A study on the impact of internet on our society

By

Taiwo-Jalupon Iman

Introduction

Field of Education Field of Health Care Field of Business Conclusion

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Developed by

Name: Taiwo-Jalupon Iman Reg. No.:R073004500609

NIIT

Contents

Chapter 1

The Economic Impact of the Internet on Our Economy Introduction Economic Impact on the Washington DC Region Economic Impact on the USA Economic Global Impact

Conclusion

Chapter 2 The Social Impact of the Internet on Our SocietyIntroduction Field of Education Field of Health Care Field of Business Conclusion

Bibliography

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Chapter 1

The Economic Impact of the Internet on Our Society

Introduction

The Internet is a vast collection of world-wide inter-connected networks configured with the help of a group of about 100 TCP/IP protocols. It evolved from the US Department of Defense "Advanced Research Projects Agency Network," ARPANET, of the late 60's and early 70's. It has greatly transformed our society in ways unimaginable-let alone foreseen-only a few decades ago. At the close of the 20th century the Internet global connectivity has made us what Hauben and Hauben (1997) refer to as Netizens: Net Citizens. In this new world geographical separation is replaced by cyber/virtual space and we are all next door compatriots, or netizens. In this new world of Internet connectivity people can share their experiences, ideas, suggestions, and problems, try to exert influence, and get fast responses and reactions from friends and strangers alike, feedback that is in many cases advantageous to the parties involved.

The Internet society has created its own new culture and Net terminology. Terms such as World Wide Web (WWW), search engines, HTML, web pages, web servers and clients, http, URL, TCP/IP, SMTP, POP, DNS, ISDN, newsgroups, domain names, UNIX, FTP, WS_FTP, clickable images, bookmarks, telnet, BBS, CGI, ftp.fedworld.gov, mailing lists, GIF, JPEG, dot files, LAN, network, Internet Firewall, and many more have become household terms. We are now talking of e-trade, e-travel, e-mail, e-toys, e-commerce, e-banking, on-line services, virtual this and that such as virtual museums, and so on, terms that point to the degree, desire, and ability of our society to adapt to a changing world. A good example of this is CAPP 385 itself! It points out the will of people to learn and keep up with the new advances in cyber space, and altogether absorb the new Internet culture.

But perhaps the most important thing that can be said about the Net is that it welcomes and encourages intellectual activity. People are welcome to express their views and the things on their minds, share information, and brainstorm and interact with each other. In short, the Net enables people to contribute to an ever increasing human intellectual storage. The outcome is a continuous expansion of human knowledge and information that is having a great impact, unfortunately not all positive, on our social, economical, and political organizations and way of life. Some of this impact will be described in the following pages.

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Economic Impact of the Internet on Our Economy

The age of information/communication technology is here, at the close of the 20th century. It is epitomized by the Internet. The Internet provides many information/communication services such as browsing of information, search engines, electronic mail, file transfer, Newsgroups, remote access via telnet, and bulletin boards, and the means to post and retrieve textual/sound/video/image information from Web pages. The huge potential of these services has attracted the attention of the business world, and today more and more business is transacted via the Internet. The impact of this trend is explored on the local, national, and global level by specific examples and some statistical facts.

Economic Impact on the Washington DC Region

The Washington DC region is home to a great number of Government agencies, Government and private research institutions, and many high-tech companies (in Northern Virginia alone there are over 2000 IT companies), that make a heavy use of the Internet. The extent of Internet use, applications, and transactions executed by this collection of different Government and private organizations is so large that it is quite hard to think of how they were able to operate and carry out their daily business without the Internet as was the case only a few years ago. This is of course trivially true of those organizations that owe their very existence to the Internet. And the impact of the Internet in all its facets on this varied group of outfits has in turn impacted directly the DC economy. It is sufficient to consider two conspicuous cases as examples.

Consider first the case of America Online, Inc. (AOL):

Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is the world'sleader in branded interactive services and original content.America Online, headquartered in Dulles, Virginia.

The following charts are from a 1998 AOL report. The report shows an impressive rate of growth, membership close to 13 million strong, and total 1998 revenues in excess of $2.5 billion.

