakita.org/index.php/ijsecs/article/view/1512 |journal=International Journal Software Engineering and Computer Science |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=151–161 |doi=10.35870/ijsecs.v3i2.1512 |issn=2776-3242|doi-access=free }}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal |last=Ilham |last2=Eliyana |last3=Agustina |title=A Systematic Literature Review Information Technology Capital and Performance |journal=Library Philosophy and Practice |year=2021}}</ref>
Although humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating, analysing and communicating information since the earliest writing systems were developed,<ref name="Butler">{{citation |last=Butler |first=Jeremy G. |title=A History of Information Technology and Systems |url=http://www.tcf.ua.edu/AZ/ITHistoryOutline.htm |publisher=University of Arizona |access-date=2 August 2012 |archive-date=5 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805042711/http://www.tcf.ua.edu/AZ/ITHistoryOutline.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> the term ''information technology'' in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the ''[[Harvard Business Review]]''; authors [[Harold Leavitt|Harold J. Leavitt]] and Thomas L. Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT)."<ref name="LeavittWhisler" /> Their definition consists of three categories: techniques for processing, the application of [[Statistics|statistical]] and mathematical methods to [[decision-making]], and the simulation of higher-order thinking through computer programs.<ref name="LeavittWhisler">{{citation |title=Management in the 1980s |url=http://hbr.org/1958/11/management-in-the-1980s |last1=Leavitt |first1=Harold J. |last2=Whisler |first2=Thomas L. |journal=Harvard Business Review |year=1958 |volume=11}}.</ref>
==History== {{main|History of computing hardware}} [[File:NAMA Machine d'Anticythère 2.jpg|thumb|[[Antikythera mechanism]], considered the first mechanical analog computer, dating back to the first century BC.]] Based on the storage and processing technologies employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC – 1450 AD), [[Mechanical engineering|mechanical]] (1450 – 1840), [[Electromechanics|electromechanical]] (1840 – 1940), and [[Electronic engineering|electronic]] (1940 to present).<ref name="Butler"/>
Ideas of computer science were first mentioned before the 1950s under the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) and [[Harvard University]], where they had discussed and began thinking of computer circuits and numerical calculations. As time went on, the field of information technology and computer science became more complex and was able to handle the processing of more data. Scholarly articles began to be published from different organizations.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Slotten|first=Hugh Richard|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780199766666.001.0001|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology|date=2014-01-01|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199766666.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-976666-6}}</ref>
During the mid-1900s, [[Alan Turing]], [[J. Presper Eckert]], and [[John Mauchly]] were some of the pioneers of early computer technology. While their main efforts focused on designing the first digital computer, Turing also began to raise questions about artificial intelligence.<ref>Henderson, H. (2017). computer science. In H. Henderson, ''Facts on File science library: Encyclopedia of computer science and technology''. (3rd ed.). [Online]. New York: Facts On File.</ref>
Devices have been used to aid computation for thousands of years, probably initially in the form of a [[tally stick]].<ref name="Schmandt-Besserat">{{citation |last=Schmandt-Besserat |first=Denise |title=Decipherment of the earliest tablets |journal=Science |year=1981 |volume=211 |issue=4479 |pages=283–285 |doi=10.1126/science.211.4479.283 |pmid=17748027 |bibcode=1981Sci...211..283S | issn = 0036-8075 }}.</ref> The [[Antikythera mechanism]], dating from about the beginning of the first century BC, is generally considered the earliest known mechanical [[analog computer]], and the earliest known geared mechanism.{{sfnp|Wright|2012|p=279}} Comparable geared devices did not emerge in [[Europe]] until the 16th century, and it was not until 1645 that the first [[mechanical calculator]] capable of performing the four basic arithmetical operations was developed.