Role of ICT on agriculture

The application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in agriculture is increasingly important.

E-Agriculture is an emerging field focusing on the enhancement of agricultural and rural development through improved information and communication processes. More specifically, e-Agriculture involves the conceptualization, design, development, evaluation and application of innovative ways to use information and communication technologies (IT) in the rural domain, with a primary focus on agriculture. E-Agriculture is a relatively new term and we fully expect its scope to change and evolve as our understanding of the area grows.

E-Agriculture is one of the action lines identified in the declaration and plan of action of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The "Tunis Agenda for the Information Society," published on 18 November 2005, emphasizes the leading facilitating roles that UN agencies need to play in the implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been assigned the responsibility of organizing activities related to the action line under C.7 ICT Applications on E-Agriculture.

The main phases of the agriculture industry are: Crop cultivation, Water management, Fertilizer Application, Fertigation, Pest management, Harvesting, Post harvest handling,Transporting of food/food products, Packaging, Food preservation, Food processing/value addition, Food quality management, Food safety, Food storage, Food marketing.

All stakeholders of agriculture industry need information and knowledge about these phases to manage them efficiently. Any system applied for getting information and knowledge for making decisions in any industry should deliver accurate, complete, concise information in time or on time. The information provided by the system must be in user-friendly form, easy to access, cost-effective and well protected from unauthorized accesses.
 

• Record text, drawings, photographs, audio, video, process descriptions, and other information in digital formats, 
•  Produce exact duplicates of such information at significantly lower cost, 
• Transfer information and knowledge rapidly over large distances through communications networks. 
•  Develop standardized algorithms to large quantities of information relatively rapidly. 
•  Achieve greater interactivity in communicating, evaluating, producing and sharing useful information and knowledge.

Role of ICT in education

Nowadays the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT),especially internet in the education sector plays an important role, especially in the process of empowering the technology into the educational activities. Education sector can be the most effective sector to anticipate and eliminate the negative impact of ICT. Technology (internet) in another side can be the most effective way to increase the student’s knowledge.

Being aware of the significant role of ICT (internet) in our life, especially in the educational activities, education authorities should be wise enough in implementing the strategies to empower ICT in supporting the teaching and learning process in the classroom. ICT is not just the bloom of the educational activities, but also it will be the secondary option to improve the effective and meaningful educational process.

The main purpose of the Strategy for Information and Communication Technology Implementation in Education is to provide the prospects and trends of integrating information and communication technology (ICT) into the general educational activities.

There are some unavoidable facts in the modern education; First, the ICT has been developing very rapidly nowadays. Therefore, in order to balance it, the whole educational system should be reformed and ICT should be integrated into educational activities.

Second, the influence of ICT, especially internet (open source tool) cannot be ignored in our student’s lives. So, the learning activities should be reoriented and reformulated, from the manual source centered to the open source ones. In this case the widely use of internet access has been an unavoidable policy that should be anticipated by schools authorities.

Third, the presence of multimedia games and online games by internet has been another serious problem that should be wisely handled by the educational institutions. The students cannot be exterminated from this case. They can have and do with it wherever and whenever they want. Schools, as a matter of fact, do not have enough power and time to prevent or stop it after school times. Meanwhile, most parents do not have enough times to accompany and control their children. So, the students have large opportunities to do with multimedia games or online games or browsing the negative and porn sites. Having been addicted, the students will have too little time to study, and even do not want to attend classes.

In such situation, education institutions play an important role to eradicate these problems. One of which is by facilitating the students to do edutainment or educational games. Schools can let their students be familiar with educational games adjusted by their teachers. Besides, they can also support and facilitate their students to have their own blogs in the internet. A lot of WebBlog providers are free to the users, such as WordPress. In their blogs, the students can create and write something, like an article, poem, news, short stories, features, or they can also express their opinion by an online forum provided in the internet. They are able to share experiences throughout their blogs to others from all over the world. I think it will be an interesting activity for them, and it will lessen their time to visit the negative or porn sites existed.

By doing so, I think our young generation will get more and more information and knowledge by browsing in the internet. They can also create innovation in web design that it may be out of the formal curriculum content, but it will be useful for their future.

Fourth, the implementation of ICT in education has not been a priority trend of educational reform and the state paid little attention to it. Therefore, there should be an active participation, initiative and good will of the schools and the government institutions to enhance ICT implementation at school.

