The impact of IT on Local Communities and Society

 The impact of IT on Local Communities and Society 

 

IT has extremely changed the way societies and communities work, they help with every aspect of our day to day life from education to healthcare and business. IT has helped us to connect with others in our local communities but also across the globe. Nowadays communities are more connected than ever because of technology allowing them to communicate. Small things like community gatherings or seasonal events can all be shared with people through social media or  group chats, helping us all get together as a community. 

Furthermore, IT has had a huge impact on our local high street. Much more people are ordering online rather than physically going to shops, which negatively affects small businesses who can’t afford delivery services. Moreover, it has an impact on retail workers who are losing jobs due to the low amount of people coming to shops. However some see the impact of IT as a positive one. This is because online shopping provides people with ease, being able to buy what you want from the comfort of your own home and also being able to budget what you buy, as shops often tempt customers into buying more than they should. This change has made big online retailers very successful and big opportunities for some shops but also negatively impacts local small business. 

Adding on, the move to online shopping has also created new employment opportunities for people in the IT sector. People working in Cybersecurity and Software Development will have more opportunities as the shift to online will create more security risks. People will be able to do more work from their homes. However, jobs like factory workers and production line workers will be affected as things such as cars are all being built by robots, if the robots are damaged they are fixed by other robots. All these jobs will be gone. 

Digital divide is very important as well, people across the world can’t all afford new technology and phones, a lot of students around the world can’t access the same online education that everyone else gets, which is unfair to those who simply can’t afford or access tech. Some poorer countries also do not have access to the internet which affects its education, healthcare, employment etc. These three sectors are so important to a country and if they aren’t up to date with the rest of the world it can cause countries to fall back and fail their economies. 

Elderly people who aren’t used to using a smartphone or laptop often struggle to keep up with the latest updates and just simple use. This is scary because the move to online banking and shopping and more is increasing every day and they can’t keep up.

 

IT also brings the problem of sustainability. Apple has reduced the amount of items that come with their new phones. We used to get the wall charger and earphones and stickers, but now apple has removed those things and made the box smaller for sustainability. Other big phone companies are starting to do the same now which shows their effort in trying to keep sustainable. However, we can still do more, often after a couple years of using a device it gets sold or given to a family member, but there are some who buy a new phone every year. This is not sustainable because phones are built to last a long time and needing to buy a new phone every year isn’t necessary.