{{sfnp|Chaudhuri|2004|p=3}} [[File:Z3 Deutsches Museum.JPG|thumb|[[Z3 (computer)|Zuse Z3]] replica on display at [[Deutsches Museum]] in [[Munich]]. The Zuse Z3 is the first [[computer programming|programmable]] computer.]] [[Electronic computers]], using either [[relay]]s or [[Vacuum tube|thermionic valve]]s, began to appear in the early 1940s. The [[electromechanical]] [[Z3 (computer)|Zuse Z3]], completed in 1941, was the world's first [[computer programming|programmable]] computer, and by modern standards one of the first machines that could be considered a complete [[computing]] machine. During the [[World War II|Second World War]], [[Colossus computer|Colossus]] developed the first electronic [[Digital data|digital]] computer to decrypt German messages. Although it was [[Computer programming|programmable]], it was not general-purpose, being designed to perform only a single task. It could not also store its program in memory; programming was carried out using plugs and switches to alter the internal wiring.{{sfnp|Lavington|1980|p=11}} The first recognizably modern [[Electronics|electronic]] digital [[stored-program computer]] was the [[Manchester Baby]], which ran its first program on 21 June 1948.<ref name="Enticknap">{{citation |last=Enticknap |first=Nicholas |title=Computing's Golden Jubilee |journal=Resurrection |issue=20 |date=Summer 1998 |url=http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res20.htm#d |issn=0958-7403 |access-date=19 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120109142655/http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res20.htm#d |archive-date=9 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}.</ref>
The development of [[transistor]]s in the late 1940s at [[Bell Laboratories]] allowed a new generation of computers to be designed with greatly reduced power consumption. The first commercially available stored-program computer, the [[Ferranti Mark I]], contained 4050 valves and had a power consumption of 25 kilowatts. By comparison, the first transistorized computer developed at the [[University of Manchester]] and operational by November 1953, consumed only 150 watts in its final version.<ref>{{citation |doi=10.1049/esej:19980301 |last=Cooke-Yarborough |first=E. H. |title=Some early transistor applications in the UK |journal= Engineering Science & Education Journal|volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=100–106 |date=June 1998 |doi-broken-date=29 April 2026 |issn=0963-7346}}.</ref>
Several other breakthroughs in [[semiconductor]] technology include the [[integrated circuit]] (IC) invented by [[Jack Kilby]] at [[Texas Instruments]] and [[Robert Noyce]] at [[Fairchild Semiconductor]] in 1959, silicon dioxide surface passivation by [[Carl Frosch]] and Lincoln Derick in 1955,<ref>{{Cite patent|number=US2802760A|title=Oxidation of semiconductive surfaces for controlled diffusion|gdate=1957-08-13|invent1=Lincoln|invent2=Frosch|inventor1-first=Derick|inventor2-first=Carl J.|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US2802760A}}</ref> the first planar silicon dioxide transistors by Frosch and Derick in 1957,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Frosch |first1=C. J. |last2=Derick |first2=L |date=1957 |title=Surface Protection and Selective Masking during Diffusion in Silicon |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1.2428650 |journal=Journal of the Electrochemical Society |language=en |volume=104 |issue=9 |pages=547 |doi=10.1149/1.2428650|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the [[MOSFET]] demonstration by a Bell Labs team,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=KAHNG |first=D. |date=1961 |title=Silicon-Silicon Dioxide Surface Device |url=https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814503464_0076 |journal=Technical Memorandum of Bell Laboratories |pages=583–596 |doi=10.1142/9789814503464_0076 |isbn=978-981-02-0209-5|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lojek |first=Bo |title=History of Semiconductor Engineering |date=2007 |publisher=Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-540-34258-8 |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |page=321}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ligenza |first1=J.R. |last2=Spitzer |first2=W.G. |date=1960 |title=The mechanisms for silicon oxidation in steam and oxygen |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0022369760902195 |journal=Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids |language=en |volume=14 |pages=131–136 |bibcode=1960JPCS...14..131L |doi=10.1016/0022-3697(60)90219-5|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Lojek1202">{{cite book |last1=Lojek |first1=Bo |title=History of Semiconductor Engineering |date=2007 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=9783540342588 |page=120}}</ref> the [[planar process]] by [[Jean Hoerni]] in 1959,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lojek |first1=Bo |title=History of Semiconductor Engineering |date=2007 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=9783540342588 |pages=120 & 321–323}}</ref><ref name="Bassett46">{{cite book |last1=Bassett |first1=Ross Knox |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UUbB3d2UnaAC&pg=PA46 |title=To the Digital Age: Research Labs, Start-up Companies, and the Rise of MOS Technology |date=2007 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |isbn=9780801886393 |page=46}}</ref><ref>{{patent|US|3025589|Hoerni, J. A.: "Method of Manufacturing Semiconductor Devices" filed May 1, 1959}}</ref> and the [[microprocessor]] invented by [[Ted Hoff]], [[Federico Faggin]], [[Masatoshi Shima]], and [[Stanley Mazor]] at [[Intel]] in 1971. These important inventions led to the development of the [[personal computer]] (PC) in the 1970s, and the emergence of [[information and communications technology]] (ICT).