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Moreover, as recently as April 27, 1999, America Online, Inc. announced for its fiscal third quarter ending March 31, 1999, a consolidated net income of $420 million, setting new records for total revenues. The revenue sources included advertising and commerce revenues, and AOL membership growth. For a company that employs thousands in the Washington DC region, such impressive performance is nothing but a blessing to the region's economy.

Next we turn to the U.S. Federal Government, the largest employer in the DC region. The Federal Government employs many thousands of workers in numerous Government agencies. All these agencies have Internet connections for communication, military, scientific, public information, and many other purposes. To maintain its vast Internet operations, a sizable part of the Government's work force-both internal and contract work force-consists of software and communication engineers, programmers, networks specialists, and other high-tech personnel. This highly paid large body of workers has a huge buying power which contributes handsomely to the DC area economy.

For a typical example, we turn to a recent NASA mission called the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission TRMM that was originally initiated and currently administered at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

TRMM is the first mission dedicated to measuring tropical and subtropical rainfall through microwave and visible infrared sensors, and includes the first spaceborne rain radar. Tropical rainfall comprises more than two-thirds of global rainfall. It is the primary distributor of heat through the circulation of the atmosphere. Understanding rainfall and its variability is crucial to understanding and predicting global climate change. Our

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current knowledge of rainfall is poor, especially over the oceans. By use of a low-altitude orbit of 217 miles (350 kilometers), TRMM's complement of state-of-the-art instruments will provide more accurate measurements. These new measurements will increase our knowledge of how rainfall releases heat energy to drive atmospheric circulation.

The punch-line is that the huge amount of TRMM data is loaded and maintained on the Internet for the world scientific community at NASA/Goddard SFC, Greenbelt, MD, less than 10 miles from Washington DC. This requires a highly paid skilled work force who lives and spends in and around Washington DC and thus invigorates the DC area economy. TRMM is only one of thousands of similar Government projects and initiatives that prove to be a bonanza for the DC area economy.

Economic Impact on the USA

From U.S. Government reports and media giants such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and CNN, Americans read and hear a constant stream of reports that in recent years the U.S. economy has performed beyond most expectations. Playing an important role in this are a shrinking budget deficit, low interest rates, a stable macro-economic environment, expanding international trade with fewer barriers, and effective private sector management. While the full economic impact of the Internet cannot yet be precisely assessed, its impact has been significant as can be seen from the following facts published in a U.S. Department of Commerce report titled "The Emerging Digital Economy":

THE EMERGING DIGITAL ECONOMY

Executive Summary

(from the US Government site on e-commerce) http://www.ecommerce.gov POSTED April 15, 1998

Accordingly, Internet commerce is growing fastest among businesses, and the number of Americans using the Internet has grown from fewer than 5 million in 1993 to as many as 62 million by 1997. Moreover, the number of names registered in the domain name system and the number of hosts connected to the Internet expanded greatly as can be seen from Table E1. The table shows that the number registered domain names grew from 26,000 in July 1993 to 1.3 million in July 1997, and over the same period, the number of hosts connected to the Internet expanded from under 1.8 million to over 19.5 million.

Table E1. Growth in Thousands of Internet Hosts and Domain Names (Source: Network Wizards.)

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  Number of Hosts Number of Domains

July 93 1,776 26

July 94 3,212 46

July 95 6,642 120

July 96 12,881 488

July 97 19,540 1,301

From the report we learn that the appetite for top-level commercial (.com) domain names was shared by large companies such as media giants, phone companies, Internet service providers, television cable companies and, electric utilities, as well as by many smaller companies that use the Internet to provide more efficient and effective customer service, lower sales and marketing costs, and realize new sales horizons. At the same time hundreds of new firms were created whose business is to help businesses use the Internet effectively. These firms design Web pages with advertising banners, create Web-based catalogs, build security tools, create and track direct marketing trends, and develop means to speed up the flow of data and information across the network. Venture capitalists gave just under $12 billion to hundreds of such information technology start-ups in 1996 and 1997. This latter group of information technology start-ups is a good example of the direct impact of the Internet on the U.S. economy, for they would not have been created without the Internet.