Fifth, the teachers should be the main motivator and initiator of the ICT implementation at schools. The teachers should be aware of the social change in their teaching activities. They should be the agent of change from the classical method into the modern one. They must also be the part of the global change in learning and teaching modification.

The followings are the aim and objectives of ICT implementation in education:

1. To implement the principle of life-long learning / education.

2. to increase a variety of educational services and medium / method.

3. to promote equal opportunities to obtain education and information.

4. to develop a system of collecting and disseminating educational information.

5. to promote technology literacy of all citizens, especially for students.

6. to develop distance education with national contents.

7. to promote the culture of learning at school (development of learning skills, expansion of optional education, open source of education, etc.)

8. to support schools in sharing experience and information with others.

Role of ICT on banking

Information and communication technologies are playing a very important role in the advancements in banking. In fact information and communication technologies (ICT) are enabling banks to make radical changes to the way they operate. According to Consoli (2003), the historical paradigm of IT provides useful insights into the 'learning opportunities' that opened the way to radical changes in the banking industry such as the reconfiguration of its organizational structure and the diversification of the product line.

Banks are essentially intermediaries which create added value by storing, manipulating and transferring purchasing power between different parties. To achieve this, banks rely on ICT to perform most functions, from book keeping to information storage and from enabling cash withdrawals to communicating with customers (see Table 2.1 for an overview of ICT enabled changes). In developed countries at least, this high degree of reliance on ICT means that banks spend a large chunk of their budget on acquiring as well as maintaining these technologies. Internal as well as external pressures often result in questions being asked about the return on ICT investments.

ICT and Business Development

In line with the main priorities set by the URBACT Information Society Network, this theme focuses on business development and the role of ICT as a means of tackling economic restructuring and promoting employment and in doing so fostering social cohesion and economic inclusion.

The purpose of this brief document is to act as a guide for colleagues when preparing material or presentations on this topic and to provoke discussion on the issues raised in it.

Business Development and its relationship to ICT?

Business Development is the process of improvement that enables a business to become more efficient, profitable, and thereby creating or safeguarding jobs. Business development therefore does not only concern marketing and sales departments, but all parts of a business which constitute its value chain and requires effective communication and co-operation within a company.

Over the last 20 years ICT has increasingly been identified as a major contributor to the process of business development and improvement and it has been identified that “ICT ….   is responsible for around half of productivity growth in modern economies. It drives improved efficiency and better services and products across the entirety of the private and the public sectors.” (Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society).

What has been the impact of ICT on Business?

The use of ICT and technology has affected every aspect of business, transforming not only the way that business is conducted but also creating new business sectors and jobs. The creation of companies like Google and e-Bay which did not exist 10 years ago, was only made possible by advances in technology and the changes that this has created in the way that people behave (currently Google is valued at £44billion – Source BBC 5^th June 05). 

Some examples of the nature of this change include:

Marketing: The use of websites has allowed companies to develop new and cheaper ways of reaching new markets, offering customers the opportunity of buying goods and services whenever they want and often at reduced cost, whilst also enhancing the level of customer service.

This has been coupled with the expansion and use of e-mails which again has been used by business to market their goods and services directly to potential customers, as well as communicating with existing customers and suppliers.

Increasingly the marketing campaigns of businesses include the use of technologies such as Contact Management Systems that allows them to co-ordinate, monitor and report on various aspects of their marketing campaigns in new ways making these campaigns more targeted and effective.

Finance:  Practically all companies now use software programs e.g. Sage or Excel to manage their accounts. This has allowed them to look at financial information when required, monitor and respond to their customers purchasing patterns by e.g. offering discounts and overall improve the management of their finances. The result of this has been for many companies a reduction in their accountancy fees. 

Out of office working: For many businesses the need for staff to be away from the office attending meetings etc. or to be based in another geographical location has grown alongside employee demands for more flexible working patterns. However effective communication and ability to access information etc. remains critical to the productivity of these staff members. Therefore through the use of technology many companies now use a range of technologies to enable this. These include mobile phones, e-mail, broadband, laptops, etc. Thus ensuring that companies are able to be flexible and adaptive depending on their business needs.

Networks: Virtually all businesses now have or have access to a computer. The existence of two or more computers in an office almost always leads to the creation of a network. The main advantage of doing so is that resources can be shared e.g. printers, internet access, files/information can be managed and shared amongst workstations and the security of information can be better managed through a network. Increasingly networks are not just confined to the office but are being adopted so that they allow home/remote working that supports changing business needs.