<ref>{{cite web |title=Advanced information on the Nobel Prize in Physics 2000 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-physicsprize2000.pdf |website=[[Nobel Prize]] |date=June 2018 |access-date=December 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817152100/https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-physicsprize2000.pdf |archive-date=August 17, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
By 1984, according to the ''National Westminster Bank Quarterly Review'', the term ''information technology'' had been redefined as "the convergence of telecommunications and computing technology (...generally known in Britain as information technology)." We then begin to see the appearance of the term in 1990, contained within documents for the [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO).<ref>Information technology. (2003). In E.D. Reilly, A. Ralston & D. Hemmendinger (Eds.), ''Encyclopedia of computer science''. (4th ed.).</ref>
Innovations in technology have already revolutionized the world by the twenty-first century as people have gained access to different online services. This has changed the workforce drastically, as thirty percent of U.S. workers were already in careers in this profession. 136.9 million people were personally connected to the [[Internet]], which was equivalent to 51 million households.<ref>Stewart, C.M. (2018). Computers. In S. Bronner (Ed.), ''Encyclopedia of American Studies''. [Online]. Johns Hopkins University Press.</ref> Along with the Internet, new types of technology were also being introduced across the globe, which have improved efficiency and made things easier across the globe.
As technology revolutionized society, millions of processes could be completed in seconds. Innovations in communication were crucial as people increasingly relied on computers to communicate via telephone lines and cable networks. The introduction of the email was considered revolutionary as "companies in one part of the world could communicate by e-mail with suppliers and buyers in another part of the world...".<ref name=":0">Northrup, C.C. (2013). Computers. In C. Clark Northrup (Ed.), ''Encyclopedia of world trade: from ancient times to the present''. [Online]. London: Routledge.</ref>
Computers and technology have also revolutionized the marketing industry, resulting in more buyers of their products. In 2002, Americans exceeded $28 billion in goods just over the Internet alone, while e-commerce a decade later resulted in $289 billion in sales.<ref name=":0" /> And as computers are rapidly becoming more sophisticated by the day, they are becoming more widely used as people are becoming more reliant on them during the twenty-first century. {{clear}}
==Data processing== {{main|Electronic data processing}} [[File:Large 1984 0535 0001.jpg|thumb|Ferranti Mark I computer logic board]] Electronic data processing or business information processing can refer to the use of automated methods to process commercial data. Typically, this uses relatively simple, repetitive activities to process large volumes of similar information. For example: stock updates applied to an inventory, banking transactions applied to account and customer master files, booking and ticketing transactions to an airline's reservation system, and billing for utility services. The modifier "electronic" or "automatic" was used with "data processing" (DP), especially c. 1960, to distinguish human clerical data processing from that done by computer.<ref>{{cite book | title=Dictionary of Computing | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=9780192800466 | edition=4th | first=Valerie | last=Illingworth | series=Oxford Paperback Reference | page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcomp00illi/page/126 126] | date=11 December 1997 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcomp00illi/page/126 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Computer Science 4ed.|publisher=Nature group|author=Anthony Ralston|page=502}}</ref>
