Information Technology is the application of science and technology to improve the delivery of information and make it available to users. It is often used as a way to categorize and classify information so that it is made accessible in a format that is commonly accepted and understood by users. Information technology has become one of the most important industries in our society, and its importance will only grow as time goes on. When asking what does information technology mean, it is very important to understand what it actually entails.
Basically, information technology is any way to manipulate, store, transmit, receive, and work with data. In the computer industry this definition encompasses hardware, operating systems, and software. Hardware is all the things that a computer can physically hold – such as a keyboard, monitor, CPU, hard drive, and optical drives. Software is what a computer user utilizes to accomplish his or her work, and includes such tools as word processors, spreadsheets, databases, web browsers, email services, and more.
So what does information technology mean? When asked what does information technology mean, the definition would have to include the three major areas of computer science: Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Software Engineering. Electrical engineering deals with the construction of computers and how they work. Computer science deals with the design of particular software applications, and Software engineering deals with the production of that software. The fourth area of study would be business engineering which is related to how an organization utilizes technology.
There are many other ways to look at what does information technology mean, but these are some of the most common. Education is one example. Every school in the United States learn to use computers, so when asked what does information technology mean, most schools bring up the subject as if it were a mandatory part of student education. Even with just the classroom, however, students use computers all the time, so it makes little sense to talk about what does information technology mean if no one ever uses a computer in that classroom.
The computer itself is probably the most well-known piece of technology that answers the question what does information technology mean. The computer came from decades of development before the Internet became readily available. The Internet is nothing more than an application that allows people to communicate digitally – it is a form of technology that many people are not even aware of. Without the Internet, we would still have computers, and they would all be different kinds of computers.
Another popular definition comes from the field of software engineering. Software engineering is concerned with the design of computers, which often means the building of computer systems. Computer systems are programs created by software engineers to solve certain problems. For example, the computer that NASA uses to launch space shuttles to the International Space Station is called a “software system” because it is a collection of “software” – a program for carrying out specific tasks.
A more common definition is “information technology” itself. The information technology industry is a large and growing industry, making up over 30 percent of the US economy. There are many different industries associated with information technology, including Internet marketing and e-commerce, computer science, telecommunications, and content creation and distribution. The Internet itself has become an invaluable tool for businesses and individuals all around the world. The Internet offers information on everything from how to make money online to how to learn French.
So, when someone asks the question “what does information technology mean?” it is not simply a question of what kinds of machines and equipment are involved. Much of the value of information technology as we know it today is in its impact on society in general. It is changing the way that business is conducted and how that business is conducted, creating a more interactive and democratic society and making the world a much more interconnected entity.