The information and communications technology are an integral part of modern-day communications. Communication has been made possible through the rapid penetration of mobile devices aiding in access and development. Such advances have improved other vital areas including locomotion, businesses, and relationships in both urban and rural concepts. ICT has also developed primarily due to the availability of internet at the majority of mobile users’ phones. This was not the case a few years ago when some people did not know what the internet was. Evidence even from observation, suggests that this trend is set to continue. However, as with all technological platforms, there exist some challenges that hinder the practical application of ICT. This essay will look into the difficulties in implementing ICT in the mobile industry.
ICT Failures
In developing countries, ICT failures may be categorized into three; total failure is when an ICT program was initiated but never took form as it was immediately abandoned due to specific reasons. Partial failure ensues when the important goals of the ICT program are unattained, or there are substantial undesirable outcomes from implementing the new technologies. The other shortcoming of ICT implementation is when stakeholders attain their primary goals, and the ICT implementation succeeds for a given time before it fails. When ICT programs fail to gain traction, the people lose faith in the new technological system. Whereas the ICT programs may benefit other systems such as education, not all mobile associated systems may be able to benefit from the advancements in technology.
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Lack of Knowledge
Whereas ICT programs may be essential in bringing about change in developing countries, the issues on lack of knowledge may reduce the progress of integration of the new technologies. Many may consider ICT mobile programs as new, costly, or invasive and therefore lose faith in them. As an example, in developing countries, mobile phone users may be reluctant to download or use specific mobile applications since they request for permissions, which most of them are unaware what the significance of such permissions may be. Given specific mobile applications may require access to contacts yet they are not communication-related, such may be lauded for being irrelevant. This is one of the reasons ICT applications may be seen as thorny and back-office systems for gaining access to users’ private information.
External Control
Global ICT channels and programs are controlled by advanced systems in founder countries and organizations. This organization may have branches in other developing countries mainly to deal with arising issues or monitoring ICT programs in the mobile industry. The external control over the ICT programs in a foreign country, therefore, means that the people are only allowed to view or access certain forms of data whereas other data forms may be restricted. As an example, Google has total control over their web searches, in the third world or developing countries, the searches may be optimized to certain levels such that some information may be withheld to prevent panic or restrict communication about some sensitive issues. Were it that all countries had total control over the communication technologies and particularly in the mobile industry, communication would have been enhanced as people would receive regular updates about what is going on the country and warnings of impending dangers. It could also give the people an overview of the country’s economic state and political state. One might argue that there are systems and websites developed for this. The argument over this is that not everyone knows about such sites as they may not be ranked high enough in search engines.
Organizational Dynamics
Information communication technologies in organizations involve processes of negotiations and have often led to increased conflict in organizations. Whereas ICT systems may be useful in the work environment, for some, it may be invasive of their personal information and may require specific information that users may feel the need to withhold. The introduction and use of ICT applications in organizations are negotiated by those in positions of power, and the applications may not be in line with the needs of the users, or the design of the technology may not be welcomed. As an example, in an organization, it may be required of the employees to use a common email in their mobile phones to access company information with ease. However, given the susceptibility of group emails to hacking, users’ personal information in mobile devices may be exposed to hackers. Another instance may be when the employees are asked to link their bank accounts with an introduced ICT application. The same case of conflict applies where individuals may fuss over whether the financial statements are safe.
Geo-Blocking
Geo-blocking limits access to the internet based on geographical locations of users. Whereas the reasons behind geo-blocking may involve issues such as copyright information, users may feel underprivileged to miss out on some of the best ICT mobile applications out there. Mobile applications such as Spotify are unavailable in many developing countries, and the reasons have not been specified. Geo-blocking also entails changing accessible content for end-users’ in different geographical locations. Whereas there may be likely reasons for limiting the viewable content for end-users, the conflict still arises as to why other groups can get raw information whereas others are marginalized and get substandard content. However, whereas ICT programs may geo-block users from accessing specific mobile applications, other applications are produced to bypass the geo-blocking. Such include virtual private networks applications (VPNs) which guarantee access to restricted mobile applications.
Restrictions
One of the common hindrances to development in ICT programs in the mobile industry is restrictions on some geographical regions. As an example, an Android user may go to the Google Play Store to try and download a mobile application only to receive a message that, that application is not available in their country. Such issues may create a conflict where certain people feel underprivileged compared to others. There may be policies in place that restrict user access to certain mobile websites. Whereas the reasons may be plausible, the fact that the restrictions are lifted in other regions creates grounds for conflict. Geo-blocking is a practical example of mobile restrictions.
Sustainability and Scale
One of the major hindrances to ICT development for change is the large-scale investment in programs. Collaborations between internal and international organizations are needed to achieve scaling solutions for ICT programs implementation. In developing countries, the ICT infrastructure is still underdeveloped and spread out thin. In rural areas, there is little to internet access. There is a need for coordination between technology companies, governments, and private sectors to come up with ways of upscaling ICT integration in rural and uncharted areas.
Mobile Insecurity
Mobile application insecurities are one of the significant challenges to the advancement of ICT programs. Many hackers develop applications and mirror websites that infiltrate user’s information making it easier to access personal information including personal accounts. With corporate data in the palm of anyone’s hand, they become a target for cybercriminals. In the ICT industry, there exists a challenge to develop software that does not overwhelm the administrators and does not overwhelm users. Another issue surrounding mobile insecurity is accidental disclosure. It entails forwarding vital information to unintended recipients or uploading company information to cloud servers. Social engineering also posses a significant threat to mobile security. About 90 percent of cyber crimes start with emails. Such methods are preferred by the majority of cybercriminals, and they have been often referred to as ‘malware-less attacks’ as they dupe people into clicking on links that infiltrate their private information. Users are three times more likely to unwittingly respond to a cyber attack on their mobile phones compared to computers. Given ICT application users in the modern age use their smartphones for virtually everything, it becomes a challenge for ICT developments given the hindrances brought about by cyber-attacks.
Changing Norms
The emergence of new ICT possibilities presents some challenging change of norms. Traditionally people would visit each other and talk. In the modern era, people have resorted to communicating over social media and refraining from meetings. In the modern era, people are more worried about their number of friends online as compared to actual visible friends. Whereas communication technologies may be seen as trendy and fun, they may be detrimental to interpersonal relationships in the future. Social media has become so addictive that people have started becoming unproductive. Children can now access the internet at a very young age and without proper parental guidance, may become wayward and unruly at a young age.
Conclusively, we can deduce that whereas ICT programs may be useful in leading this generation to the next era, they come with a fair share of challenges and implications. As with all technological advances, the threat of cybercrime poses a problem for ICT programs. The fact that other systems control what people can access on the internet suggests that there is a vast pool of resource from which we can infer. The changing norms indicate that there is an increasing trend in ICT technologies specifically in the mobile industry that may have positive or negative effects.