It seems however that the greatest impact of the Internet on the U.S. economy is manifested in the way business is done and not so much the type of business. This is best

explained quite well in the following extended quotation from e-business page:

The Web is changing every aspect of our lives, but no area is undergoing as rapid and significant a change as the way businesses operate. As businesses incorporate Internet technology into their core business processes they start to achieve real business value. Today, companies large and small are using the Web to communicate with their partners, to connect with their back-end data-systems, and to transact commerce. This is e-business -- where the strength and reliability of traditional information technology meet the Internet.

This new Web + IT paradigm merges the standards, simplicity and connectivity of the Internet with the core processes that are the foundation of business. The new killer apps are interactive, transaction intensive, and let people do business in more meaningful ways.

-- IBM e-business

Overall, the total business-to-business Internet commerce is projected to reach $300 billion in the U.S. by the year 2002, which is only 3% of total projected GDP in that year. But this is an early stage of a new medium which is sure to expand dramatically given the present rate of growth.

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Economic Global Impact

To assess the economic impact of the Internet globally, we shall concentrate on an important sector of the world economy: Tourism-a multi-billion industry. Tourism covers eco-tourism, adventure tourism, beaches, hotels, resorts, spas, national parks, restaurants, golf, skiing, conference centers, safari, boating, and many more recreational activities, all of which generate business on a large scale.

Las Vegas Welcomes The World:National Tourism Week, May 2-8, 1999

Southern Nevada alone draws more than 30 million visitors from around the world who generate $25 billion annually from gaming and other recreation industries. More than 166,000 people are directly employed in Southern Nevada's recreational industries. In short, recreation means business from Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland,to Raglan Castle, South Wales, to the Bahai Shrine, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel, to wildlife safari in Kenya, to Sanli Urfa in the great plain of High Mesopotamia, Turkey.

And when it comes to business from tourism, the Internet has had its impact globally. From aggressive advertisement (links), travel packaging and tourism research, to ticket purchasing and eco tourism, it can all be handled today via the Internet. In fact traditional travel agencies are starting to feel the Internet impact and are gradually shifting towards doing more and more business on the Net. The above set of clickable pictures/examples illustrates this gradual shift very well. The transfer to business online has been accelerated due to the fact that major airlines have reduced dramatically the commissions paid to online travel services-to a level half that paid to conventional travel agencies. In turn the online services were able to pass on the lower costs and savings to the consumer.

To enhance the impact of the Internet on the emerging global travel/tourism business, a new organization Interactive Travel Services Association (ITSA), was created to promote the growth of the online services industry, and to educate the public about the benefits of purchasing travel packages online. The members include American Express, America Online, Biztravel, Carlson Wagonlit, Internet Travel Network, Microsoft, Pagasus Systems, Preview Travel, Trip.Com, and WorldRes. These companies support the continuing growth of the online global travel/tourism industry.

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Global electronic commerce on the Internet is undergoing exponential growth. Contributing to this growth is the travel industry. In the U.S. it sold over $800 million worth of travel in 1997, and is expected to grow to$5 billion by the year 2000.

Conclusion

The economic impact of the Internet on our society was demonstrated by specific examples pertaining to the economies of the Washington DC region, the U.S., and the world. The examples were supported by Government as well the private sector reports. The emerging picture is that of a basic change in the way business is done locally, nationally, and globally: More and more business is going online, and this trend is growing rapidly. This regards traditional business, and all the more so regarding IT companies such as America Online, Inc. whose growth is exponential. Given the present rate of growth of e-commerce, the 21st century will no doubt witness even a greater impact of the Internet on the world economy.

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Chapter 2

The Social Impact of the Internet on Our Society

Introduction

The Internet drives the hottest stocks on Wall Street, shapes technological innovation, and fills the pages of the world's presses. What does this mean for society, government, commerce, and other institutions? How will the way we live, work, learn, profit, govern, and communicate change ?

The Internet creates new ways for citizens to communicate, congregate, and share information of a social nature. It is obvious that the Internet has and will continue to change the way we live. How it is changed, and how it will continue to change our lives, is the reason for so many conferences on the topic. For example, the following is an abstract of a conference that took place:

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND THE INTERNET

Harvard Design School April 23-25, 1999

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM - CONFIDENTIAL FOR COMMUNICATION PURPOSES ONLY

PROGRAM

This conference flows from the premise that information technology and more specifically, Internet technology are rapidly and radically transforming the character of life and work. The changes driven by the Internet will have an enormous impact on the conduct of every aspect of our society, business, government, education, and private life. The impact on the design and construction industry will be no less dramatic. It is imperative, therefore, that industry leaders prepare themselves to evaluate opportunities and challenges they will face.

