Information Technology and Technology Literacy

 IT and Its Relation to Technology Literacy and Technology History

Information Technology is a career field centered around technology literacy. IT involves computer hardware, software, programming, architecture, security, database, developers, network and system administration, and IT leadership (Aha!, n.d.). “Information Technology refers to the management and use of information using computer-based tools. It refers to both hardware and software. Mostly, it is the term used to refer to business applications of computer technology rather than scientific applications” (Mathew & Murugeshon, 2013, p. 15, para. 1). The need for IT could be said to have started in the 1990’s “The information age just began in the 1990's, with human activity shifting from traditional industry to creating/managing/using computerized information” (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019, Section 1.1, Para. 3). Considering that IT has fields that manage data such as a Big Data Engineer (a type of data considered to be large, complex, and reflecting current information), IT could objectively be associated with the punched card the tabulating machine, invented by Herman Hollerith circa 1890 (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019, Section 1.1). This machine was used in 1890 to help gather statistics for the US Census, a type of available big data (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019, Section 1.1). Conclusively, Information Technology has been involved in information tracking and technology development throughout history, even before electronic devices were engineered.

Incorporation of Hardware and Software Components in the IT Fields

Information Technology incorporates an information system. “An information system (IS) is a collection of hardware, software, and networks that people use to create, store, organize, and distribute information” (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019, Section 9.1, para. 1). The three components of such systems are the technology such as hardware and software, the people such as managers, developers, and analysts, and the method, for example, the organization direction of the business, and the process of implementing the systems (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019, Section 9.1). IT professionals must use computers and their devices to control networking among other devices such as routers, servers, database servers, access points, hubs, and switches. IT professionals must use specialized and general software products to configure these devices.

Database and Programming Languages in IT Fields

IT professionals often use SQL or structured query language for database management (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019, Section 5.4). Database servers “use structured query language or variations of SQL to communicate with database clients. This specialized programming language is designed for requesting and editing data in potentially large databases, and it can be written directly by programmers or generated by other software” (MiniTool, n.d., para. 12). The IT career of Software Developers could be subject to dozens of different programming languages to complete their tasks. Of the many languages, Python, JavaScript, Swift, PHP, and Ruby are reported to be highly advantageous when vying for popular software development companies such as Google. “Python is the king of a programming language at this moment. There is nothing you cannot do using Python. You can write web apps, create machine learning models, automate tedious tasks, and even scrap the web using Python” (JavinPaul, 2020, Para. 6).

Use of Management, Network Architecture, and Security in IT

The list of common IT careers exceeds thirty interrelated titles, but each has distinguishing characteristics. The most prestigious IT careers are IT leaders with titles such as Chief Information Officer or Chief Technology Officer, commonly known as CIO and CTO. These “IT leaders are responsible for overseeing functional areas of the department. These senior-level roles set strategy and oversee the organization's IT infrastructure. Some smaller organizations generally refer to these folks as IT managers. IT leaders also hire and train IT teammates” (Aha!, n.d., para. 5). Some career titles that work under a CIO or CTO could be considered IT practitioners, such as Enterprise Architect or IT Systems Architect. “IT architecture teams determine how IT services, solutions, and infrastructure should be built. IT architects work closely with their peers — software, network, and database practitioners — to oversee all the technologies the business relies upon” (Aha!, n.d., para. 8). There are also network and system administrators who “install, maintain, and support the organization's computer systems, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), intranets, individual computers, mobile devices, and more. These roles overlap with other groups depending on the organization’s complexity and needs” (Aha!, n.d., para. 10). There are many other subcategories of titles such as business analyst, software development, information security, help desk, and project manager. The role of IT categorized as security practitioners are to protect data from attacks from inside and outside of the network and include titles such as Chief Security Officer (CSO), application security administrator, cloud security specialist, cybersecurity hardware engineer, and more (Aha!, n.d., Para. 18).

References

Aha! (n.d.) What are some IT job titles? Aha! https://www.aha.io/roadmapping/guide/information-technology/it-job-titles

JavinPaul. (2020, March 10). 5 best programming languages to become a software developer and get job in Google, Amazon in 2023. Medium. https://medium.com/javarevisited/5-best-programming-languages-to-get-a-sofware-developer-job-in-google-3d8c83c444d6

Mathew, A., & Murugeshan, S. K. (2013). Fundamentals of information technology. Alpha Science International Ltd. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ashford-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5324455.

MiniTool. (n.d.). What is server software and what are the types of server software [minitool wiki]? https://www.minitool.com/lib/server-software.html#:~:text=Common%20database%20server%20products%20include,to%20communicate%20with%20database%20clients.

Vahid, F., & Lysecky, S. (2019). Computing technology for all. zyBooks.