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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
1.1 Conceptual setting
Although definitions as to what Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) differ widely, they do bear some similarities. Ngenge
(2003:1-2), for example, defines ICTs as technologies that enable the
handling of information and facilitate different forms of communication
between human actors, between human beings and electronic systems, and
between electronic systems. He groups the technologies into five categories,
namely: (a) capturing technologies that collect and digitize information, such
as keyboards, mice, voice recognition systems, bar code readers and image
scanners; (b) storage technologies, such as: magnetic tapes, floppy disks,
hard disks, optical disks (such as CD-ROMS), and smart cards; c) processing
technologies, which create system and applications software and
communication media such as fibre optics, cellular phones, and fax
machines; (d) communication technologies that produce devices and
networks which transmit information, such as Digital Cellular Networks
(DCNS), Local Area Networks (LANS), and Wide Area Networks (WANs) such
as the Internet; and lastly, (e) display technologies, which create a variety
of output deVices for the display of digitized information, such as display
screens for computers, digital TV sets, digital video discs, printers, voice
synthesizers and virtual reality helmets. A fairly authoritative definition of
lCTs is prOVided by The European Commission (2001:3), which states that
lCTs include "a wide range of services, applications and technologies, using
various types of equipment and software, often running over
telecommunications networks." The EC enumerates such technologies to
include "well-known telecommunication services such as telephony, mobile
telephony and fax. Applications include video-conferencing, teleworking,