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Field of Education

As the whole world of the "Information Super Highway" is in constant transition, so is the rule of the Internet on education, still being formatted, evaluated and in constant transition.

We shall discuss one such school as one example, the C.E.S Jewish Day School in Rockville Maryland. This is a private school K-12 with an objective to educate students to be good and productive American citizens, on the one hand, and leaders of the Jewish community on the other hand. About four years ago, teachers were very slowly introduced to the world of computers. Most teachers were somewhat apprehensive, afraid that with an incorrect click, the computer would "explode". How would the students learn if the teachers felt so inadequate? This is an area of great interest, as in this age of computer technology the roles are not always as traditional as in the past. It is not "here I am the teacher let me teach you something new", but rather, lets try and do this together.Let us search and and see what we can learn with the help of this new technology. The horizons of students and teachers, have become so much greater. Let us concentrate on one specific example. The Book of Exodus is studied in the fifth grade classes in Hebrew. This year with the help of the Internet a new component was added, "Ancient Egypt". With the help of the Internet and some books, the students in pairs searched the Internet for information about, The Pyramids, Egyptian Gods, Work and Games, Education, Life after Death, The Pharaohs and other such topics. Searching the Internet was very interesting, as the graphics were wonderful to look at, the information most exciting. They were able to locate sites with Egyptian music too. With the help of a computer program called HyeperStudio the students were able to create a beautiful interactive project about Ancient Egypt. A topic that could be very dry and bookish, took on an exciting life of its own, with the help of the excitement that exists with the use of the Internet. This is one small example that tells about the independence the Internet affords students. Research can be done, in a way that is so much more exciting to most students. The students also participated in e-mailing in Hebrew with Kibbutz children in Israel. Students in other schools "talk" to authors over the Internet some residing in countries other than the U.S. The possibilities are limitless. What about comparing rain measurements by students in different countries? What about comparing projects and different experiments? The Internet can make learning so much more exciting, interesting, very engaging and very much alive. Computers have been a source of joy for children for some years now, because of the games they like to play on them. So school work, that resembles play, is much more appealing. With the vast opportunities the Internet, affords great learning with much joy. This is the reason that computers are taught from kindergarten. Some examples of "students project" can be seen on the schools website.

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Field of Health Care

Transforming Medicine and Health Synergistic discoveries and instant scientific collaborations between researchers working on areas as diverse as hereditary neurologic diseases and the basic biology of microorganisms all happening thanks to the Internet. Telemedicine allows medical specialists in Boston to diagnose and treat patients in California. How will the Internet affect two aspects of "medicine, fundamental research and medical care?"

One of the impacts of the Internet on our society in the field of medicine, is the research capabilities it affords the general public, or the empowerment it affords patients and their families. Once the patient or his family, were afforded just one second opinion. Those that could (and still can afford it) can go to as many doctors that they deem necessary. On the whole, the general public can see one "extra" specialist. Today, with the vast knowledge presented on the "Internet" one can glean great sources of information. The patient is much better informed to discuss his case with his doctor, understand alternatives, side affects, the latest treatments available and the statistical probabilities of success.

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"The National Institutes of Health" in Bethesda Maryland, afford a wonderful example of sources of up to date medical information for everyone using the Internet. This most prestigious government facility engages some of the best doctors and scientist in the world, that work in pure and clinical research in the fields of medicine. Everyone is most welcome to use their website to learn about any medical aspect that is of concern to them. Not just traditional medicine is available on N.I.H's website. In recent years when alternative solutions to medical problems were gaining much interest, N.I.H added that area of expertise to their facility and of course on the Internet too.

The vast sea of medical information available to the public on the Internet, empowers patients and their families as they can gain so much knowledge about the newest research and treatments. One can also gain information about how certain medical problems are treated in other parts of the world. The more traditional cures would come usually from countries in Europe, and the less traditional ones would come from counties in the East Asia.

