According to the document, there are several current trends in information and communication technologies (ICT). These include increased use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, edge computing, quantum computing, virtual and augmented reality, blockchain, the internet of things, 5G networks, and continued advancements in cybersecurity. All of these technologies are driving innovation and changing how people interact and businesses operate.

3. According to Christensson (2010), information
and communication technologies have
provided society with a vast array of new
communication capabilities in the past few
decades. For example, people can
communicate in real-time with others in
different countries using technologies such as
instant messaging, voice over IP (VoIP), and
video-conferencing. Social networking
websites like Facebook allow users from all
over the world to remain in contact and
communicate on a regular basis.

4. MEC Network Corporation (2019) presented the history and the
current state of ICT in the Philippines. Philippines ICT Throwback

8. • The world wide web, or web for short, are the
pages you see when you're at a device and you're
online. The internet is the network of connected
computers that the web works on, as well as what
emails and files travel across (BBC, 2019). The
internet could be likened to the roads that connect
towns and cities together while the world wide
web are the things you see on the roads like houses
and shops.
• Additionally, Lumsden (2012) describes the internet
as a series of huge computer networks that allows
many computers to connect and communicate with
each other globally. Upon the internet reside a
series of languages which allow information to
travel between computers. These are known as
protocols.

13. Features of Web 2.0
• Folksonomy - It allows users to categorize and
classify/arrange information using freely chosen
keywords (e.g., tagging). Popular social networking
sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. use
tags that start with the pound sign (#). This is also
referred to as hashtag.
• Rich User Experience - Content is dynamic and is
responsive to user’s input. An example would be a
website that shows local content. In the case of
social networking sites, when logged on, your
account is used to modify what you see in their
website

14. • User Participation - The owner of the website is not the only
one who is able to put content. Others are able to place a
content of their own by means of comment, reviews, and
evaluation. Some websites allow readers to comment on an
article, participate in a poll, or review a specific product (e.g.,
Amazon.com, online stores).
• Software as a Service - Users will subscribe to a software only
when needed rather than purchasing them. This is a cheaper
option if you do not always need to use a software. For
instance, Google Docs is a free web-based application that
allows the user to create and edit word processing and
spreadsheet documents online. When you need a software, like
a Word Processor, you can purchase it for a one-time huge
amount and install it in your computer and it is yours forever.
Software as a service allows you to ―rent‖ a software for a
minimal fee.
• Mass Participation - It is a diverse information sharing through
universal web access. Since most users can use the Internet,
Web 2.0’s content is based on people from various cultures.

15. What is the difference between
webpage, website, web browser, web
server, and search engine?
• Webpage A web page or webpage is a document,
commonly written in HTML, that is viewed in an
Internet browser. This can be accessed by entering
a URL address into a browser's address bar. Also, it
may contain text, graphics, and hyperlinks to other
web pages and files. A web page is often used to
provide information to viewers, including pictures
or videos to help illustrate important topics. It may
also be used as a method to sell products or
services to viewers. Multiple web pages make up a
website (Computer Hope, 2020).

16. • Website A website is a collection of linked web
pages (plus their associated resources) that share a
unique domain name. Each web page of a given
website provides explicit links—most of the time in
the form of clickable portion of text—that allow the
user to move from one page of the website to
another (Mozilla Developer Network, 2020).
Illustration below shows examples of webpage and
website.

18. • Web Browser The web browser is an application
program that displays a www document. It usually
uses other internet services to access the
document (Tech Differences, 2021). Below are
some of the web browsers.

19. • Web Server A web server stores and delivers the
content for a website – such as text, images, video, and
application data – to clients that request it. The most
common type of client is a web browser program,
which requests data from your website when a user
clicks on a link or downloads a document on a page
displayed in the browser. A web server communicates
with a web browser using the HTTP. The content of
most web pages is encoded in HTML. The content can
be static, for example, text and images, or dynamic, for
example, a computed price or the list of items a
customer has marked for purchase (NGINX).

20. • The difference between the web browser and web
server is that web browser requests the server for
the web documents and services while the web
server accepts, approve and respond to the request
made by the web browser for a web document or
services.

21. • Search Engine Search engines are answer machines.
They are used to discover, understand, and organize the
internet's content in order to offer the most relevant
results to the questions searchers are asking. They
work through three primary functions. One is crawling
or scouring the Internet for content, looking over the
code/content for each URL they find. Another is
indexing. They store and organize the content found
during the crawling process. Once a page is in the
index, it’s in the running to be displayed as a result to
relevant queries. And lastly, ranking as they provide the
pieces of content that will best answer a searcher's
query, which means that results are ordered by most
relevant to least relevant (Muller & Moz Staff, 2021).

