how ICT knowledge is transforming business and governance

nformation, Communication Technology has been a major driver of entrepreneurship and governance since its integration into business and governance. It is considered to be the engine of development and growth in this 21 st  century.

ICT as the future of business

Before this time, businessmen and women see no point in acquiring ICT skills or integrating ICT in the running of their businesses.Then, ICT was only limited to the use of mobile phones in making business contacts. However the recent wave of digitization in the business world has brought a total change in the way businesses are being run and managed.

The method of running business has taken a U-turn as most business establishments and institutions run most of their business activities online. Business individuals and groups create web pages for marketing of their business.

For instance, the use of Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms for both marketing and other business activities has increased over the years. A lot of software have been developed for easy running and management of business. For instance, Microsoft Money or QuickBooks are such applications that eases the task of managing account records of both small and medium enterprises. It saves small business enterprises the cost of employing a full time accountant to manage the account records of their firms. Accounting software applications help large business organizations to create crucial business reports and financial statements that help in decision making processes.

The Entrepreneur Resource Planning (ERP) software solution is another information and communication tool that provides for integration of all the organization's business processes and maximizing available resources which helps a company gain competitive advantage over

others.

The LinkBiz business software solution developed by Digital dreams is also an information and communication technology tool that makes for efficiency and effectiveness in managing your business.
With LinkBiz you can manage your business! You can record sales, take stock, process business account, send messages to customers and print customer receipts.

Furthermore, Small and medium scale businesses can use advanced video and graphics editing software to create professional marketing materials with which they could reach thousands and millions of online users.

They can also use the Google Ad Word marketing tools to spread marketing messages to a large number of audience which saves cost. By using bulk SMS solutions and email, entrepreneurs save the time and money they would have spent visiting clients.

Some people could barely imagine the benefit of Information, Communication Technology to agro business but the fact still remains that even agro ventures have benefited a whole lot from ICT revolution. Agro-based entrepreneurs use computers to keep farm production records which they use in making financial plans. They also apply ICT knowledge and tools in marketing their agro products. They also use the internet to research issues that will engineer the growth of their businesses.

 

ICT is the future of governance

The impact and future of ICT in government administration is overwhelming as countries are fast digitizing government processes, hence, the emergence of e-governance. E-governance is the use of Information and Communication Technology in running government activities. It is the integration of information technology in governance.

Researchers have pointed e-governance as a veritable tool in promoting

efficiency and effectiveness in governance. E-governance promotes government service delivery and citizens' participation in governance.

It was this discovery that made Obasanjo's led administration to mandate the then Ministry of Science and Technology to raise programmers that will build and develop appropriate Information and Communication Technology tools that will reduce the cost of government administration and boost efficiency and effectiveness in public service delivery to Nigerian citizens.

With the integration of ICT in governance, governments have been able to create database of citizens through which it has been able to render public service such as production of citizen Passports, voters Card, Identity Cards etc. ICT tools also help governments in online registration of contracts.

The influence of ICT is also evident in the way government perform its transport related services such as online booking and cancellation of tickets, checking status of vehicles, railways, boats and flights. It has transformed government's method of  issuance and renewal of driving license, registration and renewal of vehicles papers, transfer of vehicles, payment of the fees of licenses, payment of fees and taxes for vehicle registration etc.

In revenue collection, government creates platforms through which citizens can pay their taxes. Corporate sectors and individuals pay tax and duties online which helps in crosschecking for frauds and deficiencies in payment process. Companies also register and acquire their operational licenses online and lots more.

Government also performs its health related functions by creating patients and local pharmacies database with which different hospitals can interact.

Government also uses E-help platform to manage disasters and emergencies in the society. This E-help involves the application of such information and management technologies as internet, SMS, social media in

reducing the long time it takes the government's security and disaster management agencies to respond to emergencies. With the aid of internet, social media, mobile Apps etc., governments and necessary agencies easily gather information that helps them in managing disaster and emergencies. Also, citizens can easily place distress calls to related institutions with the aid of mobile phone.

With the aid of social media platforms politicians can campaign for elections and citizens through social media platforms can get closer to the government and participate more politically.

Government institutions and officials get feedback from the citizens on the quality of their service delivery or their opinion on a particular policy issue. For instance, the U-report platform in Nigeria that provides for citizens' response to policy issues being considered by the government. It is used to gather public opinion on public matters.

 

This rapid innovation in the way government performs its functions has brought a positive change on the social and economic development of different countries. With the introduction of e-government time waste is minimized to the barest minimum, cost of performing government functions and accessing the government on the part of the citizens is reduced, government processes tends to be more transparent and accountable to the public. Citizens' participation increase as they become well informed about government activities and their continuous interaction with government is made possible. From the foregoing, it is obvious that the future society can only be a "SMART Society" where almost every human activity is automated and everybody possesses the requisite ICT skills to function well.