Initially computers were used mainly for administrative purposes, such as keeping student records, recording examination marks, producing school reports and creating timetables.

The growing use of ICT in education: enhancing teaching and learning worldwide

The integration of ICT into the curriculum of learners is of immense benefit to them. 

• Exposure to ICT allows learners to develop skills that will give them an edge in an ever-increasingly technology-saturated work environment.
• The introduction of ICT into the school curriculum allows learners to become creators of knowledge in their own right, for example through conducting research for a school project on the internet and then having to produce, say, a PowerPoint presentation.
• Learners who continue to use ICT in doing their assignments and projects begin to cultivate a culture of personal information management, independent learning and working without supervision, communication skills, teamwork and research skills, which are highly valued in today’s global workforce.
• Not only does ICT enhance the development of learners; it also enhances the development of teaching instruction by teachers

Thabani Mdlongwa (2012), Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a Means of Enhancing Education in Schools in South Africa: Challenges, Benefits and Recommendations. Africa Institute of South Africa

yes... ICT method surely enhance the efficiency ...

Visual and audio on latest thinks can be bring by ICT with minimum effort and can uptain maximum outcome...

Hi Khalid,

In my opinion process drives tools / IT / technologies (enablers) in that top down approach - same analogy as "do the right things not doing the things right".  If the process is wrong, no matter how efficient the IT will still manifest the non-optimized outcomes or not using the resources optimally.

Regards,

Fung

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I believe that ICT cannot make useless outcomes useful.  Introduction of ICT must accompanied by a efficient business process.   However, ICT is often a catalyst for new processes.  This article would probably by of interest to your topic:

Guillemette, Manon G., and Guy Paré. "Toward a new theory of the contribution of the IT function in organizations." MIS Quarterly 36.2 (2012): 529-551.

The introduction of ICT, or its transformation, may enforce review of the effectiveness of existing processes.  Information technology processes can substitute for human mental labour, at a much lower cost, as part of the revolution in the mechanisation of mental labour.  But you still need to do something useful with those machine processes.

The answer to your question should be highly contextual in nature. What did you mean by ICT? Did you generalize it? What kind of ineffective systems and process you are talking about? So, may be generalizing ICT for efficiency enhancement for systems and processes which are ineffective, could be considered to be an ultimate ambition to achieve for a system designer.

An ineffective system of restaurant, during food ordering could be improved by using ICT whereas the use of ICT might not really enhance effectiveness of a typical large scale system where different components of the system might have their independent problems to be taken care of- some with the help of ICT and some without ICT.

Often the use of ICT is noticeable as a quick fix to many problems instead of really measuring the outcome. This includes efficiency, cost and iterative problem identification etc. As mentioned earlier, contextual in nature, in different settings of different society, the use of ICT often gives status for commercial and business success only. Even though proper use would result higher efficiency, the prerequisites of 'proper use of ICT' is unfortunately often not analyzed properly; making the outcome on the efficiency towards an ineffective system or process void or vulnerable.

So in conclusion ICT use- a proper use of ICT to be more precise, could surely improve efficiency of system or process that requires it. No good system designer would increase cost and time to implement ICT to improve system efficiency when the process of efficiency could be achieved in some other cheaper alternatives. Appropriate system design  methodology selection is therefore extremely important in this case. 

In Health, all systems and process needs to be effective.

Use of available, relevant and cost effective information and communication technologies (ICT) enhances the development of institutional networks and makes processes and systems more efficient. It enables health workers to do their work faster and better. The health sector enterprise architecture (EA) and the e-health strategic framework define the proper use and function of ICT. Advancing these will improve healthcare access, quality and efficiency of service and higher level of client satisfaction and better safeguards for patient safety.

http://www.doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/8%20Chapter6.pdf

I think that ICT can enhance useless systems or process useful.  But not always.  Coz, sometimes, it is difficult to find a optimal ICT to deal with it. If u cannot understand why the system or process is ineffective, u can never use ICT to enhance them. or if u use ICT in a wrong way, u also cannot deal with it. 

ICT can enhance efficiency and effectiveness of SYSTEMS, basically through the processing of information. Statistics, econometrics and data mining became extraordinary powerful instruments with the support of ICT.

You can improve systems performance with ICT at least for three reasons:

1- The amount of information that can be processed with today's software and hardware is immense and reduces information asymmetry and incompleteness, the most frequent cause of market failure.

2- ICT allows a better integration, coordination and management of value chains and an improved decision making process. Value chains are socio economic systems or subsystems involved in every day's life.

3- ICT allows synchronization and synchronicity of tasks and activities within a certain system or subsystem, enhancing the optimal use of resources and inputs.

The above issues are important to reduce transaction costs, which have been defined by Douglass North as the cost of social or human interaction, or as the cost of using the price system, by Ronald Coase. Transaction costs are not evident as production costs, because the 'transaction unit' has at least three owners, the buyer, the seller and the government, being a common or collective property with no individual and specified property rights.