===Storage=== [[File:PaperTapes-5and8Hole.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Punched tape]]s were used in [[early computer]]s to store and represent [[data (computing)|data]].]] {{main|Data storage}} Early electronic computers such as [[Colossus computer|Colossus]] made use of [[punched tape]], a long strip of paper on which data was represented by a series of holes, a technology now obsolete.{{sfnp|Alavudeen|Venkateshwaran|2010|p=178}} Electronic data storage, which is used in modern computers, dates from World War II, when a form of [[delay-line memory]] was developed to remove the clutter from [[radar]] signals, the first practical application of which was the mercury delay line.{{sfnp|Lavington|1998|p=1}} The first [[random-access memory|random-access]] digital storage device was the [[Williams tube]], which was based on a standard [[cathode ray tube]].<ref name="Resurrection">{{citation |title=Early computers at Manchester University |journal=Resurrection |volume=1 |issue=4 |date=Summer 1992 |url=http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res04.htm#g |issn=0958-7403 |access-date=19 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828010743/http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res04.htm#g |archive-date=28 August 2017 |url-status=dead }}.</ref> However, the information stored in it and the delay-line memory was volatile in the fact that it had to be continuously refreshed, and thus was lost once power was removed. The earliest form of non-volatile computer storage was the [[drum memory|magnetic drum]], invented in 1932<ref name="MagDrum">{{citation |url=http://cs-exhibitions.uni-klu.ac.at/index.php?id=222 |title=Magnetic drum |work=Virtual Exhibitions in Informatics |editor=Universität Klagenfurt |access-date=21 August 2011 |archive-date=21 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060621130619/http://cs-exhibitions.uni-klu.ac.at/index.php?id=222 |url-status=dead }}.</ref> and used in the [[Ferranti Mark 1]], the world's first commercially available general-purpose electronic computer.<ref name="Digital60MM1">{{citation |title=The Manchester Mark 1 |url=http://www.digital60.org/birth/manchestercomputers/mark1/manchester.html |publisher=University of Manchester |access-date=24 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121112547/http://www.digital60.org/birth/manchestercomputers/mark1/manchester.html |archive-date=21 November 2008 |df=dmy-all }}.</ref> [[File:IBM card storage.NARA.jpg|thumb|IBM card storage warehouse located in Alexandria, Virginia in 1959. This is where the United States government kept storage of [[punched card]]s.]] [[IBM]] introduced the first [[hard disk drive]] in 1956, as a component of their [[IBM 305 RAMAC|305 RAMAC]] computer system.<ref>{{citation |last=Khurshudov |first=Andrei |title=The Essential Guide to Computer Data Storage: From Floppy to DVD |year=2001 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=978-0-130-92739-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto00andr }}.</ref>{{rp|6}} Most digital data today is still stored magnetically on hard disks, or optically on media such as [[CD-ROM]]s.<ref>{{citation |last1=Wang |first1=Shan X. |last2=Taratorin |first2=Aleksandr Markovich |title=Magnetic Information Storage Technology |year=1999 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-734570-3}}.</ref>{{rp|4–5}} Until 2002, most information was stored on [[analog device]]s, but that year digital storage capacity exceeded analog for the first time. {{as of|2007}}, almost 94% of the data stored worldwide was held digitally:<ref name="USCNews">{{citation |last=Wu |first=Suzanne |title=How Much Information Is There in the World? |url=http://news.usc.edu/#!/article/29360/How-Much-Information-Is-There-in-the-World |work=USC News |publisher=University of Southern California |access-date=10 September 2013}}.</ref> 52% on hard disks, 28% on optical devices, and 11% on digital magnetic tape. It has been estimated that the worldwide capacity to store information on electronic devices grew from less than 3 [[exabyte]]s in 1986 to 295 exabytes in 2007,<ref name="HilbertLopez2011">{{citation |last1=Hilbert |first1=Martin |last2=López |first2=Priscila |title=The World's Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information |date=1 April 2011 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=332 |issue=6025 |pages=60–65 |doi=10.1126/science.1200970 |pmid=21310967|bibcode=2011Sci...332...60H |s2cid=206531385 |doi-access=free }}.</ref> doubling roughly every 3 years.<ref name="Hilbertvideo2011">{{cite news |url=http://ideas.economist.com/video/giant-sifting-sound-0 |title=Americas events – Video animation on The World's Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information from 1986 to 2010 |newspaper=The Economist |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118072720/http://ideas.economist.com/video/giant-sifting-sound-0 |archive-date=18 January 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
====Databases==== {{main|Database}}