Alternative Medicine Diabetes Natural Remedies From China It is estimated that there are over 130 million people in Asia with Diabetes, many of them use these products to control various symptoms of the disease. Now, we are pleased to introduce, for the first time to the Western World, these alternative Diabetes Medicines from China. All of the products have been developed and thoroughly tested in extensive Clinical Trials in Major Hospitals in China and used by thousands of patients since.

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All the vast amount of research found on the Internet, from the private and government sectors are also available in the fields of "Mental Health"

Especially in the fields of Mental Health the ability of the individual to conduct his own research in the privacy of his is of great comfort. The Internet has many different websites that deal with the many aspects of Mental Health. There are sites that are interactive answering questions, newsgroups and mailing lists.

Field of Business

The way people conduct business has vastly changed with the wide use of the Internet. Many businesses have websites that allow people to conduct business "on line". This is a field that all experts say will grow and advance greatly in the years to come, not just in the United States but in other countries around the world too. "Books and C.D's" are bought mainly through Amazon, a virtual book and music store with no stores, just an excellent website, and large warehouses.

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According to Professor Walter Solomon who is a world renowned consultant (commerce) and a professor at Harvard University in the year 2000 Internet sales will be 6.5 billion dollars, although only 34% of Internet users actually conduct business "on line, 76% of web surfers say they will "e-trade" in the future. According to Solomon those that will not sell airline tickets, home banking and tourism "on line" will be at a disadvantage. Other items that sell well over the Internet are computers. Dell computers sell over the Internet at a rate of $10.000.000 a day, with little expense. Tourism and leisure do well over the Internet.

Many people use the inter-net to get information before making a purchase. This is a way that the consumer learns much about his next purchase, before he actually goes out to purchase. Half the fun people say, is planning one's vacation. One sits comfortably in his home and surfs the web for interesting places to visit, what can be done in those places, and then which company offers the best deals or prices. The potential tourist has the world to surf through with the help of the "mouse".

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Different types of cruises are offered over the Internet, for different kind of interests, ages, destinations and affordability.

Conclusion

From all the above we can see that the Internet is a whole new world emerging at the conclusion of the 20th century. Everyday, the Internet expands by the social, political, and economic activities of people all over the world, and its impact growth exponentially. Some of this growth in impact has been described here. In this new world there is no geographical separation and there are no borders, and all people are encouraged to participate and contribute drawing on their experiences and resources. In cyberspace actions and reactions are essentially instantaneous, and this is why the Internet is so gratifying and attractive. This is why it has impacted our society in almost all areas of

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human endeavor. In this report we touched on the positive aspects of the influence of the Internet on our society. As in any other field in life there are the negative aspects too. In the field of education children can gain access to areas that are not suitable and dangerous, (Littleton Colorado, April 1999).

The Littleton shooting,Vice President Gore announces

an Internet safety plan designed to protect children.

In the areas of business, security is of great concern and importance. The topic of "Fire walls" is in great demand, constantly evolving expanding and changing. In the health care area, the accuracy of what is available to read over the Internet is a topic of concern. The whole new industry of purchasing drugs "on line" is another area where care and prudence are imperative. All in all, the Internet is affecting so many peoples' lives, in a most welcome, exciting and challenging ways.

Bibliography

1. http://www.aol.com/corp/index.html 2. http://polaris.umuc.edu/~echilds/4063.htm 3. http://www.data-wales.co.uk/raglan.htm 4. http://www.green-travel.com 5. http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html 6. http://www.computer.org/cspress/catalog/bp07706.htm 7. http://www.ibm.com/e-business/whatis.htm 8. http://www.interactivetravel.org/ 9. http://www.math.umd.edu/~agk/album/start_birds.html 10. http://lasvegaswired.com/events/tourismweek/ 11. http://www.tourism-montreal.org/tourism.htm 12. http://www.about-turkey.com/urfa.htm 13. Http://www.insite.co.il/tour/haifa/haifa.htm 14. http://www.ecommerce.gov/emerging.htm 15. http://www.etn.nl/recilink.htm 16. : http://ecsinfo.hitc.com/sec2/trmmlinks.html 17. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/fedgov.html 18. http://www.icom.org/vlmp/

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