The phrase Information and Communication Technology has been used by academic researchers since the 1980s,^[3] and the term ICT became popular after it was used in a report to the UK government by Dennis Stevenson in 1997^[4] and in the revised National Curriculum for England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2000. But in 2012, the Royal Society recommended that the term ICT should no longer be used in British schools "as it has attracted too many negative connotations",^[5] and with effect from 2014 the National Curriculum was changed to use the word computing reflecting the addition of computer programming to the curriculum

 


nformation and communications technology (ICT) is often used as an extended synonym for information technology(IT), but is a more specific term that stresses the role of unified communications^[1] and the integration of telecommunications(telephone lines and wireless signals), computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information.

The first use of the word “computer” was recorded in 1613 in a book called “The yong mans gleanings” by English writer Richard Braithwait I haue read the truest computer of Times, and the best Arithmetician that euer breathed, and he reduceth thy dayes into a short number. It referred to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued with the same meaning until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, a machine that carries out computations.^[3]

The first use of the word “computer” was recorded in 1613 in a book called “The yong mans gleanings” by English writer Richard Braithwait I haue read the truest computer of Times, and the best Arithmetician that euer breathed, and he reduceth thy dayes into a short number. It referred to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued with the same meaning until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, a machine that carries out computations.^[3]

A computer is a general purpose device that can be programmedto carry out a set of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. Since a sequence of operations can be readily changed, the computer can solve more than one kind of problem.

Conventionally, a computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a central processing unit (CPU), and some form ofmemory. The processing element carries out arithmetic and logic operations, and a sequencing and control unit can change the order of operations in response to stored information. Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved from an external source, and the result of operations saved and retrieved.

Contrary to popular belief, computers existed from antiquity. Any tool used for calculation could be referred to as a computer.