Modern  ICT trends 

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have become more mature after its development for more than half a century. We are in a new era in which ICT research has shifted its focus from technology development to novel applications. For example, digital technologies have been widely applied to speech, audio, video and graphics in various commercial applications today. Furthermore, the availability of the broadband wired/wireless Internet infrastructure and the cloud computing facilities has changed the way of web-based services. This essay will address the following four major paradigm shifts in this modern IT era: From the analog implementation to the digital implementation; From PC-centric to cloud/network-centric; From one-way broadcasting to two-way interaction; From HW/SW/infra-structure provision to contents and value-added services Driven by the broadband network and cloud computing infrastructure, ICT-enabled web services have become a phenomenon. Examples of them include: YouTube, Google Map, Wikipedia, Facebook, etc. Several common features of the new web services will be discussed. These services provide a scalable platform that allows a large number of users to participate in content creation and interact with each other. Each site is essentially a large database as well as a community. The success of these services lies in a workable business model such as on-line advertisement.More and more advertisements from the traditional media such as newspaper and audio/video broadcast programs are moving to the web-based advertisement due to its efficiency. Moreover, workers are now demanding many of these innovations and expecting their organizations to provide something close in capability to what they can get nearly for free (or actually for free) on their own devices and networks. Managers and executives, albeit mostly on the business side, are typically pushing for 1) service delivery on next-generation mobile devices like the iPad, 2) much easier to use IT solutions, and 3) access to better, more collaborative and useful intranet capabilities.So to is the rapid (read: instant) acquisition and delivery of business solutions.There is a growing realization amongst workers and management that technology, though increasingly complex in itself, can be wielded far more rapidly and efficiently than their currently parochial capabilities are providing.