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Introduction to
Information
Technology

Abstract
Information technology is a very important aspect nowadays which is used in creating
and manage database by helping everyone to solve the problems with their computer or mobile
phones to make sure about the effectiveness and security of business. Information technology
also helps an individual for their personal and entertainment purpose. As technology is growing
very rapidly it helps the business to improve the functioning, increase transferring of data,
information by using various computer networks and a great impact of artificial intelligence to
improve business.

Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Literature review .............................................................................................................................3
Discuss the impact of IT in helping businesses to enhance their operations..........................3
Importance of ethical and social issues which are increasingly becoming significant in the
virtual world...........................................................................................................................4
Identify and discuss different types of computer networks with their impact on businesses.4
Discuss the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing their businesses..................5
Analysis and discussion...................................................................................................................5
Impact of IT in helping businesses to enhance their operations.............................................5
Importance of ethical and social issues in the virtual world..................................................6
Different types of computer networks with their impact on businesses.................................7
Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing their businesses.....................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
1

INTRODUCTION
Information technology is all about building communication networks for a company to
manage and deliver information using data, voice and video. There are many areas in which this
technology is used like computer programming, MIS(Management information system),
database administration, multimedia conferencing and so on. IT helps in the increment of
productivity and efficiency of a business as it helps in maintaing all the records of various clients
of various companies. In this report, Barclays has been taken here is a multinational universal
bank, founded on 17 November,1690 and headquartered in London, UK. It also offers some
personal banking services through branches of post office. Customers of Barclays and consumers
of other banks can use Barclays ATMs for free in the UK. This report covers various impacts of
IT which helps the business to enhance operations, importance of ethical and social issues of IT
in the virtual world. This also covers information technology which give the best tools for
communicating with consumers and solving the problems which is a very important part of every
business as a happy consumer base will keep connected to the firm and helps in the growth of
business.
Literature review
According to (Demortain, 2017), information technology is the study, design or
management of computer based information system specially, software application and computer
hardware. This is referred to the use of computer system for assembling, storing or operating
any information which is very important in business and the area of computing.
Discuss the impact of IT in helping businesses to enhance their operations.
Information technology has a very important effects like improvement in process,
developing worker skills and product development which increase productivity in business
operations. According to Demortain, 2017 it will improve effectivity and workflow that helps in
developing automotive process of business which not only reduce the cost of operation but also
saves time. It provides the capability to access the network of company by working remotely as
it provides the capacity to get the work done even when a person is not present physically
(Copacino, 2019). With the rise in popularity of IT, mobile technology has gained its position
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very rapidly in the market. Information technology provides the relevant resource to keep data
on a very secured manner. In technology, security plays a huge role in business which results in
protecting financial data, confidential executive decisions which leads to competitive advantages.
Importance of ethical and social issues which are increasingly becoming significant in the virtual
world.
Ethical issues are very important aspect of information technology. As IT involves the
components which are used to store and handle the information at minimum level in the wide
area of education, health, banking at a large level. Social issues are the problems which affect
many people in the society as growth in this technology caused a major shift in the way that
society operates. According to Demortain, 2017, there are various ethical and social issues faced
by information technology includes:
Misuse of personal information: It is a kind of criminal fraud in which a person is trying to
obtain sensitive information like user name, password, information of banks etc. It can be
possible with the use of various latest technologies like hacking which is used in both positive or
negative ways (Murph, 2017).
Advance fee fraud: In this ethical issue, a target victim will promise a lot of money all for
helping them which is a fraud for that person. Individuals are required to pay a fee before
receiving promised services or products which are never given.
Communication breakdown: It is a kind of social issue in which socialising in the family is
always an important part which strengthen the bond between everyone. Nowadays everyone are
busy with their laptops, smartphone or tablet and also when the whole family is out for dinner
and still watching on the screens rather than talking with one another which shows that all are
involved in technology that they don't have any time for themselves.
Identify and discuss different types of computer networks with their impact on businesses.
