Culture in general, covers all aspects of each society in particular, from the way of dressing, thinking, from what is socially acceptable to what is not, culture defines nations, regions or places in itself, it is difficult To be able to change it, new ideologies can be adapted to it, but nevertheless it is difficult to eradicate any of the already pre-established ones.
The era of digitization is long overdue and as it has great weight within society, it has caused culture to be molded so that it can or is included within culture in society, which is why the Digital culture has become part of our living since by becoming part of culture it becomes an inherent part of our lives.
Since the creation of computers, the sending of satellites into space, the emergence of the internet, as well as the digitization of other things such as photography, medicine, professions, education, have made it indispensable for today As a human being, we are evolving directly into a digital world and there is no going back to reach it.
The arrival of smartphones has made us go deeper into this world and this culture, where digital content is created, where culture focuses on that very thing and where from dawn to dusk we are aware of the content that is generated all over the world and accessible as easy as touching the screen and viewing content.
Origins of digital culture
The paradigm of digital culture is created by the need to explain a series of phenomena and effects that digital technology has developed in different contemporary cultures, somehow changing trends in the social behavior of individuals and groups. Although the knowledge and knowledge required and derived from the different digital tools can also be called “digital culture”, their definition has increasingly diverged from the tools and has focused more on the changes that their uses generate in certain human population.
In the history of humanity, the trend of social and cultural changes has been repeated from the different technological eras: It was agronomic, industrial and information age, but cultural changes have never occurred as dramatic and accelerated as in the last decades, the generation of new means of communication that allow not only instant communication regardless of geographic location, but also the possibility of communication between millions of people, generating an outline of "global collective consciousness." (Ortiz, 2016)
Culture is a dynamic process of permanent construction throughout history, in which technical material environments have had an impact on the symbols, beliefs and values of peoples. And in this change of era of the 21st century, the most characteristic thing about science and technology is that they have merged as a science-technology system. That is why some analysts talk about technoscience and how education is for a responsible science and technology.
The revolution in digital technology and information change the relationship with knowledge, with space and time. The complex socio-technical cultural interaction that integrates the idea of digital culture requires an adequate investigation of its consequences. (Lêvy Pierre, 2007, 9), of as much or greater scope and significance than the cultural revolution operated by writing. Digital culture is considered as an inseparable hybrid of electronic material environments and digital symbolic environments. Thus the border between civilization and culture is diluted, to the extent that the education of digital technologies is oriented towards the emancipation of the human being. (Riial, 2016)
Definitions
Culture
We call culture the set of ways of life and customs, knowledge and degree of artistic, scientific, industrial development, at a time, social group, etc. (rae.es, 2017)
Digital
It is that related to the fingers (the extremities of the hands and feet of the human being). The concept, however, is currently closely linked to technology and computing to refer to the representation of information in binary mode. (Gardey, 2013)
Digital Culture
The customs and knowledge that we inherit to develop ourselves professionally and personally are directly influenced by technological advancement, and the topic that we are dealing with today refers precisely to the way in which we have adopted changes in the ways of learning and to live together thanks to the development of digital tools. (Arroyo, 2015)
The digital age
The digital age is the name given to the period in human history that is linked to information and communication technologies. The beginning of this period is associated with the digital revolution, although it has its antecedents in technologies such as the telephone, radio or television, which caused the flow of information to become faster than physical movement.
The digital age has revolutionized our way of communicating, of relating to friends and people in our work environment, of obtaining information, has generated new ways and formats of searching for news, and has created new forms of leisure. (Ortiz, 2016)
From the socioeconomic point of view, we are going to divide evolution into four stages with their respective activities:
Stages of the Evolution of the Human Being
(Arroyo, 2015)
Digital culture vs. analog culture
We understand digital culture as a form of relationships between people, with technological mediation. It differs from analog culture and from the more traditional way of communicating in the following aspects:
- In digital culture, the meaning and purpose of communication are emphasized more than the construction of the message. In a digital culture, the functions of sender and receiver are blurred, which in the more traditional forms of communication are clearly different. This characteristic of digital culture is especially important in the cultural field because it offers the possibility of converting citizens into content producers and not just information consumers. Digital culture offers enormous possibilities for innovation and productivity to society, while The analogous way of assuming technologies, relegates us in the plane of development and competitiveness at the international level, since it assigns us the role of consumers of Internet content.A digital culture requires the development of new skills,of new ways of reading not only texts, but icons, images and signs.(Florez, 2012)
Digital Culture in Organizations
Every organization is indisputable that it makes use of technologies, at present, it is necessary to use computer programs to keep a good control of the actions of every organization.