23. What are the current trends
in ICT?
• Convergence Technological convergence is the
synergy of technological advancements to work on
a similar goal or task. For example, besides using
your personal computer to create word documents,
you can now use your smartphone. It can also use
cloud technologies to sync files from one device to
another while also using LTE technology which
means you can access your files anytime,
anywhere. Convergence is using several
technologies to accomplish a task conveniently.

24. What are the current trends
in ICT?
• Social Media Social media is a website, application,
or online channel that enables web users to create,
co-create, discuss, modify, and exchange
SM.jpguser-generated content. According to
Nielsen, a global information and measurement
company, Internet users spend more time in social
media sites than in any other type of site. With this,
more and more advertisers use social media to
promote their product.

25. • Six Types of Social Media

31. What are the technology trends for 2021?
Duggal (2021) presented the top 9 technology
trends for year 2021 which are as follows:
• 1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning Artificial
Intelligence, or AI, is already known for its superiority in
image and speech recognition, navigation apps, smartphone
personal assistants, ride-sharing apps and so much more.
Other than that AI will be used further to analyze
interactions to determine underlying connections and
insights, to help predict demand for services like hospitals
enabling authorities to make better decisions about
resource utilization, and to detect the changing patterns of
customer behaviour by analyzing data in near real-time,
driving revenues and enhancing personalized experiences.
Machine Learning the subset of AI, is also being deployed in
all kinds of industries, creating a huge demand for skilled
professionals.

32. • 2. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Robotic
Process Automation, or RPA, is another technology
that is automating jobs. RPA is the use of software
to automate business processes such as
interpreting applications, processing transactions,
dealing with data, and even replying to emails. RPA
automates repetitive tasks that people used to do.
• 3. Edge Computing Edge computing can be used to
process time-sensitive data in remote locations
with limited or no connectivity to a centralized
location. In those situations, edge computing can
act like mini datacenters.

33. • 4. Quantum Computing Next remarkable
technology trend is quantum computing, which is a
form of computing that takes advantage of
quantum phenomena like superposition and
quantum entanglement. This amazing technology
trend is also involved in preventing the spread of
the coronavirus, and to develop potential vaccines,
thanks to its ability to easily query, monitor, analyze
and act on data, regardless of the source. Another
field where quantum computing is finding
applications is banking and finance, to manage
credit risk, for high frequency trading and fraud
detection.

34. • 5. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Virtual
Reality (VR) immerses the user in an environment while
Augmented Reality (AR) enhances their environment.
Although this technology trend has primarily been used
for gaming thus far, it has also been used for training,
as with VirtualShip, a simulation software used to train
U.S. Navy, Army and Coast Guard ship captains.
• 6. Blockchain Although most people think of blockchain
technology in relation to cryptocurrencies such as
Bitcoin, blockchain offers security that is useful in many
other ways. In the simplest of terms, blockchain can be
described as data you can only add to, not take away
from or change. Hence the term ―chain‖ because
you’re making a chain of data. Not being able to change
the previous blocks is what makes it so secure. In
addition, blockchains are consensus-driven, so no one
entity can take control of the data

35. • 7. Internet of Things (IoT) Another promising new
technology trend is IoT. Many ―things‖ are now being built
with Wi-Fi connectivity, meaning they can be connected to
the Internet—and to each other. Hence, the Internet of
Things, or IoT. The Internet of Things is the future, and has
already enabled devices, home appliances, cars and much
more to be connected to and exchange data over the
Internet.
• As consumers, we’re already using and benefitting from IoT.
We can lock our doors remotely if we forget to when we
leave for work and preheat our ovens on our way home
from work, all while tracking our fitness on our Fitbits.
However, businesses also have much to gain now and in the
near future. The IoT can enable better safety, efficiency and
decision making for businesses as data is collected and
analyzed. It can enable predictive maintenance, speed up
medical care, improve customer service, and offer benefits
we haven’t even imagined yet.

36. • 8. 5G Where 3G and 4G technologies have enabled us
to browse the internet, use data driven services,
increased bandwidths for streaming on Spotify or
YouTube and so much more, 5G services are expected
to revolutionize our lives. by enabling services that rely
on advanced technologies like AR and VR, alongside
cloud-based gaming services like Google Stadia, NVidia
GeForce Now and much more. It is expected to be used
in factories, HD cameras that help improve safety and
traffic management, smart grid control and smart retail
too.

37. • 9. Cyber Security Cyber security might not seem
like an emerging technology, given that it has been
around for a while, but it is evolving just as other
technologies are. That’s in part because threats are
constantly new. The malevolent hackers who are
trying to illegally access data are not going to give
up any time soon, and they will continue to find
ways to get through even the toughest security
measures. It’s also in part because new technology
is being adapted to enhance security. As long as we
have hackers, cybersecurity will remain a trending
technology because it will constantly evolve to
defend against those hackers.