One of the common and all time favorite Group Discussion (G.D) topic for freshers in on/off campus interviews is : Information Technology (I.T) - Boon or Bane. Let us deep dive into the topic and analyze with more details.
Today, India is well known for its deep rooted knowledge in the field of information technology or in short I.T. Evolution of technology is at its rapid pace and information is transferred within nano seconds now a days. Telephones, televisions, radios, computers, mobile phones and internet are some of the terms we hear in IT for a long time which evolved from a traditional techie era to an ultra modern digital era with smart phones, internet of things, artificial intelligence and so on. Iphones, Ipods, Android phones, tablets, pamphlets, laptops etc are emerging with a new shade continuoulsy in the market and transforming themselves to smart home, smart city, smart hospitals, smart transportation etc.
Let us take some examples of IT as a boon below:
Boon:
1. Computers - Desktop/Laptop: Computers are considered as the backbone of the IT industry which are now shape shifting to Robots, AI machines, IOT products etc. They are already spread across telcom domains, banking and financial sectors, small and large scale industries, defense, post office, transportation - railways, buses, cars, space crafts, hyper loops, skywalks, bio technology, space and aeronautical centres, primary and secondary storage devices, hard disks, memory cards and the list goes on.
2. Internet: This is used everywhere and it acts as the soul of IT. To take admission in a foreign institution, to collect geographical information, to book air/rail/bus/car tickets, to collect demographic information, for weather forecasts, to check the exam results from any corner of the world, usage of ewallets for money transactions, sending important emails, to find your life partner, and used in all the personal and official work places in the world. Search engines like Google acts like a common gateway for using internet. Cloud computing and cloud storage are
3.IOT/AI: IOT or AI are the latest buzz words in IT. Machines are learning themselves to help humans for an automated future. Until machines are controlled by humans, they are still in the boon list.
Bane:
1. Hacking: To steal data from internet by sitting anywhere in the world. Security of armed forces data is on high risk - terrorists can hack files before you snap your fingers or blink your eyes.
2. Illicit Content: Teenagers get addicted to this and affects their mental health
3. Cyber crime: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybercrime
4. Viruses: Billions of computers are affected all over the world within seconds. Antivirus softwares are on high demand but still malwares, spywares and ransomwares are to name a few on the spree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus
5. Bitcoin Gambling:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin This is not considered as a legal currency tender in India, but it just triggers an excitement to youngsters to trade their money on it.
6. Addiction to Online Games: Online games and apps are proving an addiction to all teenagers and kids of current generation in such a way that they forgot how to play games physically outside their own homes.
7. Software / Data Piracy: Refers to illegal installation of software, distribution, sale and use of infringing software. This leads to leakage of original content like getting a copy of movies released in theater into your handset on the same day
8. Copyright issues: Copyright rules are broken when data is stolen or copied from the original content. Refer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism for more details.
9. Online Thefts or Threats: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_threat This falls under the point number 3, but in specific it means somebody can easily steal all your hard earned money from your bank account in a fraction of seconds.
10. Digital Security at risk: At the end, with all the cyber crime problems, your digital security is at high risk if you are not aware of the seurity measures against cyber crimes.
All the above list are interlinked or connected in one form or the other for both boon and bane list, but I just wanted to highlight the specific areas.
Conclusion:
Whenever technological developments take place,their misuse is bound to happen simultaneoulsy. It is necessary to take right action at the right time. Government has introduced legal actions and laws for network and digital security. There are several cyber crime departments now. Digital security awareness is spread by IT companies for the safety of people across the world. In a future world, human may breathe internet instead of oxygen. We need to ensure the digital artificial air should not be affecting or controlling the safe, secure and natural humanity.
--Siva
