ICT Explosion

17 Mar ICT Explosion

The evolution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that we witness today traces its roots back to a remarkable period of technological convergence in the 1970s. This era, metaphorically described as a technological syzygy, mirrored the astronomical alignment of celestial bodies, signifying a unique alignment of groundbreaking technologies that have shaped the modern digital world.

The Genesis: ARPANET to Optical Fibers

The late 1960s and early 1970s marked the beginning of this digital revolution. In 1969, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) showcased ARPANET, the precursor to the internet, demonstrating the first packet-switched network. This innovation laid the groundwork for the global internet, a cornerstone of today’s ICT landscape.

Parallel to these developments, 1970 was a pivotal year for optical communication technologies. Zhores Alferov and his team at IBM made a groundbreaking advancement by integrating lasers onto chips, creating the continuous wave (CW) laser diode that could operate at room temperature. This invention is the bedrock of today’s optical communication transmitters. In the same year, Corning scientists Donald Keck, Robert Maurer, and Peter Schultz developed the first low-loss optical fiber, which remains the main medium of most communication networks.

Microprocessors and Networking

The innovation spree continued with Intel’s development of the first microprocessor in 1971. Termed as a “computer on a chip,” this 4-bit processor revolutionized the performance of a variety of electronic devices and laid the foundation for modern computing technology.

Networking technology also saw significant advancements. In 1973, Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs at Xerox introduced Ethernet, essential for connecting computers within local area networks (LANs). That same year, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn developed the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), the primary protocols for data transmission across the internet.

Fast Forward to Today

Decades later, the technological landscape has evolved beyond imagination. Modern processor chips house over 100 billion transistors, with each transistor being as tiny as 5 nanometers. Supercomputers today perform calculations at astonishing speeds, reaching hundreds of quadrillions of operations per second.

Remarkably, the computing power in the key fob that starts your car surpasses that of the Voyager 2 spacecraft, launched in 1977 and still transmitting data from the edge of our solar system. Meanwhile, a single strand of optical fiber, as thin as human hair, can transmit more than 25 trillion bits of data every second across vast distances. High-performance fiber optic cables crisscross the ocean floors, uniting all continents in an interconnected digital world.

With over 5 billion people, accounting for more than 65% of the global population, now online, the impact of these technological advancements is profound and ubiquitous. The ICT explosion of the 1970s has burgeoned into an omnipresent digital infrastructure, underpinning every facet of modern life from communication and entertainment to education and industry.

This journey from the synergistic alignment of pioneering technologies in the 1970s to the pervasive digital ecosystem of today highlights an era of unprecedented innovation and growth. The technological syzygy of the 1970s didn’t just align the stars for the ICT revolution; it created a new universe of possibilities that continues to expand at an exponential rate.

To be part of this revolution, join our optical network training programs, including the foundation program, Certified Optical Network Associate (CONA) and the advanced program Certified Optical Network Engineer (CONE).