Communication Technology » Information And Communication Technology

Information and Communication Technology – VoIP

Admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:52:14 +0000

Black Telephones And Writing Pads

VoIP communication and information technology are fast becoming a must in the corporate and business enterprises of today’s market. The world and its industries are progressing, functioning and overpowering each other at break neck speed. Today’s technology is so powerful that a human brain is unable to keep up with the incredible feats accomplished by different programmes available. If a person writes a letter in America to their spouse in China, the letter is received instantly via email. Twenty years ago, there would have been no option but to send by post, telegram, or pay a fortune and send it via a courier company. In the past, technology moved, but not at speed. One of the key elements in the spread of knowledge and practice concerning information and new findings is thanks to communication and the subsequent progression in that area of technology. Twenty years ago a telegram was incomprehensibly quick; a pioneer of science and the progression of the world’s technological genius. A telegram used in today’s business enterprise would lose a company its clients due to being slow.

For corporate and business enterprises, staying at the helm of new technology related to communication and information is paramount to their success. If two companies are competing in an aggressive market, it is obvious that the company to deliver solutions on a faster scale will be the more successful. Keeping ahead of the times in terms of current events, new methods and practices is also a fundamental part of the success behind a company. Communication technology allows this success to happen, by delivering the information quickly and in time for planning and reaction. The catch 22 which faces businesses and corporations however, is having to pay exorbitant rates and fees for premium technology. Emails, faxes, high speed internet connection, international phone calls, video conferencing and other aspects of communication in a modern company are needed without question, yet manage to build up quite a bill of expenses.

A Solution With Results

What is the solution for the choice between expenses or bad technology? Voice over internet protocol (abbreviated to VoIP) is technology which enables users to transmit information over a broadband internet connection. Basically put, VoIP allows users to call, email, fax, conference call and much more over a high speed internet connection. The best part? Since the lines used are internet connections, the rates payable are extremely reasonable. Due to the internet being as worldwide commodity, a call from New York to Hamburg will cost the same as a call from London to Manchester – because the calls are made using the high speed broadband connection, unlike telephone line to telephone line.

Companies and corporations using VoIP services and internet protocol telephony have the ability to keep up with current trends in information and communication technology and can also keep up to speed with competing companies. As aforementioned, every second counts in the corporate environment, especially concerning competing markets. VoIP allows companies to be ahead of their game, finding information, making communication and basically being able to run their business more efficiently and practically. Everyone knows the results of an efficient and competent company: happy staff and most importantly, happy clients.

A company looking to make a step forward from the rest of their competitors, or perhaps a company who feel they are not as up to standard as other companies in terms of their service and reliability would benefit immensely from using VoIP communication and information technology. The benefits are extraordinary and the prices are low, the perfect combination for any successful company and workforce.

