Introduction

The effects of information and communication technology (ICT) are allpervasive, increasing over time and here to stay. Perhaps less understood are the effects of ICT on social welfare. This chapter provides some important context for social welfare practice by:

• • demonstrating the rate of change in relation to ICT;

• • introducing some links between ICT and inequality;

• • indicating some links between society and ICT;

• • summarising the origins of ICT; and

• • setting out some key developments associated with the ‘information society’.

ICT and the rate of change

Given the statistics on the rate of change, it is not surprising that managers and practitioners feel overwhelmed. Ten years ago the Internet was unheard of outside technical circles. In 2003, ‘Half of UK adults (approximately 23 million) currently use the Internet either at home, work, school or various other locations’ (www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/research/2003). Some 42% of the population had Internet access at home and 53% of the population had a computer at home. This access was not restricted to the young. Among people aged 35-44, 57% had access to the Internet at home and 71% access to a computer at home. Among 45- to 54-year-olds the figures were 56% and 69% respectively. The time spent connected to the Internet varied between one and two hours (19% of users), three and five hours (20% of users) and six and ten hours (19% of users). Another 28% of users were connected to the Internet in excess of 11 hours per week (www.oftel.gov.uk, 2003).

Apart from the home, the workplace remains the most popular place to access the Internet. Other venues include education establishments (7% of the population), someone else’s house (5% of the population), the library (2%) and Internet cafes and kiosks (1%) (www.oftel.gov.uk, 2003).

The spread of the mobile phone has been even quicker and more comprehensive than the Internet: “In 1990 there were just over eleven million mobile telephones worldwide. In 2000 there were 650 million, compared with 500 million personal computers” (Cairncross, 2001, p 41). In the UK, 68% of adults own or use a mobile and 80% of households have at least one mobile (www.oftel.gov.uk, 2002).

In December 2002, sales by the Internet in the UK exceeded £1 billion a month for the first time. Such e-commerce is small in proportion to the overall economy but represents a significant amount of money by anyone’s standards (BBC News, 2002b).