Has IT become more important in recent months? (Up front: news, trends & analysis).Information technology (IT) has taken on a new significance since September 11. IT tools are being relied upon more heavily to facilitate disaster recovery, e-learning, overseas outsourcing, supply chain management, and staff management -- functions necessary to help the world recover from the terrorist attacks. Military The military has especially benefited from IT support. It has armed every U.S. soldier with mobile equipment and systems, allowing dependable real-time intelligence while on the battlefield. IT and military strategists are predicting that all soldiers in combat will eventually be using handheld phones and minicomputers to connect to a wireless communications wireless communications System using radio-frequency, infrared, microwave, or other types of electromagnetic or acoustic waves in place of wires, cables, or fibre optics to transmit signals or data. network to track other units on the ground and military assets in the air and at sea. Internet Streaming media See streaming audio, streaming video and digital media hub. technology had record usage in September as people stormed Web sites to keep up with the latest news developments. Nielsen/NetRatings, an Internet measurement service, reports that 21.1 million workers listened to or watched some form of audio or video Webcast that month as compared with 17.4 million in September 2000. Travel IT tools have helped the travel industry, one of the financially hardest hit from the terrorist attacks, monitor traveling trends. This has allowed some companies, such as Amtrak Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corp., authorized to operate virtually all intercity passenger railroad routes in the United States. Amtrak was created by Congress in 1970 in response to more than two decades of continuous operating deficits by privately run , to assess consumer confidence in flying and other modes of transportation. As airline service in the Northeast United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. remains below pre-September 11 levels, Amtrak's Acela Express train has experienced a 35 percent increase in traffic from a year earlier, according to The Wall Street Journal. Though the Acela has seen the largest increase in travel, Amtrak traffic as a whole has increased 15 to 17 percent from a year ago. Consumers IT has enabled consumers to get the information they need about economic trends in a timely manner. It has also assisted economists in gathering the consumer data they need. For instance, a University of Michigan (body, education) University of Michigan - A large cosmopolitan university in the Midwest USA. Over 50000 students are enrolled at the University of Michigan's three campuses. The students come from 50 states and over 100 foreign countries. study indicates that U.S. consumer confidence rose in October despite economic woes and thousands of layoffs caused by the September 11 attacks September 11 attacks Series of airline hijackings and suicide bombings against U.S. targets perpetrated by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda. . The study reports that the consumer confidence index Consumer Confidence Index A measure of consumer views regarding the current economic situation and consumer expectations for the future. Information for the index is compiled and released on the last Tuesday of each month by the Conference Board, an rose to 83.4 in October from 81.8 in September. |
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