[[DBMS|Database Management Systems (DMS)]] emerged in the 1960s to address the problem of storing and retrieving large amounts of data accurately and quickly. An early such system was [[IBM]]'s [[IBM Information Management System|Information Management System]] (IMS),{{sfnp|Ward|Dafoulas|2006|p=2}} which is still widely deployed more than 50 years later.<ref name="IMS">{{citation |last=Olofson |first=Carl W. |title=A Platform for Enterprise Data Services |date=October 2009 |publisher=[[International Data Corporation|IDC]] |url=http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/data/sw-library/ims/idc-power-of-ims.pdf |access-date=7 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225123755/http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/data/sw-library/ims/idc-power-of-ims.pdf |archive-date=25 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}.</ref> IMS stores data [[Hierarchical database model|hierarchically]],{{sfnp|Ward|Dafoulas|2006|p=2}} but in the 1970s [[Edgar F. Codd|Ted Codd]] proposed an alternative relational storage model based on [[set theory]] and [[predicate logic]] and the familiar concepts of tables, rows, and columns. In 1981, the first commercially available [[relational database management system]] (RDBMS) was released by [[Oracle Corporation|Oracle]].{{sfnp|Ward|Dafoulas|2006|p=3}}
All DMS consist of components; they allow the data they store to be accessed simultaneously by many users while maintaining its integrity.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcOUCgAAQBAJ |title=Database System Concepts |last=Silberschatz |first=Abraham |date=2010 |publisher=McGraw-Hill Higher Education |isbn=978-0-07-741800-7 |language=en}}.</ref> All databases have one common point in that the structure of the data they contain is defined and stored separately from the data itself, in a [[database schema]].{{sfnp|Ward|Dafoulas|2006|p=2}}
In the late 2000s (decade), the [[XML|extensible markup language]] (XML) became a popular format for data representation. Although XML data can be stored in normal [[file system]]s, it is commonly held in [[relational database]]s to take advantage of their "robust implementation verified by years of both theoretical and practical effort."{{sfnp|Pardede|2009|p=2}} As an evolution of the [[Standard Generalized Markup Language]] (SGML), XML's text-based structure offers the advantage of being both [[machine-readable |machine-]] and [[human-readable]].{{sfnp|Pardede|2009|p=4}} {{clear}}
===Transmission=== [[File:Pine Hill Lookout and Towers 1.jpg|thumb|right|Radio towers at Pine Hill lookout]] [[Data transmission]] has three aspects: transmission, propagation, and reception.{{sfnp|Weik|2000|p=361}} It can be broadly categorized as [[broadcasting]], in which information is transmitted unidirectionally downstream, or [[telecommunications]], with bidirectional upstream and downstream channels.{{r|HilbertLopez2011}}
XML has been increasingly employed as a means of data interchange since the early 2000s,{{sfnp|Pardede|2009|p=xiii}} particularly for machine-oriented interactions such as those involved in web-oriented [[communications protocol|protocols]] such as [[SOAP]],{{sfnp|Pardede|2009|p=4}} describing "data-in-transit rather than... data-at-rest".{{sfnp|Pardede|2009|p=xiii}}
===Manipulation=== Hilbert and Lopez identify the exponential pace of technological change (a kind of [[Moore's law]]): machines' application-specific capacity to compute information per capita roughly doubled every 14 months between 1986 and 2007; the per capita capacity of the world's general-purpose computers doubled every 18 months during the same two decades; the global [[telecommunication]] capacity per capita doubled every 34 months; the world's storage capacity per capita required roughly 40 months to double (every 3 years); and per capita broadcast information has doubled every 12.3 years.{{r|HilbertLopez2011}}
Massive amounts of data are stored worldwide every day, but unless it can be analyzed and presented effectively it essentially resides in what have been called data tombs: "data archives that are seldom visited".{{sfnp|Han|Kamber|Pei|2011|p=5}} To address that issue, the field of [[data mining]] — "the process of discovering interesting patterns and knowledge from large amounts of data"{{sfnp|Han|Kamber|Pei|2011|p=8}} — emerged in the late 1980s.{{sfnp|Han|Kamber|Pei|2011|p=xxiii}} {{clear}}
== Services ==
=== Email === [[File:Woman sending an email at an internet cafe public computer.jpg|thumb|right|A woman sending an email at an [[internet cafe]]'s public computer.]]
The technology and services IT provides for sending and receiving electronic messages (called "letters" or "electronic letters") over a distributed (including global) computer network. In terms of the composition of elements and the principle of operation, electronic mail practically repeats the system of regular (paper) mail, borrowing both terms (mail, letter, envelope, attachment, box, delivery, and others) and characteristic features — ease of use, message transmission delays, sufficient reliability, and at the same time no guarantee of delivery. The advantages of e-mail are: easily perceived and remembered by a person addresses of the form user_name@domain_name (for example, somebody@example.com); the ability to transfer both plain text and formatted, as well as arbitrary files; independence of servers (in the general case, they address each other directly); sufficiently high reliability of message delivery; ease of use by humans and programs.