From a simple spreadsheet to a robust ERP, every company needs the use of technology, being able to transform its information into utilities, reducing time, saving resources and optimizing tasks.
In ancient times, the organization was kept in some log book, it was done manually and it was not bad, obviously for the time it was done. Even the file was physical, and was exposed to incidents of nature.
This is over, now we can take inventory control with any database manager, have the “correspondence” via email, keep track of purchases, sales, loans, etc. With the use of spreadsheets, in a simple way, tailor-made programs for each organization or an ERP that meets the needs.
With these tools, decisions in organizations tend to improve, achieving multiple benefits. And above all, achieve the goal of every company; earn money.
This is roughly a snapshot of what IT helps organizations today, but IT is constantly evolving. And we do not know what tomorrow can be developed for the benefit of the various organizations that exist in the world. (Romero, 2014)
IT news
Much has been said about the enormous advantages that technologies represent in various organizations around the world.
Now it is "unpleasant" to say that we continue to manage everything from the office, since we already deal with the term mobile office. This allows us to control, monitor, the daily activities of our office from a mobile device.
With the development of mobile devices a new world was created, now we can count on mobile applications for almost all kinds of tasks. Before it was necessary to have a scanner to digitize an important document, now this has completely changed, with a high or medium gamma smartphone, it is possible to do it in second, without the need for cables or any expert in peripheral devices.
In the same way, it gives us the possibility to send emails from the cell phone, receive them and answer them.
Unfortunately, currently not all organizations are prepared to operate mobile technology, they tend to centralize operations, it may be due to fear, ignorance or simply not wanting to invest in the benefit of the organization. Seeing it as an expense and not as an investment and greater customer attraction. (Romero, 2014)
Obstacles of digital culture.
Digital culture can generate many contents for the dissemination of information, however it faces multiple obstacles to be able to adequately exponentially, for example:
Digital culture does not count as a priority in lines of scientific research, development and innovation. The training of specialized personnel in this area does not exist in the postgraduate field.
Bachelor-level careers related to this topic are limited. Difficulty in achieving an adequate integration of personnel from the humanities, technology and sciences branch to create and fulfill objectives of digital culture. (Montero, 2017)
IT investment
In our country, it is currently believed that investing in IT is acquiring the latest equipment, or as much as possible. It is a mistake that is typical of emerging countries, because investing in IT is not only the team.
Computer software is also an investment, since it is an essential part of daily tasks in any organization.
In turn, investment in web pages, mobile applications, training, is another way to invest in IT.
The "irons" as we can call the computer equipment, constantly loses its value. Although it represents part of the organization, it can be invested less and the savings in the purchase, apply them in training or some tool that also helps the progress of the organization. (Romero, 2014)
CEO / IT
Today in any organization, its CEO must have knowledge of the benefits brought by technologies, must be clear that being up-to-date is vital. If the CEO, neither can or does not want to take over the position of IT, an appointment, person in charge, director, should be named. That it is responsible for everything related to the implementation of IT, its constant evolution, its proper use and above all, yes and no, is viable for the type of organization.
This person in charge must be able to have a voice and vote in the organization, because today what he contributes or thinks is of vital importance. (Romero, 2014)
Consequences of the digital world in the future
Business Intelligence expert Eduardo Muniz analyzes 8 consequences that the long-term digital era can bring, which we list below:
1. The writing will deteriorate and the communication will have new codes.
Communication is getting faster and shorter.
2. The fingers and hands will adapt to handle cell phones and devices.
Our body has evolved over time, trying to adapt to the environment we inhabit, in the future we may have smaller fingers.
3. We will lose the sensitivity of the 'tone' of the message.
We increasingly lose facial expressions, gestures, eye and hand movements.
4. There is a contradiction between the length of the messages we communicate and the amount of content available.
There is so much information to exchange that we are limited to be able to express everything we want.
5. A lot of data, but superficial and scarce analysis.
Despite the enormous amount of data that oscillates on the Internet, fewer and fewer people are able to analyze all this information, sometimes it is because of the limited space and at others because of the need for instant consumption.
