Research Paper on:
Future Directions for Information Technology

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
changes that occurred only during the decade of the 1990s, those likely to surface during the next decade and beyond are even more astounding than what we already have witnessed.  We were learning, discovering new technologies and expanding the Internet during the 1990s. During upcoming decades, we will be putting all of that learned information to use, both  practically and theoretically, forming new technologies and capabilities that either do not exist at present or are just beginning to emerge. Changes at All Levels  Bill Gates was the keynote speaker at the Comdex Fall 2002 technology conference, where he shared his vision for the future of IT and what he called "the  digital decade," referring to the years 2000 to 2009. Gates says that the changes that found their beginnings in the latter years of the decade of the 1990s to  become reality in the early years of the new century will come into their own during these years. All "the scenarios for automation of business and home life that  are just beginning will be commonplace. This will be enabled, he noted, by advances in chips, connectivity and computing devices" (Trembly, 2002; p. 18).  IBM coined a phrase referring to "technology with self-regulating and self-healing technologies" (Knorr, 2002; p. 106), naming the new approach as "autonomic computing." Smart machines increasingly  will be able to monitor and adjust themselves according to conditions that exist or arise. Taking advantage of these changes and advances in  capabilities will translate to the final death of the piecemeal approach to building and maintaining an IT infrastructure and operating systems. Increasingly, "strategic planning will be an increasingly important