Within businesses today, employers are starting to screen their staffs email to try and eradicate ‘junk mail’ being passed this can be done by using filters that alert when certain words appear in the message. This is similar to the firewalls that may be in place on a schools network restricting access to certain web sites. On a larger scale though, in the U.S last year, 870 billion unwanted emails were sent by bogus companies wishing to try and make money. This is called spam. (Gill, 2003)
“Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. Most spam is commercial advertising, often for dubious products, get-rich-quick schemes, or quasi-legal services. Spam costs the sender very little to send -- most of the costs are paid for by the recipient or the carriers rather than by the sender.” (Mueller, 2003).
Spam is one of the biggest downfalls of the use of emails. The full effect of spam spread viruses was seen a few years ago when the ‘Iloveyou’ bug caused massive damage to businesses worldwide. (Gill, 2003).
1.1.3 Television, Radio and Video Conferencing
As was mentioned at the start of this report, television and radio are also incorporated within the ICT industry. It is obviously famous for its one-way communication through product and brand advertising, but it can also be used in two-way communication in the business world.
Video conferencing can create a digital community, allowing businesses in different countries to hold meetings and conference in real time where it would have been impossible in previous years. This can be done either by digital satellite links or through the Internet at a much lower cost.
1.1.4 Teleworking
Teleworking can be described as the use of ICT generally within call centres and other such businesses. Here data is stored and communicated on a network of computers. These call centres can process information relevant to anything from telemarketing and customer service to breakdown recovery.
1.2 Future Developments in ICT
1.2.1 The Future if the Internet
Congestion is one of those problems that we all seem to experience from time to time and always have to put up with. Whether it be a slowed network at work or university, or simply a slow connection speed when browsing the Internet at home.
When surfing the Internet a series of messages are relayed from your computer to a relevant mainframe computer dealing with the web site you wish to connect to. If there are vast quantities of messages being sent to this web site at one time, it senses that it is being overloaded and starts ‘drop’ some of these to alleviate congestion. If you are one of the unlucky ones you will be disconnected. New technology is starting to be introduced though, that punishes a user that repeatedly tries to send the same ‘message’. i.e. if you click on an icon on the screen lots of times in order to try and speed up the process, it is you that will be dropped and disconnected. (Lee, 1999).
Today, approximately 88% of the worlds Internet users are in industrialised countries. From this figure it is clear that there is a great digital divide between developed and developing countries. It is in these developing countries that governments are investing in new technology to try and boost their economy.
“All types of work can benefit from greater access to information, for example, the illiterate farmer can sell his produce in new markets which he has accessed via the Internet.” (Business Times, 2001).
There are a few problems with this though; firstly there is the cost and the availability of telecommunications. To overcome this, new wireless technology would have to be implemented to save on the cost of more expensive fixed-wire systems. The other problem though is the degree by which governments would want to control Internet access. This is due to political and civic freedoms. (Business Times, 2001).
1.2.2 The Future of Spam
There are many ways of filtering out spam. This can be done with different types of software such as SpamAssasin and McAfee’s Webshield. This works by using a scoring system.
"Every time a message is received, it runs 750 tests, looking at the headers of the message, the structure, the subject line. Every time one of those rules gets triggered, it receives a point score, and over a certain amount, the e-mail is classified as spam.”
From this administrators can set up a junk mail filter on the network, here users can sift though it and delete it. This way no legitimate messages are deleted. “This technology boasts a 95% accuracy rate.” (Gill, 2003).
This software can become outdated fairly regularly though, for businesses to protect themselves they must regularly update their screening systems. This will therefore save time and can stop costly viruses and copious amounts of ‘junk’ mail being received. (Gill, 2003).
1.2.3 The Future of Teleworking
With an increasing demand for this service, organisations have branched their operations to incorporate call centre s in other countries such as India. Here, with the use of ICT, telephone queries from the U.K can be dealt with at speed, and also at a lower cost.
1.2.4 The Future of Television
“Digital TV: The Future of E-Commerce” (Casswell, 2000)
Digital television is divided into three different modes. The first, the ‘single mode’ allows the viewer to switch between the television programme and the interactive application. After they are finished with the interactive they go back to watching the programme.
