What is Digital Technology

The advent of digital technology is traced back to the time when semiconductors were in use, during the late nineteenth century. Technology has always been a pre-dominant factor towards the embodiment of change, such as that of, devices, culture, or people. In the seventeenth-century German mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz went ahead and proposed the idea of a binary computing system. As opposed to analogue technology, the binary computing system is based on notation of signals–sounds, data, or pictures in combinations of 0 and 1, also called as bits. In other words, information recorded in a binary computing system in the form of digits 0 and 1, is called digital information or digital technology.

Digital Technology​ in Daily Life

The day to day devices such as mobile phones, computers, laptops, and other such machines operate through a binary computational code, therefore, storing, processing, and generating data as and when required. The application of binary computational code is additionally extended to social media, multi-media, cloud computing, productivity applications and other similar electronic tools. The digitization of technology provides operational and executable information, in order to reduce man-hours of labor. Digital technology has enabled volumes of information to be compressed on compact storage devices, so as to be easily contained and delivered, minimizing the time taken for data transmission speed.

Digital technology has immensely changed the pattern of working as well as learning of new concepts, including communication. Moreover, organizations have also started introducing digitized paper processes, electronic transfers, e-signatures, and many other processes that have completely transformed the work culture, promoting differentiating factor to an organization. The telecommunications, for instance, went under absolute transformation with technology becoming digitalized, especially with the cable systems and the cellular phones.

Advancement in Digital Technology

Digital technology is in the midst of a significant period of transformation, reaching its fourth wave of evolution. The first wave was of digital technology which was witnessed with the introduction of Internet, giving a variety access to information. The second wave of transformation came in with mobile internet, with the advancement of mobile phones having operating systems from Google, Apple, and other such companies. The third wave of digital technology is the present day application of Internet of Things (IoT); wherein machines and equipment are embedded with tiny sensors, linked to virtual devices (cloud), creating value on a global level.

Lastly, the approaching fourth wave of digital technology refers to the involvement of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), aimed at assisting with decision making and creating knowledge with help of machines. The advancements in digital technology are at an unstoppable momentum, paving the way for enhanced competitiveness, increased customer satisfaction, scalability, and improved productivity. It has been reported that approximately 70-75 percent of business-houses globally are working towards digitalization. Organizations are on the constant look-out for flourishing and developing prospective business ideas, in order to grow globally.

Furthermore, the key element to be considered in digital technology is the employee empowerment. Any company or organization can transform its working parameters to the digital environment, but if it fails to empower its employees with the same, the digital transformation will not be able to provide profound and lasting insights for the overall development of the organization.