A computer network is a group of computer connected with each other which enables the
computer to communicate with another computer and share their resources, data and
applications. According to Demortain, 2017, networking in computers enable the workers to
share ideas easily and efficiently which increases the productivity and generates income for the
company (Ferreira, Teixeira and Rammal, 2021).
There are various types of computer networks:
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 LAN: It is a local area network that connects computer together within a limited area.
This is the most common and popular network design which is found in most of business,
buildings, homes etc. to share the information and resources. Two important technologies
which are involved in this network are ethernet and wifi. Examples are: school, college,
library, office etc.
 WAN: It stands for wide area network which is a large computer network. This connects
groups of computers or communication devices over large geographical distances. It can
also be defined as a group of local area networks which communicate with each other. It
is widely used in the business, government, ad education. Internet is the most common
example of this network in which these networks does not require devices which are
dependent on physical cables to connect with network (Kaur, Sood and Kaur, 2017).
 MAN: It stands for metropolitan area network which covers a larger geographic area by
connecting different LAN to form a larger network. In this, a device which is used for the
transmission of data through MAN are Modem and cable used to give link to the internet.
Example of MAN are networking in towns, multiple buildings and so on. These are the
part of telephone company network which provide high speed DSL line to the consumers
or cable TV network in a city.
Discuss the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing their businesses.
Artificial intelligence is the affection process of human intelligence by machines or robot
controlled by a computer to perform tasks which are done by humans because they need human
intelligence and judgement. According to Demortain, 2017, this field also combines computer
science and data sets for solving all the problems.
There are various impacts of artificial intelligence to enhance the businesses as it saves time and
money by improving the routine processes and tasks (Gromova, 2019). This will help in
increasing the productiveness and efficiency to make the fastest business decisions which is
based on output. Artificial intelligence also helps in improving sales forecasting, improvement in
communication through which sales professionals will manage their time and recognise the need
of consumers by creating models that examine datasets and expose factors that affect profit. It
also helps in simplifying the customer support in which they answer queries quickly, available
24/7. Up to 80 percent of customer support interactions could be handled by chatbot and more
than 40% of people are preferring live chat (The impact of AI in business, 2019).
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Analysis and discussion
Impact of IT in helping businesses to enhance their operations.
In Barclays bank, information technology means building communication network for a
company, creating and administering databases, help the workers to fix the problems with
computer or mobile phones to make sure about the security of business information system
(Charles and Emrouznejad, 2019). This is the fastest growing industry which means the use of
hardware, software and services to manage and deliver the information using voices, data and
video. Information technology has a great impact on marketing in Barclays bank as nowadays
everything is online so people are using internet marketing by using advertising methods like
SEO, instagram etc. which are more better than traditional marketing. This is all because through
this finding target audiences, discovering needs and building marketing campaigns to convince
them to buy. In case of Barclays bank, with the arrival of innovation in the banking industry,
change in banking practices is very fast. This industry has placed its technology from the ATM
machine to artificial intelligence technology which is now available in banks. As the emerging
technological trend in market, banks are also running very fast in the market by using cloud
technology which use the information technology to give benefits to provide time and resource
management. Customers have the capability to perform online transactions , transferring funds,
make deposits and request withdraws from their personal computers. So, IT enables Barclays in
product development, better market structure, implementing various techniques for control of
risks and helps the financial mediators to reach distant markets (McGuire, 2017).
Importance of ethical and social issues in the virtual world.
Ethical and social issues includes privacy and confidentiality, issues related to individual
responsibility, ethnicity etc.
Ethics in the virtual world us the most necessary part for the users because humans should have
ethics of using the internet. Virtual world is a medium for all individuals to interact with other
individuals easily so these persons do not need to face to face share the information (Chunli,
2019). Technology have a wide area of applications like banking sector, education, health etc.
which is necessary to have the knowledge of security, privacy issues and main negative impacts
of IT. To cope up with all these issues of IT society, it is necessary to find out ethical issues.
