Importance of Information Technology

MIT Professor Erik Brynjolfssons new book highlights the importance of IT investments to economic growth and jobs.

The World of IT

In the earlier days, not so much emphasis had been made on I.T by Companies and organizations. In the Hotel Industry for example, if an employee of a Hotel had to deliver a message of a guest to another colleague in the Human resource department they would have had to deliver the message themselves. On the other hand, when we look at how technology is being used in all sorts of organization, wee see how the world of I.T is merging with the world Of Business and especially Tourism. Nowadays, more and more exploration is being made in the field of I.T especially when talking about the Tourism Industry. I.T is definitely a big advantage and can also be a key reason for  an organization to gain the competitive advantage in the market.

Definition (According to  Information Technology Association of America (ITAA):

Information technology (IT) "the study, design, development, application, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware."

Benefits of IT & How it's Uses

• Maximizing Occupancy rates
• Tells a company/organization when to hire temporary staff
• Marketing the product or service
• Easier assessment of new products
• Improved profitability

"IT underpins the operations of individual companies, tie together far-flung supply chains & increasingly links business's to the customers they serve.(Nicholas Carr, p.3, "Harvard Business Review", May 2003 edition)





History of Business expenditures on I.T.:

Excursion: Technology use for interpretation (PDA Tour , I-Walk and Mobile Applications)

On the 29th of September, we participated in an Excursion where we were divided up into groups in order to test several different Technology Applications.
First Task: Taking pictures of several Monuments and Statues (150 pictures per Object in order to then produce a 360 degree view of the object using special software).

Pictures Taken:
Stephansplatz, Vienna

Second Task: Walking around the center of Vienna again targeting specifically selected touristic places this time with an electronic Audio tour guide. This clearly shows how electronic devices can take over the jobs of normal people e.g the podcast replaces the personal tour guide.