The second mode is the ‘simultaneous’ mode. This allows interaction between viewer and programme. Here the viewer is able, for example, to answer questions on game shows.
The third mode is the ‘pause’ mode, here a hard disk is used to store and record the programme. This allows the viewer to pause the programme and continue viewing at a whenever convenient. (Casswell, 2000).
With digital television being connected to the Internet this allows many opportunities for businesses to advertise and also sell their product through the interactive service. It also gives them the chance to market their product to customers they previously would have been unable to reach due to the larger cost of buying a computer and connecting that to the Internet
2. The Impacts of Future Developments in ICT on British Airways
As we all know BA is one the most well-known and respected airlines in the world, it transports thousands of customers all over the world each year. Due to advances in ICT technology it has been able to develop itself in order to keep up with its competition by reducing some of its costs.
2.1 Teleworking and BA
As was mentioned earlier in this report, due to improving communications technology, it is now possible to site call centres that deal with U.K customers in other countries in the world, particularly lesser economically developed countries such as India.
There are some advantages and also disadvantages to this though.
Advantages
- Any company wishing to branch out their operations into a new country may receive an incentive from the host government. This may simply be a cash incentive, but it may also be other things such as a skilled workforce and cheap land or buildings to develop.
- If they were to set up in a lesser-developed country, their government policies regarding workers rights may be weaker than their current ones. With this the company would be able to exploit their workforce by paying them a lower wage and giving them longer shifts, therefore reducing costs.
- The area of the new host country they were setting up in would obviously start to prosper due to lower unemployment and more money being brought into the area. This may also pave the way for other companies to move and invest in the area.
Disadvantages
- The country that they were branching out from would suffer due to jobs not being made available. Unemployment levels would not be good, especially if the company was leaving an area having already been established there.
- This may create bad publicity in their home country due to much needed jobs being taken elsewhere, also they may be seen in the same light as the much publicised ‘sweat shops’.
With BA being constantly in the public eye due to the fall in trade in their market due to 9/11, they must be careful not to give the image of being a company simply out to make money at all costs, even if they now feel they now have to.
2.2 Spam, E-mail Screening and BA
Due to the increased volumes of spam being posted each year, it is important that businesses are able to upgrade their filtering systems. Many man-hours are wasted sifting through unwanted emails costing the company dearly in lost time. The same can be said about inappropriate emails being passed between colleagues at work. This is why email-screening systems have been employed by managers.
Advantages
- Spam filters save the company money by shortening time spent opening emails each day.
- Spam filters also detect any viruses that emails are carrying.
- Email screening allows management to monitor what their staff are doing and can stop any potentially harmful emails being circulated.
Disadvantages
- Businesses must constantly try to upgrade their filtering systems to prevent new dangerous emails being sent.
- Filtering emails may result in important messages being lost or going unread.
- Screening may cause tension between employers and their workforce as it may be seen as a lack of privacy.
As most of BA’s work involves using computers and emails each day, it is important that these measures are taken into consideration. Otherwise any of the above points may cost the company money.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is apparent that the future of ICT is advancing quickly. With new technology being developed each day to speed up and enhance the quality of information communications, the next few years should reveal some exciting new breakthroughs. Whether it be simply speeding up Internet connections, or getting more people logged on, the future is defiantly bright.
As regards to BA, with the world still shocked by 9/11, their market is currently still recovering. With BA needing to save money elsewhere in order to reduce losses, developments in ICT can defiantly help with this.
Bibliography
Business Times (29/03/2001) ICT Risks widening digital divide, BUSINESS TIMES.
Casswell, Stephen (2000) Digital TV: The future of E-Commerce.
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Gill, Lisa (2003) The Big Business of Fighting Spam.
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Lee, Kang-Won (1999) A New Perspective on Congestion Control in the Future Internet [Internet]
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Mueller, Scott Hazen (2003) What is SPAM? [Internet]
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Unknown (2003) How many online? [Internet]
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