The Effect of Technology Advances on Urban Structure and Economic Activity

Admin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:36:18 +0000

Cities exist to make our communication and economic exchange easier. The dense concentration of people and firms within cities lowers the cost of trading, as the market is easily accessible to the firm and vice versa, firms have access to an extensive labour market and workers can find employment. People and firms locate in cities because it reduces their transport costs either to take goods to market or to travel in order to buy goods (Ioannides et al. 2007). Cities that have been easier to transport goods to have often been the most successful, for example, many of the major cities in Europe are ports. This concentration of factors necessary for trade can also be seen to occur within cities. The monocentric model shows that cities tend to radiate out from a central point dominated by commerce, this is because the centre of the city is where access to the market is easiest and transport costs are lowest. This can be shown using simple bid rent curves. We assume that firms will bid more to locate in or close to the CBD than households. This means that firms will occupy the centre while other uses such as housing are located further from the centre. The monocentric model assumes that if transport costs are lower then firms will locate further from the centre, therefore employment will not be as intensely concentrated in urban centres. There has been rapid technological development in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) over the last twenty years which has impacted on many areas of modern life (Castells, 2002). Comin and Hobijin (2004) illustrate this development using data on changes in personal computer and cell phone ownership, the EU went from less than 5 million PCs in the early 1980s to 100 million in the late 1990s and nearly no cell phones to more than 150 million. How has this technological development, dramatically reducing communication and transportation costs as well as leading to the development of new industries, affected employment location in cities? Taking the monocentric model’s assumptions to their logical conclusions it could be argued that computer technology spells the end of cities as the spatial scope of knowledge spillovers is expanded so that less one on one interaction is needed. Employment will be spread over a larger distance as firms locate more evenly in space to take advantage of lower rents and congestion costs (Ioannides et al. 2007) Ioannides et al. write that “Such changes could lead us to predict the death of distance. That is, to suggest that location will no longer matter and that economic activity will, in the near future, be evenly distributed across space” (2007, pp. 2). This argument was refuted by Gasper and Glaeser (1996) who argued that although technology will replace the need for some personal interactions, the main effect of ICT will be to increase the demand for personal as well as virtual interactions and that far from leading to dispersal the new technology industries were creating their own clusters in areas such as Silicon valley. Audirac (2005) identifies two main strands of thought on the effects of ICT on urban form: the urban deconcentration and regional restructuring research traditions. The urban deconcentration perspective argues that residential preferences for low density living, along with rising affluence and ICT advances, mean that cities will experience decentralization which disperses employment and population to the metropolitan edge as well as to places further down the urban hierarchy. This would be equivalent to a flattening of the bid rent curves for firms and households as the importance of transportation costs and direct communication is reduced. Alternatively, the regional restructuring perspective puts the emphasis on firms’ decisions rather than worker’ residential preferences, it emphasises the importance of businesses following outsourcing strategies. Firms selectively relocate employment to the urban periphery, cities further down the urban periphery or internationally. The increase in demand for interaction and faster mobility, new business practices such as Just In Time ordering and the casualization of work, through increasingly contract based and part time employment, enabled by the development of computer technology have led to increased traffic through commuting, travel and freight (Audirac, 2005). This has meant that many major cities have experienced traffic and congestion problems causing firms situated within the city to re-locate to urban peripheries in order to benefit from improved connectivity. So why do agglomerations of firms and employment occur on the periphery? Castells (2002) believes that firms locate in areas in which they have the best access to other businesses and cities in international networks, this means they have to locate near to motorways and airports which are often located in urban peripheries. It is also necessary for firms to attract highly educated employees, they do this by locating in attractive areas, often outside of cities, but close enough that their employees can access the benefits of the city or in gentrified suburbs. On the other hand, Storper (1997) believes that firms have “untraded interdependencies” such as tacit knowledge. This is particularly important in the computer technology industry and other young industries as firms get distinct benefits from working in an environment where they can share knowledge to solve problems. The emergence of new factors which mean that some firms are more attracted to peripheries of cities means that the appearance of the firms bid rent curve will change. Firms which have not been as affected by computer technology advances are likely to retain bid rent curves favouring centres but firms attracted to the periphery will have bid rent curves that have firms clustering at the centre as well as on the periphery. References and Suggested Readings Ioannides, Y. , Overman, H. , Esteban, R. and Schmidheiny, K. (May 30, 2007) The Effect of Information and Communication Technologies on Urban Structure, Preliminary version of a paper prepared for the 46th Panel Meeting of Economic Policy in Lisbon, October 2007 Castells, M. (2002) An Introduction to the Information Age in The Blackwell City Reader, ed. Bridge, G. and Watson, S. Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 125-134 Comin, D. and Hobijin, B. (2004) Cross Country Technological Adoption: Making the Theories Face the Facts. Journal of Monetary Economics, Gasper, J. and Glaeser, E. (1996) Information technology and the future of cities. Wroking paper 5562. Cambridge. MA: National Bureau of Economic Research Audirac, I. (2005) Information Technology and Urban Form: Challenges to Smart Growth. International Regional Science Review, 28, 2, pp. 119-145 Storper, M. (1997) The Regional World: Territorial Development in a World Economy. New York: Guilford