Some ethical issues faced by information technology are:
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Access right: In this aspect of ethical issue, it becomes a high priority for IT and computer world
with the great progression in technology. In context to Barclays bank, electronic commerce and
payment system development on the internet increase this problem for bank as network on the
computer cannot be made safe from unofficial access (Battershill and Ross, 2017). As banks are
allowing online transactions, transferring funds etc. for customers from home which is again
possible through the use of internet but at the same time it becomes risky too if it is accessed
unofficially.
Big data and privacy: With the growth and development in digital technologies, IT have brought
a drastic change in financial sector too. A rapid approval of technology in society, economy and
financial sector by the use of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, block chain, biometrics
assist finance sectors like banks as a new move of digital competitor and changing activities by
various people. In context to Barclays bank, to maintain the trust of consumers, banks has the
extreme intensity and duty to protect security, privacy and data. This results in facing two
situations by the banks : cybersecurity and data protection. Barclays banks are managing proper
database management system and provides trust to consumers that they are getting best
products.
Social issues are subject that impact most of the people which help an individual to understand
hat there are many reasons to think and formulate the same issue. Information technology is also
important in everyone's lives as it aids in offering various tools to uplift the development and
exchange the information to make everything easy and solving all the issues.
Ethical banking practice: In this, money will be invested socially and morally in a positive way
and won't be invested in any other thing which could harm a society. In case of Barclays bank,
they promise their consumers that they will not invest their money in products like alcohol,
tobacco, weapons etc. This will help the bank to maintain the brand reputation which help them
to expand consumer base and increment in income (Meredith, and Shafer, 2019).
Different types of computer networks with their impact on businesses.
Computer networks are the interconnections of various computers for sharing of
information, resources and many more. These devices are connected through the links can be
called as communication channels.
Various types of computer networks are:
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LAN: It stands for local area network. This is a most common computer network which
interconnects all the devices in a limited area like within a same building, home. The simplest
internet-connected LAN needs a router and other devices via Ethernet cables or Wi-Fi hotspot. In
case Barclays bank, it use this network to serve for a small purpose for a limited area.
WAN: It stands for wide are network that connects smaller networks which allow localized
networks to connect with one another across a long distances. It is a type of telecommunication
network which interconnect devices from multiple locations. This network is used by schools,
banks, libraries etc. Internet is the world's largest WAN as it is the most diverse form of a
computer network in the world. Transmission control protocol / Internet protocol, packet
switching are some of the technologies of WAN which are used to transfer the data (Brunner,
Mussmann and Breu, 2018). In relation to Barclay, they use it to transfer data from their
branches for daily functions as it is less expensive.
MAN: This stands for metropolitan area network which connects multiple LANs in a large area
but it is smaller than a WAN. It provides internet connectivity for LANs in a metropolitan
region and interconnect them to the wide area network. It is designed for those consumers who
need high speed connectivity and communication via high speed carriers like fiber optic cables.
In case of Barclays, for various telephones and television, they use this network to provide high
speed DSL lines which are used to deliver high speed internet.
WLAN: It stands for wireless local area network. It is a wireless network of computers which
connects two or more devices using wireless communication. Mobile phones, laptops, tablets,
internet audio systems are the examples of WLAN devices which can be built using various
wireless network protocols like wifi or bluetooth. In case of Barclays bank, they use many
devices like laptops, mobile phones etc. for their daily use which is very useful for daily
activities of regular personal communications.
PAN: This is known as the personal area network in which a network is related to the exchange
of information in the locality of a person. These connections can be done wired or wireless
which are used to protect all data and used very easily without any complications inside it.
Examples of PAN are: bluetooth, bar code scanners, speakers, video game consoles and so on
(Ustundag and Cevikcan, 2017). In context to Barclays bank, as it is a multinational bank which
definitely keep managing its database management system and to transfer a lot amount of data, it
use this network between devices like computers.
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Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing their businesses.
