Information Systems

Impact on Culture and

Society
<<Author>>

<<Roll No>>
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Key Impact of Information Systems and Technology...................................................................................3
Social Impact...........................................................................................................................................4
Business Impact.......................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................4
References...................................................................................................................................................5
Introduction
Humans have always been social animals, and hence are influenced by cultural and social issues. This
has led to the development of societies of humans. According to the dictionary, “A society can also refer
specifically to any group of people, other animals and/or plants and the interactions within that group.
This can be anything from a small neighborhood to the entire global community. Religion, ethnicity,
interests, political opinions or other relating factors may help form a group of people.” (Web directory)

Interaction between humans at a social or cultural level takes place primarily because of dissemination
and communication of information. The primary form of communication between two individual can be
visual, verbal or through symbolic gestures and transfer of ideas. But in order to communicate with a
large number of people, new social communication methods have been devised over the years. It
started with the advent of the clay tablet, to telegraph and telephone, going on to faxes.

One of the popular explanations for the current changes occurring in the world is that we are in a major
revolution which has been dubbed as the Third Wave (Bell D, 1973). First was the Agricultural
Revolution, then the Industrial Revolution, and now we are in the Information Revolution. The current
information and knowledge era came to age with the launch of the internet. Due to this communication
which was previously one-to-one and on a more intimate basis became larger, more social and
participative.

Using the internet, instantaneous emails, wikis, blogs, streaming videos, video chat and web broadcasts
became a reality. Using these methods now people could socially communicate to a large audience at
negligible cost. The internet has shaped the culture of different parts of the world more than anything
before it, as we would consider in the following essay. Hence information flow plays a decisive role in
the development of culture and society.

Key Impact of Information Systems and Technology

Before going any further let us first understand what Information systems encompass in the context of
this essay. According to Alexandrou, M., “information technology refers to both the hardware and
software that are used to store, retrieve, and manipulate information. At the lowest level one has the
servers each with an operating system. Installed on these servers are things like database and web
serving software. The servers are connected to each other and to users via a network infrastructure. And
the users accessing these servers have their own hardware, operating systems, and software tools.”
Although Information technology is not limited to computer hardware and software alone in today’s
knowledge economy. Information technology also encompasses the uses, distribution and security of
information and related areas.

Our society is transforming in a fundamental way, and the information revolution or the Third Wave is
an important part of the phenomenon which involves multiple and interdependent causes. These
include human values, culture, politics, economy and science. This revolution is creating a reorganization
of human life. The society, education, psychology, science, economy, religion and technology are all
changing, since they are all reciprocally interconnected (Lombardo T, 1997).

A new realm of social informatics has developed which is defined as “an interdisciplinary field of study,
comprising of issues and semantics that have bearing on the design, uses and consequences of
information and communication technology” (Sawyer and Rosenbaum, 2000 p. 89).

Social Impact
Information technology has influenced religious practices by making the information more accessible to
everyone. This has led to propagation of religious practices, and fundamental values to whoever chooses
to follow that religion (Brosnan M J, 1998). But the more relevant debate is whether IT has influenced
the social attitudes and customs of different religious institutions.

The social attitudes of people across the globe have changed as an individual is not a citizen of a
particular society but a global citizen. They are better informed about the various elements than ever
before. Also in today’s knowledge economy they have access to information about a specific product,
service or organization so that they can make informed decisions with regard to their interactions with
that entity (Bannon L et al, 1982).

The education paradigm has also undergone a massive change with the advent of the information
economy and has now influenced the education establishments. Till the previous times the aims of
universities and other educational institutions was the creation of information through research and
debate. But because of easy access to information now the focus has also shifted on the dissemination
and protection of that information (Loos E et al, 2008). Also the research methodologies have
undergone a huge change due to the free access of information from around the world through the
internet, hence facilitating collaborative research across the globe.

Business Impact
Information technology (IT) has played a crucial role in the development of the contemporary society. It
has transformed the whole world into one global village, a global economy and a global society. All these
are dependent on the free and fair distribution and dissemination of information. Business now can
capitalize on global opportunities with internet offering them a medium to communicate their business
model and value to any customer in the world. In today’s world, IT provides the communication and
analytical power to trade and manage business at a global level, which is primarily to coordinate and
communicate with suppliers, distributors and customers anywhere in the globe (Anderson B et al, 2007).

Conclusion
The world is increasingly becoming dependent on information and technology as a driver of growth, of
which internet is a major part. Developing nations are deriving incredible advances from this technology
for updating their knowledge and development (Campbell M J, 1989). A new IT culture has developed in
the society of today which is a proponent of free information access, free will and thought process.
People are not afraid of debating about topics which are a taboo in their small society as they can do so
in the global society. Hence information technology has had massive impact on the culture and society
of today and will continue to do so in the future.

References
A LEXANDROU, M. ( N.D.). DEFINITION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. RETRIEVED MAY 10, 2010, FROM
HTTP ://WWW.MARIOSALEXANDROU .COM /GLOSSARY /INFORMATION _TECHNOLOGY .ASP

ANDERSON , B., BRYNIN , M., GERSHUNY , J., AND R ABAN , Y (2007). I NFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGIES IN SOCIETY: E-LIVING IN A DIGITAL EUROPE . HOBOKEN, NJ.

BANNON , L., BARRY , U., H OLST, O. (E DS ) (1982). INFORMATION  TECHNOLOGY IMPACT  ON THE WAY OF LIFE .
EEC CONFERENCE ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY HELD IN DUBLIN , IRELAND, 18-20 N OVEMBER 1981

BELL, D. (1973). THE COMING OF POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY. NEW YORK: B ASIC BOOKS.

BROSNAN , M.J. (1998). T ECHNOPHOBIA : THE PSYCHOLOGICAL  IMPACT  OF INFORMATION  TECHNOLOGY .
ROUTLEDGE , LONDON .

CAMPBELL , M.J. (1989). N EW  TECHNOLOGY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT : THE  SOCIAL IMPACT . ROUTLEDGE ,

LONDON.

LOMBARDO, T. (1997). T HE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: LEARNING , LIVING , AND LOVING IN THE
FUTURE . LABYRINTH , 5(2). R ETRIEVED MAY 10, 2010, FROM
HTTP :// WWW.MCLI .DIST .MARICOPA.EDU /LF/S PR97/ SPR 97L8. HTML

LOOS, E., MATE -MEIJER, E., H ADDON , L. (E DS ) (2008). T HE SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION   TECHNOLOGY . ALDERSHOT , E NGLAND .

SAWYER , S. AND ROSENBAUM , H. (2000). S OCIAL INFORMATICS IN THE INFORMATION SCIENCES : CURRENT
ACTIVITIES AND EMERGING DIRECTIONS . [E LECTRONIC VERSION] I NFORMING S CIENCE . 3 (2), 89-95 AVAILABLE AT
HTTP :// WWW.INFORM.NU /A RTICLES /V OL 3/ V3 N2 P89-96 R.PDF

WEB DIRECTORY. (N.D.). RETRIEVED MAY 10, 2010, FROM HTTP ://WWW.LINKSFINDING .COM/DIRECTORY.ASPX?
PR =S OCIETY /