THE ORIGINS of information technology (IT) may be traced to the design and construction of the first electronic digital computer, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, by Dr. John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry in 1937. Similarly, the idea of creating software programmes using symbolic language, which laid the foundation for the development of computer-based information systems (IS), began with Dr. Grace Hopper's seminal 1952 paper, 'The Education of a Computer'.
Although we seldom distinguish between these allied but distinct enablers of information processing, information systems (which involve the interaction of people, data and processes), and information technology (to
produce information to support organisational goals), they have a separate history from that of the underlying IT they seek to apply.
This failure to differentiate between Information Technology (the implementation) and Information Systems (the application) explains the apparent contradiction in terms of the "IS crisis," the perceived failure of IS producers to consistently deliver excellent organisational applications despite the impressive innovations that the convergence of information and communications technologies have permitted.
That India is a giant of a software exporting nation, but a relative babe in some IT areas, plainly highlights the difference between the two. On the other hand, Jamaica runs prominently in the pack of network-ready nations but is a virtual non-starter among software exporters.
Most developing countries desire high-quality computer applications to support operational and strategic priorities. Many falter because of the misplaced focus, which results from poor understanding of the relationship between information technology and information systems. IT is a pivotal component of IS but IS are needed to apply IT. There are very few information technologies that are implementable in organisations without the intervention of IS.
DIFFERENT ELEMENTS
Confusion often results from the misuse of software and IS as synonymous terms. Software is merely a component of IS, which facilitates the interplay of the several different elements to produce useful information within the social environment of an organisation.
The successful delivery of IS requires solid understanding of IT, business environments and organisational processes, and human behaviour. We often fixate on the technical dimensions without thinking through the socio-technical implications.
Consequently, the garbage heap of failed IS are littered with brilliantly conceived but unused technical masterpieces; misfits in the organisational and human systems with which they were intended to interact.
- Professor Evan Duggan
