The digital age, also known as computer age or information age, has been described as “a global epoch that underlines a shift from the traditional industry created through industrial revolution, to a knowledge-based system, founded on Information Technology.”

It is also seen as “A time in human civilisation when access to, and control of information through the use of computers and other technological devices, drive the global economy.”

This was the submission of a Senior Editorof Abuja-based Premium Times newspaper, Mr. Ibanga Isine in his paper presentation titled, “Better Reporting and Safety in the Digital Age”, delivered at the 2015 World Press Freedom Day, organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State council, on Monday in Uyo.

Mr. Isine said that the digital age started in 1970s with the introduction of personal computers, commonly referred to as PCs.

The innovation, he explained, had made it possible for data and information to be transferred more freely and quickly than ever before.

“Today, people buy and sell, using not only computers, but their mobile phones and microchips,” he stated.

Isine also noted that many computer historians trace the beginning of the Information Age to the work of an American mathematician, Claude Shannon, saying that, at the age of 32, Shannon, who was a researcher at Bell Laboratories, published a landmark paper, proposing that information could be quantitatively encoded as a series of ones and zeroes.

He stated that Shannon, known as “the Father of Information Theory”, showed how all information media, from telephone signals to radio waves and television, could be transmitted without error, using this single framework.

“It was however, the development of Internet by the United States Department of Defence in the 1970s, followed by the adoption of personal computers a decade later that prepared the ground for the evolution of the Digital Revolution.

“Further technological advancements, including the development of fibre optic cables and faster microprocessors accelerated the transmission of information.

“With these innovations, the World Wide Web (www), which was initially used by firms as a sort of electronic billboard for their products and services, transformed into an interactive platform for the exchange of consumer goods and services.

“These gave birth to the electronic mail, otherwise known as email, which permitted near-instant exchange of information and was widely adopted as the primary platform for workplace and personal communications.” Mr. Isine explained.

He also said that the innovations and their application in a variety of ways have had a profound impact on traditional media businesses, such as the music industry, book publishing, major television and cable network and the film industry. It has given rise to major social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Whatsapp among others.

According to Isine, “Today, newspapers and broadcast media, have gone online and many have developed applications and shared their contents globally online. The world has moved from the traditional printing word in the form of newspapers, books, compact disks and DVDs, adding, “We now have online newspapers, online broadcast stations, e-books, online music stores and online outlets for almost everything sellable.”

News Express reports that the Global Theme for the 2015 World Press Freedom Day is: “Let Journalism Thrive! Towards Better Reporting, Gender Equity and Safety in the Digital Age”.

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