ITGS+Overview

=About ITGS=

The Diploma Programme information technology in a global society (ITGS) course is the study and evaluation of the impact of information technology (IT) on individuals and society. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of the use of digitized information at the local and global level. ITGS provides a framework for the student to make informed judgments and decisions about the use of IT within social contexts.

The nature of the subject is defined by the use of fundamental ITGS terms. For the purpose of the ITGS syllabus the following definitions apply.

Information technology is the study, design, development, implementation, support or maintenance of computer-based information systems.

Social and Ethical significance refers to the effects that the development, implementation and use of information technology has on individuals and societies. Social impacts and ethical considerations are not mutually exclusive and are therefore categorized as a single entity. However, in general:


 * Social impacts tend to refer to the effects of IT on human life.
 * Ethical considerations refer to the responsibility and accountability of those involved in the design, implementation and use of IT.

An information system is a collection of people, information technologies, data, processes and policies organized to accomplish specific functions and solve specific problems.

Although ITGS shares methods of critical investigation and analysis with other social sciences, it also considers ethical questions found in the study of philosophy. Students come into contact with IT on a daily basis because it is so pervasive in the world in which we live. This widespread use of IT inevitably raises important questions about social and ethical issues that shape our society today. ITGS offers an opportunity for a systematic study of these issues, whose range is such that they fall outside the scope of any other single discipline.