Information and communications technology or information and communication technology
is often used as an extended synonym for information technology (IT) but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), intelligent building management systems and audio-visual systems in modern information technology. ICT consists of all technical means used to handle information and aid communication, including computer and network hardware, communication middleware as well as necessary software. In other words, ICT consists of IT as well as telephony, broadcast media, all types of audio and video processing and transmission and network based control and monitoring functions. The expression was first used in 1997 in a report by Dennis Stevenson to the UK government and promoted by the new National Curriculum documents for the UK in 2000.
ICT is often used in the context of "ICT roadmap" to indicate the path that an organization will take with their ICT needs.
The term ICT is now also used to refer to the merging (convergence) of audio-visual and telephone networks with computer networks through a single cabling or link system. There are large economic incentives (huge cost savings due to elimination of the telephone network) to merge the audio-visual, building management and telephone network with the computer network system using a single unified system of cabling, signal distribution and management. See VOIP and Intelligent Infrastructure Management (IIM). This in turn has spurred the growth of organizations with the term ICT in their names to indicate their specialization in the process of merging the different network systems.
a general term referring to the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) within the fields of socioeconomic development, international development and human rights.
The dominant term used in this field is "ICT4Dev". Alternatives include ICTD and development informatics.
The concept of ICT4Dev can be interpreted as dealing with disadvantaged populations anywhere in the world, but is more typically associated with applications in developing countries. It concerns itself with directly applying information technology approaches to poverty reduction. ICTs can be applied either in the direct sense, wherein their use directly benefits the disadvantaged population, or in an indirect sense, wherein the ICTs assist aid organisations or non-governmental organizations or governments or businesses in order to improve general socio-economic conditions.
The field is becoming recognized as an interdisciplinary research area as can be noted by the growing number of conferences, workshops and publications. Such research has been spurred on in part by the need for scientifically validated benchmarks and results, which can be used to measure the efficacy of current projects.
