Innovations in Information Technology

I’ve written this post several years ago. As it was never my intention to provide a complete historical overview, I decided to publish it verbatim—all shortcomings and dated references included.

Almost a year ago I was discussing innovations in the Information Technology domain and computer sciences in general with a colleague. Or, more specific, we were discussing the lack of innovations. We couldn’t recall any recent innovations in the Information Technology domain, nor in the—original domain of computing—mathematics.

Recently I wondered why we couldn’t recall any inventions. Was ignorance our side? Lack of communication between science and business communities? Were there no inventions in the Information Technology domain? Or, maybe, inventions halted in general? Were we actually right and the Information Technology domain didn’t receive many innovations in the last decades? To put the innovations made in Information Technology into context, I decide to compare the innovations made in medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry and Information Technology.

The history of medicine, mathematics, astronomy and chemistry all begin centuries and millennia B.C. Information Technology on the other hand is often said to be a young science. But, is it? The term ‘Information Technology’ appeared first in 1958. Using common knowledge—to equal Information Technology to digital computing and communication—the Information Technology science starts approximately in 1940. But is this common knowledge a good enough definition to describe Information Technology? People have always tried to communicate and transfer information using technologies available at that point in time—an informal definition of Information Technology.

Below I’ve put together timelines of different sciences and important innovations. A lot of subjectivity is included in the timelines. What is the originating year of medicine? Is it enough some herbs are used to cure illness? Is looking at the stars already astronomy? Is the description of the Higgs boson already an innovation? Or is the proof it exists the innovation? Maybe it’s not an innovation at all? And, maybe even more important, how do I answer all these questions. After all I only studied Information Technology and Business Process Management—several years ago… So please, take advantage of the fact that each innovation is clickable in the image and will open a web page with more information.

Pre- and ancient history

Ancient history is the beginning of recorded human history. In these early days humans had a nomadic lifestyle. During the transition from prehistory to ancient history the lifestyle evolved. From being a hunter-gatherer, to living in a society, to agricultural societies in permanent settlements, relying on domesticated species.

Innovations in medicine and Information Technology are prevalent in the top of the timeline. The main focus is on applied science. Later other sciences join with innovations, sometimes driven by cross-science innovations. For example ‘De Materia Medica’ is written due to innovations in the Information Technology domain. As human living start to settle at a single place, innovations are accelerating. Although it is impossible to prove, one might argue people got more time for communication (and required more communication) and more time in general for activities which were not related to collecting food.

Looking at the Information Technology timeline it strikes me that the innovations are evenly distributed, while for the other sciences the innovations seem to accelerate. In addition, it looks like just after 2 important Information Technology innovations—papyrus and cuneiform—the other sciences started their innovations.

Post-classical history

During the post-classical era great world religions emerged and networks of trade and military contact between civilizations were established. Large empires were established in several parts of the world: the gap the Roman Empire left in Europe after its fall was filled over time by the Vikings and the Carolingian Empire. In Asia the Rashidun Caliphate, the Mongol Empire and several dynasties emerged.

Initially inventions were made in natural sciences, during this era. To be later joined by applied sciences. Thanks to the earlier inventions of papyrus and cuneiform it became easier to distribute knowledge. And using the network of trade routes known as the Silk Road information was able to travel over large distances. Interestingly enough when the Silk Road was in decline the innovations made were also reduced, to catch up again when parts of the Silk Road were restored. The importance of sharing information to be able to innovate is nicely illustrated by this.

Information Technology seems to receive no innovation at all during this era, except for one. This one proofs to be an important innovation: the innovation of printing press. The printing press accelerates the distribution of information even more, than was possible with papyrus and cuneiform. In the last century and a half a lot of innovation are made, of which only a few are included in the timeline.

Modern history

Modern history is characterized by colonization, exploration and globalization. The printing press and movable types became more and more common. At the same time mechanization took place, resulting in the industrial revolution. After the industrial revolution a further increase of knowledge brought us into the Information Age, currently primarily characterized by the widespread digital technology.

This definitely looks like an era which loaded with innovations. Innovations happen regularly in all sciences. More and more inventions enable inventions in other areas or are sometimes invented using several sciences. An example is the development of the spectrometer, developed in early studies of physics, astronomy, and chemistry.

Information Technology is also blending with other sciences. Is a calculating machine (now on the Information Technology timeline, because it is the precursor of the computer) correctly placed on the Information Technology timeline, or should it be on mathematics timeline? Is cloning Dolly the sheep or CRISPR/CAS9 a medical innovation or is it an Information Technology innovation? After all we’re copying or modifying the human information carrier, known as DNA.

Conclusion

One might say advances in Information Technology started the innovations in other sciences, as for sciences to advance knowledge needs to be shared. Papyrus and cuneiform were the accelerators to share knowledge during ancient history. Thanks to papyrus and cuneiform it was easier to distribute information along the Silk Road. Making information accessible to a broad audience. The invention of the printing press in the post-classical era accelerated the spread of information even more. And in the last era—modern history—the spread of information accelerated even more with the invention of ARPANET. Also, due to ease to search information and communication, cross-science innovations start to re-emerge.

So yes, the conclusion should be that I and my colleague were ignorant. Not of new inventions, but we didn’t recognize the inventions as Information Technology inventions or at least the role Information Technology played in these inventions.