6. Multitasking: process more information in less time.
We have lost the ability to focus on one thing, now we have the cell phone, the tablet and the computer and we are simultaneously reviewing the 3 devices; which can cause anxiety and later lead to stronger psychological effects.
7. Eyes and ears with less sensitivity.
It is so common to see people sunk on their phones, which causes them to develop their sense of hearing a little more, however, sight can have difficulties focusing on objects that are far away.
8. Virtual stimuli are going to harm the dimension of the real.
Virtual scenarios are more and more similar to real ones, we can see it in video games, in this sense there may be people who prefer to stay home than go out and enjoy the environment.
Digital culture: the competitive advantage.
According to (Bel, 2018), President of Microsoft EMEA, in a study on how can technology boost my workers to achieve greater productivity and innovation?
To answer this question, we have interviewed more than 20,000 workers in 21 European countries. We have analyzed the technology they use in their jobs, their attitude to tasks and performance, and the relationship between the two.
Dr. Michael Parke, adjunct professor of Organizational Behavior at the London Business School, and our partner in conducting this research, highlighted some conclusions:
Our research has confirmed that technology can offer companies a significant competitive advantage, but has also shown that technology alone is not enough. For technology to be more effective, it needs to be embedded within a strong digital culture. This is the point where business leaders defend the potential of technology to help both individuals and the organization; where directors set an example by making use of technology themselves; and where employees receive the necessary training to get the most out of these digital tools.
Across Europe we have seen how companies with a strong digital culture are able to position themselves ahead of their competitors. In this way, we see how the employees of these companies feel:
- 5 times more skilled 4 times more committed 3 times more innovative 2 times more productive
When technological innovation is coupled with a proper digital culture, people are able to work smarter and easier. Productivity increases, which is good for the end goal. Engagement also grows, making work flow better among employees. It is there when you can undertake a task, putting all the focus on it, with energy and passion. When an individual finds his own "flow", he is able to do a better job with less effort, obtaining a benefit for the entire organization.
Employees have also shared how they feel much more empowered within this culture. This means that they are able to do their job better, that they are listened to and, ultimately, that they are able to make a difference. Increasingly, people want to feel part of a change, so positions and salaries are not enough to retain the best talent.
Technology works best when it fits seamlessly with a single business culture. An example is Take Stanley & Stella, a Belgian fashion B2B brand committed to sustainability. Technology is the foundation of all of its operations, from helping teams in more than 100 countries collaborate, better communicate with both distributors and consumers, or track every step in their supply chain. (Bel, 2018)
conclusion
Today the digital culture is definitely, stuck to the roots of society, all sectors have practically adapted to it and therefore the human being can no longer go backwards or get out or get away from what is the era digital, digitization far from digital culture.
Day by day we live the digital culture, in one way or another we are involved in it, to wake up we set an alarm clock, which is usually on the cell phone, we check the weather before leaving home in it, if we go in what we do is put our music on public transport and also consult social networks, where all the information we require to satisfy our needs is.
Work is not spared from it, as technology has made many aspects digital within organizations and the industry itself, today machines are usually easy to use just like a cell phone since they have similar programming and adaptable to human understanding.
It is worth mentioning that digital culture is here to stay, however it is necessary to become aware before digital culture leaves us without humanism, nowadays all kinds of things are done to appear and be famous on social networks, likewise Interaction with people in the old way is lost, that is, interacting personally, our thoughts are absorbed, reality and life pass us by because we are turning to what happens in a digital world, a virtual world as it is the cell phone.
Thesis proposal.
Carry out a study to analyze the impact of digital culture on SMEs.
Overall objective.
Collect the necessary data to determine how digital culture directly affects those organizations that are already using digital culture and, at the same time, problems faced by those that have not.
Thanks.
I thank my mother who is the strength to continue every day and who has made me get to where I am, my teachers who have given me their time and knowledge to continue my studies, Doctor Fernando Aguirre y Hernández since He has given us all his experience and knowledge in this matter of Fundamentals of Administrative Engineering, as well as CONACYT since it gives us its support to motivate us to move forward in our adventure for mastery.
Bibliography.
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Retrieved on May 11, 2018, from
www.gestiopolis.com/cultura-digital-y-tecnologias-de-la-informacion/