The disadvantages of e-mail include: the presence of such a phenomenon as spam (massive advertising and viral mailings); the theoretical impossibility of guaranteed delivery of a particular letter; possible delays in message delivery (up to several days); limits on the size of one message and on the total size of messages in the mailbox (personal for users).
=== Search system === A search system is a software and hardware complex with a web interface that provides the ability to look for information on the Internet. A [[search engine]] usually means a site that hosts the interface (front-end) of the system. The software part of a search engine is a search engine (search engine) — a set of programs that provides the functionality of a search engine and is usually a trade secret of the search engine developer company. Most search engines look for information on [[World Wide Web]] sites, but some systems can look for files on FTP servers, items in online stores, and information on Usenet newsgroups. Improving search is one of the priorities of the modern Internet (see the [[Deep web|Deep Web]] article about the main problems in the work of search engines).
== Commercial effects == Companies in the information technology field are often discussed as a group as the "tech sector" or the "tech industry."<ref>{{cite news |title=Technology Sector Snapshot |url=http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/sectors.asp?sector=57 |access-date=12 January 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113163914/http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/sectors.asp?sector=57 |archive-date=13 January 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Our programmes, campaigns and partnerships |url=https://www.techuk.org/focus|publisher=TechUK |access-date=12 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cyberstates 2016|url=https://www.comptia.org/resources/cyberstates-2016|publisher=CompTIA|access-date=12 January 2017|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106145152/https://www.comptia.org/resources/cyberstates-2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> These titles can be misleading at times and should not be mistaken for "tech companies," which are generally large scale, for-profit corporations that sell consumer technology and software. From a business perspective, information technology departments are a "[[Cost centre (business)|cost center]]" the majority of the time. A cost center is a department or staff that incurs expenses, or "costs," within a company rather than generating profits or revenue streams. Modern businesses rely heavily on technology for their day-to-day operations, so the expenses delegated to cover technology that facilitates business in a more efficient manner are usually seen as "just the cost of doing business." IT departments are allocated funds by senior leadership and must attempt to achieve the desired deliverables while staying within that budget. Government and the private sector might have different funding mechanisms, but the principles are more or less the same. This is an often overlooked reason for the rapid interest in automation and [[artificial intelligence]], but the constant pressure to do more with less is opening the door for automation to take control of at least some minor operations in large companies.
Many companies now have IT departments for managing the [[computer]]s, networks, and other technical areas of their businesses. Companies have also sought to integrate IT with business outcomes and decision-making through a BizOps or business operations department.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manifesto Hatched to Close Gap Between Business and IT |url=https://www.technewsworld.com/story/86893.html |access-date=2021-03-22 |website=TechNewsWorld |date=22 October 2020}}</ref>
In a business context, the [[Information Technology Association of America]] has defined information technology as "the study, design, development, application, implementation, support, or management of computer-based information systems".<ref>{{citation |last=Proctor |first=K. Scott |title=Optimizing and Assessing Information Technology: Improving Business Project Execution |year=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-10263-3}}.</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2017}} The responsibilities of those working in the field include network administration, software development and installation, and the planning and management of an organization's technology life cycle, by which hardware and software are maintained, upgraded, and replaced.
=== Information services ===<!---[[Information services (IT)]] redirects here until an article is created or someone thinks of a better option. This has arisen out of a mess relating links to Information service(s) (now a DAB page) and [[Information broker]].----> Information services is a term somewhat loosely applied to a variety of IT-related services offered by commercial companies,<ref name="VentureRadar">{{cite web | title=Top Information Services companies | website=VentureRadar | url=https://www.ventureradar.com/keyword/Information%20Services | access-date=March 8, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Index.co">{{cite web | title=Follow Information Services on Index.co | website=Index.co | url=https://index.co/market/information-services/companies | access-date=March 8, 2021 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Publishing">{{cite web | last=Publishing | first=Value Line | title=Industry Overview: Information Services | website=Value Line | url=https://www.valueline.com/Stocks/Industries/Industry_Overview__Information_Services.aspx | access-date=March 8, 2021 | archive-date=20 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620073252/https://www.valueline.com/Stocks/Industries/Industry_Overview__Information_Services.aspx | url-status=dead }}</ref> as well as [[data broker]]s.
