1. Information Processing Lecture 2 B Information Technology and Society

2. The Social Impact of Computers Computers have changed lives: They have changed the nature of work, working practices and the social fabric of the workplace, and the way we do business They have changed leisure, from the type of leisure that we choose to pursue to the the way in which we pursue it They have changed the way that we relate to one another, the way that we communicate and our expectations of relationships They have wrought social changes, introducing new laws, new types of crime, and new and different levels of security They have changed the way that we think, causing us to revisit our views about what is acceptable, moral and ethical in a computer- literate society They have changed education, from its content to the way that it is delivered.

3. Discussion Activity 1: The Consequences of Computerisation Take one of the statements from the previous slide, and see whether you can find: three aspects which have been improved by ICT three aspects which have been worsened by the use of ICT three aspects which have remained unaltered.

4. Computers and Society: The Issues During this presentation, we will broach the following issues: The changing nature of employment Computers, crime and the law Health The Environment As we have already seen, there are many other issues which we could choose to explore.

5. Discussion Activity 2: Why Introduce Computers? What are the main reasons given for introducing computers into the workplace? What would be the main reasons for not introducing them?

6. Computerisation and Innovation Some of the main reasons for introducing computers into any area of work are: To improve: efficiency, performance, output, productivity, quality To enable and enhance communication To reduce costs To increase responsiveness and flexibility To enhance “image”... and thereby increase profits

7. Computerisation and Innovation Some of the main reasons for not introducing computers: The research and development costs of hardware and software would outweigh the benefits Start up costs prohibitive No perceived benefits Employee resistance including: redundancy issues Union agreements current custom and practice arrangements Inertia, lack of motivation Ethical, moral and social issues

8. Stages of Innovation In any area of business, the introduction of new technology may give innovators a “leading edge” over their competitors In successful areas, pioneers are soon followed (and may be overtaken) by “second wave” companies who have learnt from the successes (and mistakes) of pioneers Eventually, those who do not follow this line will be overtaken by events and lose out to competitors

9. The consequences of Innovation The introduction of computers into any area of work (excluding those related to the computer industry itself) means that redundancies almost inevitably occur. Employers can expect changes to be opposed: by employees in the workplace citing pragmatic reasons why the innovation is cannot be made to work, and by Trade Unions citing philosophical and ethical reasons why the innovation should not be made to work.

10. A Dilemma There is a fine balance to be met: To Computerise may result in redundancies Not to Computerise may mean lack of business, lack of profit and ultimately may result in redundancies

11. A World View The global market is a reality To compete, each country is under the same pressure to innovate as individual companies In turn this pressure feeds down to individual companies and organisations

12. The Changing World Britain, has changed (partly through the introduction of IT) from a production-based economy to a service- based economy “Information” in its broadest sense accounts for 70% of the US and UK labour forces

13. The Changing Nature of Employment 1 In some areas, for example the car industry, the introduction of robotics and IT has drastically cut the workforce. Workers have needed to retrain, many taking jobs in IT related areas

14. The Changing Nature of Employment 2 For example, in the banking industry, accounts clerks have been replaced by computers, but new jobs have been created: Telebanking Internet banks Insurance, mortgage etc.

15. Teleworking Involves working at home (or in a location distant from an “office”) Communicating via internet, telecommunications- based means May have both benefits and drawbacks … but has not seen the growth predicted in the early 1990’s

16. Discussion Activity 3: An Hypothetical Scenario A New “expert” software package, becomes available. This is a CD-ROM encompassing the whole of the current English Legal System, backed up by a website containing case-law over the last five hundred years. What would be the consequences?

17. Summary: Employment Issues In industry, innovation and IT are almost synonymous Introducing IT has positive outcomes Efficiency and productivity gains, Enhances product It also has negative outcomes: Redundancies Skill obsolescence, insecurity and stress It also has other outcomes: A change in the nature of work A change in working practices

18. Selected References a brief introduction: http://marathon.csee.usf.edu/~kwb/nsf-ufe/myers.html a few interesting websites: http://www.bls.gov/ces/ces8mlr.htm http://online.bcc.ctc.edu/econ/kst/BriefReign/BRwebversion.htm http://www.jrc.es/iptsreport/vol34/english/emp1e346.htm..and on the topic of ethics... http://www.cpsr.org/program/ethics/cei.html A good bibliography with is at: http://cyberethics.cbi.msstate.edu/biblio/part7.htm