Lecture 13 Information and History Objectives n Revolution

Lecture 13 Information and History

Objectives n Revolution or Paradigms of Information Systems n Development of Information Systems in historical context – Unit of analysis: the Internet

Revolution or Paradigms n Computer Age (1950 -80): – Information systems as a paper dragon • to reduce costs of routine paperwork processing • to speed up paperwork – Processing facts into data • “How to compute? ”

Revolution or Paradigms n Information & Knowledge Age (1980 s): – Information systems for general supports and management • information helped managers in control, planning, and decision makings • Managers asked for specific types of information ad hoc reports • Emerging of DSS and Expert Systems to generate concept and knowledge based on rules and patterns • “What to compute? ”

How What to Compute? q It is no longer a question of How to Compute q We need to know What to Compute: – What kinds of calculations/ measurements to make? – What kind of control is most beneficial to everyone? – What should be in reports to provide the most benefit?

Revolution or Paradigms n Information Wave (1990 s): – Information systems as a strategic resource • using information to create competitive advantages • optimization of agricultural, industrial, and other business operations

Revolution or Paradigms n Role of Information systems in 2000 s and beyond? – Information systems as a vital link for business alliances? – Information systems (i. e. , Internet and Web) as a main path to customers?

History of the Internet

ARPA n Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was created in response to the Soviet Union’s launching Sputnik in 1957 – Mission of advancing technology that might be useful to the military

The Concern n In case of nuclear wars, traditional circuit-switched telephone networks were considered too vulnerable – Loss of one line or switch would terminate all conversation using it and might partition the network

The Idea n Network should be a packet-switched network, consisting of subnet and host computers – Each subnet would be connected at least two other subnets – If some lines were destroyed, messages could be automatically rerouted along alternative paths

Kick-off n ARPA began working toward the Internet technology in mid 1970 s n Internet architecture and protocol took their current form around 1977 - 1979

Into Academic Most university computer science departments were running a version of the UNIX operating system available in Berkeley Software Distribution n Implementing TCP/IP for use with UNIX and funding Berkeley to integrate TCP/IP with its software distribution n ARPA was able to reach over 90% of the university computer science departments n

Global Internet n Began around 1980 when ARPA converted machines attached to its research networks to TCP/IP n Department of Defense mandated that all computers connected to long-haul networks use TCP/IP

Growth n Original ARPA’s network was separated into two networks – ARPANET – for research – MILNET – for military purposes only n During 1980 s, more LANs were added to ARPANET n Domain Name System was developed

NSFNET National Science Foundation (NSF) took an active role in expanding the TCP/IP Internet to reach as many scientists as possible n NSF designed a high-speed successor to the ARPANET and opened to all university research groups n NSF built backbone network to connect six supercomputer centers in San Diego, Boulder, Champaign, Pittsburgh, Ithaca, and Princeton n Provide access to many regional networks to connect to major research institutions in the given areas n

Commercialization n As growth continued, government could not continue financing networking n Commercial organizations wanted to join but were forbidden

Competitive Infrastructure n NSF awarded contracts to four network operators – Pac. Bell, Ameritech, MFS, and Sprint – to establish Network Access Point n The concept of a single default backbone was replaced by a commercially-driven competitive infrastructure

Explosion of the Internet – There are multiple backbones, – Thousands of mid-level (i. e. , regional) networks, – Hundreds of thousands of LANs, – Millions of hosts, and hundreds of millions of users