Production units, which accrue 'production costs', have individual owners, with specified property rights. The system of economic incentives embedded in private property is consistent with productivity, competitiveness and prosperity, because individual effort results in individual benefit or profit.

In the case of collective or common property without individual and specified property rights, individual efforts result in collective benefits or profits. In order to achieve consistent outcomes, a sound system of economic incentives should be designed.

Hope this helps to answer the question.

Hi all.

The topic of this thread is again bringing to fore an issue I have seen severally - the misconception surrounding Computer; Information Technology; Information Communication Technology; Y2K (which was the greatest  hoax/fraud of that century) and the general conception surrounding computer machines. It is good to know that ICT involves many machines not just the computer machine. The computer machine is not a MAGICIAN. Whatever you get from it is what you've put into it; GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT. The efficiency of any system or process depends on the system's components and has nothing to do with ICT, unless you are talking about a software system or process. But I suggest an understanding of ICT at a very BASIC level before we start getting sophisticated.

Back in 2001, an incident happened in Nigeria involving the following professional bodies, concerning a clear understanding of COMPUTER and IT.

ITAN = Information Technology Association of Nigeria

CPN = Computer Professional Council of Nigeria

COAN = Computer Association of Nigeria

The attachment I have here is the second of the two articles I wrote to Guardian Newspapers, Nigeria, and which evetually brought sanity to the situation. Dear Khalid Rabayah, you might find it info useful.

Thanks.

ICT can act as a facilitating agent or catalyst to enhance the efficiency of processes. Unless the processes are clearly defined or modified according to user requirement, ICT's role in enhancement of efficiency would be minimal.

The paper: "Toward a new theory of the contribution of the IT function in organizations" seems to be very interesting. In Scopus and Web of Science, there is only the abstract of this paper. Where could I read it? Thank you for help.

Khalid

My overall response would  be "absolutely not".

if the systems and processes are ineffective or inefficient, then adding ICT to the mix  will not help. Most projects which involve the implementation of  ICT include a preliminary phase  to analyse and "clean up" business processes before designing the ICT-enabled version. Adding ICT to a chaotic environment will just make it more chaotic, and probably more expensive to run.

In some cases the process redesign itself may be all that is needed.

In a passive, non-interactive application of ICT to (ineffective) systems and (futile) processes not much improvement of those systems and processes can be made. But every analytic approach, and especially the one needed for a comprehensive ICT solution can help in discovering the system’s or process’ flaws and weak points. Of course, for this to happen, the applied ICT solution must be functional and structurally well-suited to the system or process under scrutiny. And then, how far is one  from improving these flaws and weak points?

In (honest) science and engineering, it is almost implied that such feedbacks—or “reviews,” as Julian calls them—should be immediately used to improve the system or process. This, in turn, will enable the implementation of a better-structured ICT solution to the system. The iteration can go on to the next level of even finer analysis of the system and its finer ICT coverage, all the way till the system and its ICT presentation are satisfactory.

However, the (unfair) human factor can disrupt this procedure. The discovery of flaws in the system may not be sympathized by everyone, especially not by those who deliberately cause them. Also, the optimization of some system elements that  can cause lesser costs are not always welcome, surely not by those who supply the goods for such elements. That brings us to the ethical aspects of the use of ICT, similar to those of any powerful tool: for what purpose the ICT is really made, whom does it really serve, etc.

The problem with this question lies in the definition of effective and efficient. in classical economic and managerial literature, effective relates to achieving the objective, the goal, the purpose etc. for which the activity was undertaken or for which the organization exists.  Efficient relates to achieving to goals etc at minimal cost. Making ineffective processes or systems more efficient does not make any sense. Making effective processes or systems more efficient does!

So, is it possible to improve the effectiveness of processes with IT? Generally speaking, I would say, why not: IT can make processes faster, more flexible, less error prone..etc. Can IT improve efficiency of a process? Of course, these was the objective of many initial applications of IT, and it still is.

All activities will have a sequence of Value Addition (VA) and Non- Value Addition (NVA) to complete a intend.

You are right that the efficiencies of in-effective systems (NVA) will also go up. The Non Value adding activities would in otherwise be a hurdle or stumbling block to the whole Process LEAD TIME.

Improving such NVA efficiencies can give an option to either "Outsource" or create "Inventory stacks" of required lot sizes suitable for the operations.

The implementation of ICT will reduce the processing time of activities either those are Value addition or Non-Value addition. But main concern is with the activities, processes and ultimately their sequence to achieve the final objective or goal. We must have to make a thorough analysis of the system before the implementation of ICT to make system more effective and efficient.

Hi. i have 3 years of pure practical experience in this field in ministry of health, ministry of science and some universities so i can tell you a practical answer.

ITC con not do any good for any system alone and by itself.

In fact it must be acquired cleverly, fit with other resources and implemented effectively, understood and used, and aligned and embedded with organization in a unique way. each one of these has a tool that can help you to achieve them.

i can describe any of the if you were interested.