This transformation has really taken place over the last 20 years and continues to transform the way business is done. No business today can ignore the use of technology as its effective use helps businesses to remain competitive and profitable, thereby creating or safeguarding jobs.

The role of the Public Sector?

What is the case for Public Sector intervention if this is already happening? Talking specifically about SME’s, the final report (Feb. 2004) of the European Go Digital Awareness campaign 2001-2003 shows that "to help SME’s to “Go Digital” is still a policy challenge" as SME’s remain sceptical about ICT and e-business. This is mainly the result of:

• Their experience of procuring technology has often left an impression that the wrong decision was made as the expected benefits from using new technology have not materialised. This then affects businesses willingness to further invest in technology and therefore threatens their further competitiveness.

• The creation of new businesses especially in new industries requires that the right support and business environment are present. For example the presence of Science Park’s, Universities, and Research Centres etc. can help the spread of an innovative culture amongst businesses. In the absence of proper support and the right environment areas/regions risk losing the jobs and prosperity brought by the creation of new businesses.

• Procuring technology in itself is not a route to successful business development but requires that staff have the right skills to implement and use it effectively.

• Many of the new technologies and emerging or existing businesses are increasing dependant on the presence of a relevant technological infrastructure to support business development e.g. Broadband access.  The lack of this infrastructure can undermine business development, therefore damaging competitiveness and jobs.

The issues above although not exhaustive are indications of market failure and therefore a challenge to the public sector in defining a role and developing projects/iniatives to address them. Without effective action areas/regions risk falling behind and therefore losing out in terms of:

·         Developing new businesses in new business sectors made possible by advances in technology;

·         Ensuring that businesses by effectively using technology are competitive both locally and globally;

·         Ensuring that businesses have the necessary information and support to develop into new markets;

·         Enabling businesses to become more flexible and responsive to the demands of their customers  and their staff;

·         Developing a workforce with the necessary skills that are demanded in the present and future labour market.

How did you develop your project?

Once you have identified a problem or issue then the next stage is to plan actions to overcome or redress these issues.  This starts with the planning stage which is a critical component to the success of any project, starting with identifying the need for the project, and includes project time scales, project design, project finance, project partners and resources, project organisation and management etc.

What were the key factors in achieving this and what barriers did you have to overcome to do so?

Main outcomes of the project to businesses?

Over the course of any project measuring its success is a necessary part of project management, reporting and measuring impact or change. What therefore were the main outcomes of the project and how were they measured?

ú  Increased or improved use of ICT helped to expand business activities?

ú  Increased or improved use of ICT resulted in the development of new services and/or products?

ú  ICT usage has helped to create new networks – inside and outside the company?

ú  The adoption of ICT solutions has lead to the restructuring of working and communication methods in the enterprise?

ú  New models of working and/new jobs emerged?

ú  The implementation of e-work helped to integrate people who have been excluded from “traditional” jobs in the company before?

ú  The business now understands better the need for staff training?

ú  Additional jobs and/or the maintenance of exiting ones as a result of the projects work?

Lessons learn?

During the course of any project the experience of delivery often throw’s up many unforeseen issues, especially when you are dealing with technology, which are a result of internal and external factors. This then leads to lesson’s learnt which can range from better ways to manage a project through to innovative approaches to providing support etc.

These lessons learnt are not only of value to the project staff but also for others interested in developing or currently running similar projects.

Role of ICT in law and government

E-Government is about using the tools and systems made possible by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to provide better public services to citizens and businesses. ICTs are already widely used by government bodies, just as in enterprises, but eGovernment involves much more than just the tools. Effective eGovernment also involves rethinking organizations and processes, and changing behavior so that public services are delivered more efficiently to the people who need to use them. Implemented well, eGovernment enables all citizens, enterprises and organization to carry out their business with government more easily, more quickly and at lower cost.

In the European Union’s internal market, people are able to move freely – either for work or for private reasons – and consequently they have to be able to deal easily with public services outside their home country more and more. If eGovernment services are to provide significant added value to citizens and business, then it is crucial that different government bodies, both within a country and in different EU Member States, are able to share information efficiently and co-operate in serving citizens.

This website aims to provide information on EU policies in the field of eGovernment, and the funding programmes which support concrete initiatives to improve public services.