So-eun Yoon/ Information Technology/ Tuesday34

201302156 So-eun Yoon                           IT Revolution: A Double-edged Sword              Improvement in technology, beginning with the invention of the printing press in the 15th century and continuing on with the proliferation of the Internet in the 1990s, has allowed people the access to an amount of information that was once impossible. Different paradigms conflict as to whether technological development has led to the betterment of the society or caused only negative impacts to it. While it is undeniable that technology has brought about a number of great benefits to our society, it is a double-edged sword with both merits and demerits. Although information technology has been responsible for causing major democratic upsurges around the world through the power of mass media and has optimized every individual's work efficiency through the convergence of knowledge, it has also widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots.              To begin with, information technology has advanced every individuals' human rights by creating global democratic upsurges through the impact of mass media. The term 'CNN effect' refers to a theory of political science that the advent of the popular 24-hour global television news channel, specifically CNN, has a great influence on the conduct of the information society or the IT Revolution. The term simply refers to the political impacts of technological globalization which has been responsible for spreading the idea of democratic peace throughout the world. As a case in point, one of the most prominent examples of CNN effect may be found in the case of the Tiananmen Square Crisis in 1989 which was broadcast all over the world through CNN. Specifically, the graphic images of pro-democracy students without any armaments standing in front of numerous armored vehicles of People's Liberation Army shocked the whole world and led to serious political concerns over the situations of human rights in China. Such concerns of western countries became main obstacles for Chinese accession to the WTO until the year, 2001. As such, information technology has advanced human rights by spreading the idea of democracy all over the world.              In addition, with the emergence of the Information society or the IT Revolution, learning has taken an interdisciplinary approach which has optimized individuals' efficiency in the workplace. That is, companies have adopted 'Wikinomics' in their workplace, which refers to a newly coined blend of Wikipedia and economics, indicating a mass collaboration in the fields of economics and management, which has become possible through developments in information technology. By creating a 'Wiki workplace' where individuals with diverse professions come together to collaborate, workers can be provided with incentives to innovate, which in turn creates more profits for firms and organizations. The concept of Wikinomics may be simply understood as an example of collective intelligence, which strongly believes that none of us are as smart as all of us. The new mass collaboration is changing how companies and societies harness knowledge and is affecting every sector of society and every aspect of management by optimizing individuals' work efficiency.              However, information technology has also created major social issues by widening the gap between the rich and the poor, which is called the digital divide. The term refers to the widening gap between those who have effective access to information and communication technology and those who do not. The phenomenon of digital divide has been a growing problem since the advent of the IT Revolution. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the developed countries in North America, Europe and Asia were found to do well in providing people with an easy Internet access, while the developing countries and third-world countries in Africa and elsewhere did poorly. In this manner, information technology has further increased the gap between the haves and the have-nots.              While information technology has brought about numerous benefits to our society, it has also been responsible for causing major social issues. The IT Revolution has advanced human rights through the use of mass media and optimized people's work efficiency by creating a 'Wiki workplace'. However, it has also broadened the gap between the rich and the poor through a phenomenon called digital divide. By fully understanding the strengths and weaknesses of information technology, we can create a better society where every member of the society is guaranteed his or her rights and can fully display individual talents.