Artificial intelligence is the effect of human intelligence processes which is demonstrated
by machines. It is a huge branch of computer science which is related to the building of various
smart machines who is able to perform a work. It also saves time and money by optimising
routine process and tasks which increase productivity. Artificial intelligence improve customer
relationships and helps companies to ease their work. In case of financial organisation like
Barclays bank use this technology to identify fraud and unusual transactions, customer service
and help to make decisions for cybersecurity and risk management (Ding and Phan, 2021).
Some artificial intelligence examples which are used in Barclays bank are: Mobile banking: This is one example of artificial intelligence which is more active,
personal, and modern which is used by Barclays bank to do all the transactions remotely,
finding ATM locations etc. using mobile devices like smartphones or tablets.
 AI chat bots: This is a computer program which use human conversation through voice
commands or text chats or both. This is most popular in Barclays bank which is used to
communicate with consumers and save a lot of time for each conversation that the chat
bot handles.
This digitization in a bank give various advantages in various things like fraud transactions,
digital payments etc. which improves the experience of customers by delivering meaningful
customer engagement and build strong relations with its customers (Hafner and Kaiser, 2021).
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CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that information technology helps the business,
government and individuals to improve effectivity and efficiency. Information technology offers
various tools, to boost growth, to exchange information and to solve all the problems. Ethical and
social issues are becoming most important factor for an organisation to maintain the privacy,
security and unity of data. In information technology, networking allows the people to share
ideas very easily and working very effectively. Computer networking increase productivity of
the organisation which is important for each of the organisation. With the improvement in
technologies on a daily basis, artificial intelligence is becoming a wide sector in an information
technology which is used to enhance the speed and effectiveness of human efforts.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Battershill, C. and Ross, S., 2017. Using Digital Humanities in the Classroom: A Practical
Introduction for Teachers, Lecturers, and Students. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Brunner, M., Mussmann, A. and Breu, R., 2018, July. Introduction of a tool-based continuous
Information Security Management System: An exploratory case study. In 2018 IEEE
International Conference on Software Quality, Reliability and Security Companion (QRS-C) (pp.
483-490). IEEE.
Charles, V. and Emrouznejad, A., 2019. Big Data for the Greater Good: An Introduction. In Big
Data for the Greater Good (pp. 1-18). Springer, Cham.
Chunli, C., 2019. Brief Introduction of ISO 19650 Series-the Latest International Standard for
BIM. Journal of Information Technologyin Civil Engineering and Architecture, 11(3), pp.134-
138.
Copacino, W. C., 2019. Supply chain management: The basics and beyond. Routledge.
Demortain, D., 2017. Expertise, regulatory science and the evaluation of technology and risk:
Introduction to the special issue. Minerva, 55(2), pp.139-159.
Ding, H. B. and Phan, P. H., 2021. Introduction: The Asian entrepreneurial family enterprise.
In Innovation, Growth, and Succession in Asian Family Enterprises. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Ferreira, J. J., Teixeira, S. J. and Rammal, H. G., 2021. Introduction: Technological Innovation
and International Competitiveness for Business Growth—State-of-the-Art. In Technological
Innovation and International Competitiveness for Business Growth (pp. 1-14). Palgrave
Macmillan, Cham.
Gromova, E., 2019. Introduction of flexible manufacturing systems as a necessary measure for
the Russian industrial development. In Materials Science Forum (Vol. 957, pp. 195-202). Trans
Tech Publications Ltd.
Hafner, J. and Kaiser, A., 2021, January. Introduction to the Minitrack on Reports from the
Field: Knowledge and Learning Applications in Practice. In Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii
International Conference on System Sciences (p. 5183).
Kaur, S., Sood, S. and Kaur, G., 2017. Cloud computing interoperability: Introduction, concerns
and challenges. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science, 8(5).
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McGuire, M. R., 2017. Introduction: The interface of climate change and food security. In The
Routledge Handbook of Technology, Crime and Justice (pp. 1-14). Routledge.
Meredith, J. R. and Shafer, S. M., 2019. Operations and supply chain management for MBAs.
John Wiley & Sons.
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