ICT includes all digital technology that assists individuals, businesses and organizations in using information. It covers all electronic products that deal with information in a digital form. Therefore, ICT is concerned with digital data storage, retrieval and transmission.
ICT makes a business more efficient, effective and promptly respond to customers’ needs. ICT can assist business activities including design, manufacturing, R&D, distribution and sales and feedback. Prof.Nassef reports that “contrary to the prevalent predict that ICT will decrease the demand for face to face communication and will result in greater dispersion of economic activity. She suggests that ICT promotes industrial agglomeration”. In addition, Prof.Nassef argues that “The search of job and recruitment via the Internet offer potential efficiency gains to the labor market and the economy through reducing transaction cost and providing better matching between workers and vacancies by diffusing information about job widely”.
This theme includes a deep analysis of the impact of the information and communication technologies on different aspects of development and growth. It covers topics related to the financial, economic and technological aspects and stress on the importance of ICT their role in facilitating a wide range of services and transactions such as online banking and online services provided by companies. It discusses authentication methods used in online banking and various online services. ICT through facilitating the supply and access of a wide range of financial services, increasing efficiency in institutions and corporations, reducing costs and promoting and enhancing communication are a major channel for development. In addition, It covers topics that links information and communication technologies to urbanization and show the importance ICT in urban service delivery. It presents how ICT can be used to promote and ensure urbanization which became the norm of life of the twenty first century and poses one of the most critical challenges to achieve economic development and better standard of living. Furthermore, Big data as a tool for development presents topics that show how the big amount of digital data continually generated by the global population could be analyzed to support decision making and to generate actionable insights for policy makers. It also indicates the major role that big data plays as a tool for promoting various aspects of development.
Different research avenues could be suggested to address the role of information and communication technology in business. For example,Software Piracy (SP) is a worldwide, multifaceted phenomenon that presents a major challenge for software producers. The SP problem has been heightened worldwide because of the pervasiveness of the Internet and the progression of information technology, which have increased the probability for increasing the intellectual property rights violation. Establishing measures to effectively curb SP in Lebanon, however, requires understanding the underlying motivations and justifications for SP behaviors as well as SP rates and the factors influencing them. In their study, Khalil and Seleim, adopted and tested a causal model of software piracy attitudes, intentions, and behaviors in Lebanon using professionals and managers sample.