<gallery> File:ComputerSystemsEmployment distribution .png|U.S. Employment distribution of computer systems design and related services, 2011<ref name="bls.gov">{{cite web |url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-2/careers-in-growing-field-of-information-technology-services.htm |title=U.S. Careers in the growing field of information technology services |author=Lauren Csorny |date=9 April 2013 |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}}</ref> File:EmploymentComputerSystems.png|U.S. Employment in the computer systems and design-related services industry, in thousands, 1990–2011<ref name="bls.gov"/> File:ComputerSystemsOccupationalGrowthWages.png|U.S. Occupational growth and wages in computer systems design and related services, 2010–2020<ref name="bls.gov"/> File:ProjectedEmploymentChangeComputerSystems.png|U.S. projected percent change in employment in selected occupations in computer systems design and related services, 2010–2020<ref name="bls.gov"/> File:ProjectedAverageAnnualEmploymentChangeSelectedIndustries.png|U.S. projected average annual percent change in output and employment in selected industries, 2010–2020<ref name="bls.gov"/> </gallery>
===Ethics=== {{main|Information ethics}} The field of information ethics was established by mathematician [[Norbert Wiener]] in the 1940s.<ref>{{citation |last=Bynum |first=Terrell Ward |contribution=Norbert Wiener and the Rise of Information Ethics |title=Information Technology and Moral Philosophy |year=2008 |editor1-last=van den Hoven |editor1-first=Jeroen |editor2-last=Weckert |editor2-first=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-85549-5}}.</ref>{{rp|9}} Some of the ethical issues associated with the use of information technology include:<ref>{{citation |last=Reynolds |first=George |title=Ethics in Information Technology |year=2009 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-538-74622-9}}.</ref>{{rp|20–21}} * Breaches of copyright by those downloading files stored without the permission of the copyright holders * Employers monitoring their employees' emails and other Internet usage * [[Spamming|Unsolicited emails]] * [[hacker (computer security)|Hackers]] accessing online databases * Websites installing [[HTTP cookie|cookies]] or [[spyware]] to monitor a user's online activities, which may be used by [[data broker]]s
==IT projects== Research suggests that IT projects in business and [[public administration]] can easily become significant in scale. Research conducted by [[McKinsey & Company|McKinsey]] in collaboration with the [[University of Oxford]] suggested that half of all large-scale IT projects (those with initial [[cost estimate]]s of $15 million or more) often failed to maintain costs within their initial budgets or to complete on time.<ref>Bloch, M., Blumberg, S. and Laartz, J., [https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/delivering-large-scale-it-projects-on-time-on-budget-and-on-value Delivering large-scale IT projects on time, on budget, and on value], published 1 October 2012, accessed 23 June 2023</ref>
==See also== * [[Information and communications technology]] (ICT) * [[IT infrastructure]] * [[Outline of information technology]] * [[Knowledge society]]
==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em|refs=}}
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==Further reading== * {{citation |editor1-last=Allen |editor1-first=T. |editor2-last=Morton |editor2-first=M. S. Morton |title=Information Technology and the Corporation of the 1990s |year=1994 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}. * Gitta, Cosmas and South, David (2011). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1O54YSE2BgC Southern Innovator Magazine Issue 1: Mobile Phones and Information Technology]'': United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation. {{ISSN|2222-9280}}. * [[James Gleick|Gleick, James]] (2011).''[[The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood]]''. New York: [[Pantheon Books]]. * {{citation |last=Price |first=Wilson T. |title=Introduction to Computer Data Processing |year=1981 |publisher=Holt-Saunders International Editions |isbn=978-4-8337-0012-2}}. * Shelly, Gary, Cashman, Thomas, Vermaat, Misty, and Walker, Tim. (1999). ''Discovering Computers 2000: Concepts for a Connected World''. [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], Massachusetts: Course Technology. * Webster, Frank, and Robins, Kevin. (1986). ''Information Technology — A Luddite Analysis''. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
==External links== * {{Wikiversity inline}} * {{Commons category-inline}} * {{Wikiquote-inline}} {{Electronic systems}} {{Informatics}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Information Technology}} [[Category:Computers]] [[Category:Information technology| ]] [[Category:Intellectual capital]] [[Category:Mass media technology]]