Tag-iti to Present New Products at Gitex Technology Week

Admin — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:45:37 +0000

TAG-Org will lead with the introduction of TAG ICT Dictionary, an English-Arabic dictionary of about 6500 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) terms
AMMAN — September 22, 2008 — In the rapidly changing business environment, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Information Technology International (TAG-ITI), the ICT consultancy arm of the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), will be presenting various new products at the GITEX Technology Week 2008, which takes place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC), October 19-23, 2008.
TAG-ITI has developed a synergy between innovative technical solutions and professional IT consultancy, resulting in the provision of world class IT consultancy services in IT Audit, IT Security, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), ICT Consulting, Website Development and Audit, and Business Solutions. One of the new products it will present in the area of Business Solutions is TAG-Accountant.
TAG-Accountant is a powerful financial accounting suite developed by TAG-ITI to provide an integrated and comprehensive financial and business management solution. TAG-Accountant is designed to suit the needs of local and regional SMEs’ business requirements and accounting standards.
TAG-Org will also be launching the TAG ICT Dictionary, which is an English-Arabic dictionary of about 6500 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) terms.
Due to its pioneering role and innovative ideas, TAG-ITI has seen strong growth over the past year and has successfully been awarded many projects across the Middle East.
The firm will offer the opportunity to ‘Come to Us for Solutions’ for all ICT business needs customers may have. Further, it will be offering a wide variety of presentations, networking opportunities, and interactive demo stations designed to help professionals find solutions to their IT questions.
GITEX stands for the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition. The GITEX Technology Week provides a comprehensive platform for every sector of the vast IT industry to network, promote and showcase their latest technologies and services. GITEX continues to reflect the importance & phenomenal growth of the IT industry in the region. It will showcase many products and technological advancements that stand apart from others.
About TAG-Org
TAG-Org, your global partner in 71 offices and 180 correspondents, for all your business needs: auditing, valuation, management consulting, ICT development, business advisory, training, educational consultancy, capital services, human resources development, real estate consulting, translation, legal services, Intellectual Property Rights protection and domain name registration.
For More Information: gitex. tagorg. com.
www. tagorg. com

Tag-org Launches New Products at Gitex Technology Week 2008

Admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:42:09 +0000

TAG-Org Launches New Products at GITEX Technology Week 2008TAG-ITI will be presenting its broad range of services at GITEX 2008DUBAI—– September 8, 2008 ——– The Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) is getting ready to launch new products at the GITEX Technology Week 2008 which takes place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC), October 19-23, 2008. GITEX provides an excellent opportunity to learn from, and exchange views with, some of the leading experts within the ICT industry. Some of the new products to be launched include:
TAG-PEDIA: The first Arabic electronic encyclopedia. TAG Accountant: A bilingual encyclopedia of accounting entries, and the first of its kind in the world. TAG ICT Dictionary: This is an English-Arabic dictionary of about 6500 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) terms. TAG-Domains: Internet domain registration services which include Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs), Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs), and Arabic Domain Names. The Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Cambridge IT Skills Center will also be represented in GITEX. Also, TAG-ITI, TAG-Org’s ICT consultancy arm, which has seen strong growth over the past year and has successfully been awarded many projects across the Middle East, will be presenting its range of services at GITEX. Some of these include: – ERP consultancy- ICT and security auditing- ICT vendor selection – Business technology solutions – Web solution services TAG-ITI will offer the opportunity to ‘Come to Us for Answers’ for all ICT business needs customers may have. TAG-ITI will be offering a wide variety of presentations, networking opportunities, and interactive demo stations designed to help professionals find solutions to their IT questions. Meanwhile, the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh ICT Academy (TAG-ICT Academy) will be presenting their hands-on-experience practices and specialized training services in ICT technologies. TAG-Org booth will be located at B6-40 and the GITEX Technology Week is open from 10am – 7pm. About TAG-OrgTAG-Org, your global partner in 71 offices and 180 correspondents, for all your business needs: auditing, valuation, management consulting, ICT development, business advisory, training, educational consultancy, capital services, human resources development, real estate consulting, translation, legal services, Intellectual Property Rights protection and domain name registration. For More Information: gitex. tagorg. com. www. tagorg. com