The impact of information and communication technology on industry

Abstract

Electronic communications will have the first impact on industry by transforming business companies and business districts have been the first places to have fast and easy connections to other computers. Layers in corporate structure have to be cut both internally and externally, and the industry has to face flexible employment patterns where the most important competitive edge is the adept use of communications. Power will be in the hands of knowledge and creative workers. The United States of America is the leading country for computer hardware and telecommunications equipment in the world and overwhelmingly dominates the use of internet due to venture capital investments. Advertising has always been at the centre of the industry with branded products and services as the stock in trade of advertising. The telephone, the newspaper, the radio and the television were the first attractions to consumer attention as a means of information and communications where television networks are switching from analogue to digital (bits) formats. Now, they are followed by the most interactive and cost effective of all means of communications- the Internet. It allows companies to extend brands by creating a sense of community among customers. The impact of technology for information about customers-the stakeholders of any industry- is more easy to acquire especially by communications firms. The availability of abundant bandwidth will reshape the media and communications industries. It is easier to target individuals but harder to find mass audiences, thus reaching Piche markets becomes relatively easier. Television companies know who watches and when. Companies with Internet sites know who have visited them and what they wanted to look at. Industries can measure accurately the wants and needs of their clients. Advertisers already see the Internet as an inexpensive place to experiment. The three different telecommunications technologies-television, telephone and the Internet have different strengths and weaknesses in the industrial world. Their effects and impact on industry are various and astonishing. Agents and intermediaries have always been able to earn a living in all sorts of businesses by putting customers in touch with services and then collecting a fee. What is their future in the revolution of information and communication technology? At last, as markets open, as technologies converge and as our industry reshapes itself everyone in telecornmunications knows that our only certainty is that nothing will ever be the same again.