ICT Definition

Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term

for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the
integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers,
as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audiovisual
systems, that enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information
The term ICT is also used to refer to the convergence of audiovisual and telephone
networks with computer networks through a single cabling or link system. There are
large economic incentives to merge the telephone network with the computer network
system using a single unified system of cabling, signal distribution, and management.
ICT is an umbrella term that includes any communication device, encompassing radio,
television, cell phones, computer and network hardware, satellite systems and so on, as
well as the various services and appliance with them such as video conferencing and
distance learning.
ICT is a broad subject and the concepts are evolving. It covers any product that will
store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit, or receive information electronically in a digital form
(e.g., personal computers, digital television, email, or robots).

Types of ICT Communication

ICT is an abbreviation for information and communication technologies. It's
generally the combination of information technology, which focuses on
computers and related devices, and digital telecommunications, including
cellphones, the internet and other digital networks. The term can be a bit
amorphous, but it's fair to say types of ICT include cellphones, the internet
and home and office networking devices.
credit: metamorworks/iStock/GettyImages

Types of Information Communication Technology

Forms of ICT have expanded in the most recent few decades. Digital
cellphones, including smart phones and traditional feature phones, have
become ubiquitous in many countries. Internet modems and routers are
found in offices and homes around the world. Communications software from
social networking tools to encrypted messaging apps have exploded in
popularity.

As digital networking has gone from relatively slow and expensive, and
computers and phones have gotten more reliable and easier to use, they've
gone from being the domain of hobbyists and early tech adopters to
everyday appliances.

The Growth of Cellphone Technology

In recent years, billions of people around the world have begun using
cellphones. In some cases, the digital devices are even cheaper and more
reliable than their wired counterparts, and newer devices come equipped
with the ability to speedily access the internet and download a wide variety
of apps.

While the original cellphones were expensive to use, bulky to carry and often
given to losing signal, modern day cellphones are reliable and easy to
transport. Society has also adapted to the point where it's difficult for many
people to maintain their business career and social life without carrying a
cellphone of some kind.

At the same time, cellphone plans have gotten simpler, especially when it
comes to delivering basic communication services such as calling, texting
and voicemail. Many users no longer have to worry about exceeding their
minute allowances or waiting for nights and weekends to make calls.

The Rise of the Internet

The internet has gone from a limited government and academic experiment
of the 1960s to a near universal part of modern life. A modem, which stands
for modulator-demodulator, is used to transform digital signals from a
computer into other forms that can be transmitted across a phone, cable or
other network.

Examples of communication technology related to the internet include the

dial-up modems of the 1990s and the more modern wireless routers and
cable internet modems now found in many homes and businesses. Modern
cellphones and many computers can connect with either built-in WiFi
modems or cellular modems that let them connect to phone carrier
networks. Wi-Fi routers let them connect to a locally installed, usually
hardwired modem and on to a larger network.
Many offices, universities and other environments also have internal
networks, known as intranets, used for secure internal communication.

Types of Digital Communication

We are living in the Information Age, and there has never been as apt a
name for a particular period of human history. Digital technologies have
revolutionized communication in the modern world -- a revolution so rapidly
integrated into our lives that we can scarcely remember how we used to
make a phone call or exchange messages back in the analog days. The
Internet and cell phones are two of the most prominent examples of the
influence of the Information Age, but there are many other types of digital
communication technologies.

A man sitting on his sofa looking at his smartphone

credit: Wavebreakmedia Ltd/Wavebreak Media/Getty Images

The Internet and Email

In 1962, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology described

a "Galactic Network" of interconnected computers that could talk to one
another. The idea of the Internet was born. Relying on packet switching -- the
digital transfer of short bursts of data -- globally connected computer
networks quickly developed into sophisticated digital communication
technologies. Email over the network was introduced in the 1970s and has
since grown into one of the most widespread forms of digital communication,
both on the Internet and through private networks. Packet-switching
protocols matured and speeds increased. In 1980, the first widespread
computer virus crashed the global computer network.

In the 1990s, digital communication over networked computers emerged

from limited use in the academic, government and business worlds to come
into use by the public. The World Wide Web, the Internet on steroids, was
described in 1991, the White House website appeared in 1993, and the first
Internet advertising came online in 1994. As transmission speeds increased,
the Internet evolved from principally one-way communication to a social two-
way system -- Web 2.0 -- at sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Cell Phones

The earliest generation of handheld mobile telephones relied on the analog

communication technology of the conventional phone network. The first
phones using digital communication, known as 2G phones, appeared in the
early 1990s. Digital phone technology developed rapidly after that. The first
text message was sent in 1993, and the transmission of other digital content,
such as ringtones and advertising, followed shortly after. In 2001, 3G digital
phone communication arrived, providing faster transmission and making
broadband communication practical for multiple media such as voice,
Internet and GPS. The 4G phones appeared later that decade, offering digital
communication 10 times faster than earlier technologies.
High-Definition Television

Since 2009, the Federal Communications Commission has required TV

stations in the U.S. to broadcast exclusively in digital format. The transition
from conventional to digital television technologies made high-definition
television possible and established the television as more than a simple
receiver of transmitted signals. Many digital TVs are multimedia devices that
display television programming, games, photographs and on-demand
movies, stream Internet content, play music and handle recorded media like
CDs and DVDs. As televisions become more interactive, they are evolving
into true two-way digital communication devices.

Other Electronic Communication

Digital communications have become ubiquitous in modern society and

encompass a wide variety of technologies. Remote controls, keyless entry
devices, walkie-talkies, Bluetooth earpieces, GPS satellites, cash registers
and credit cards are among the many technologies that communicate
digitally with people and with other devices. Futurists have coined the term
"The Internet of Things" to refer to the trend of enabling thousands of types
of devices, from light bulbs to washing machines, with digital communication
capabilities.

Physical Digital Media

Given the sophistication of the instantaneous transmission of digital data, it

can be easy to overlook the more mundane communication activities. We
store digital data on many types of physical media, including CDs, DVDs,
flash drives, tape and compact memory chips. Every time you hand a friend
or colleague a file, whether you transfer it electronically or pass along a DVD,
you are engaged in a form of digital communication