ABSTRACT

In this chapter we shall briefly review how ‘computers’ have been transformed into ‘information technology’ (IT) and then into ‘information and communications technology’ (ICT).

We believe that this is a fundamental shift in terms of what the technology can do, although we must not ignore social and political influences on the way the technology is applied (MacKenzie and Wajcman, 1999). Organizations which fully embrace ICT do have significant opportunities which have not been available before. We outline some of these and suggest that they can have a profound impact on the way we communicate. But we also need to retain a healthy scepticism about some of the claims currently being made for the ‘revolutionary’ power of ICT.