5 -14 Level B/C - Uses of IT in Society

In this section, we will look at how Information Technology may be used in the COMMUNITY. The are pieces of equipment which you and your family might use from day to day:-

Computers and other devices may be used by:-

The Police
and
The Fire Service

The Police

The police use technology to help them speed up their work so that they are more able to protect people and fight crime. Here are some examples of how they might do this:-

- use computers and word processing software to type up reports on arrests and statements from witnesses;

- use computers and database software to search their files to find the owner of a car or a list of people who commit a certain type of crime;

- computers and graphics software might be used to create an identikit picture from a person's description.

The police might also:-

- use a camera to take photographs at the scene of a crime so that it can be used as evidence in court;

- use a fax machine to communicate identikit pictures and descriptions of missing persons to other police forces.

The Fire Service

The fire service use technology to help them speed up their work so that they are better able to fight fires and save peoples lives. Here are some examples of how they might do this:-

- use computers and word processing software to type up reports on suspicious fires to pass on to the police;

- use computers and database software to search their files to find the best type of chemical to clean up dangerous or toxic materials on the road, following an accident;

- computers and simulation software might also be used to predict where a fire started and how it spread.

The fire service might also:-

- use a camera to take photographs at the scene of a fire so that it can be studied later;

- use a fax machine to communicate pictures and descriptions of fires to other fire stations.