United States: Can they take credit for Information Technology (IT) developments?

Information Technology (IT) plays a major role in the world. E-commerce and various advances in IT have made a significant impact on business operations. True globalization has come because of IT. Before discussing the country which can take credit for IT developments, let us define IT first. Several researchers define the term IT as ““an all-inclusive term that encompasses computers and telecommunication in all their forms, whatever their use”.  Information technology is the capability offered by software, hardware, and telecommunications networks to deliver data in any form to individuals and organizations. Below shows the names of the people who invented the key components of Information Technology

Telephone:  Telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.  By 1878, Bell had set up the first telephone exchange in New Haven, Connecticut.

The First electronic computer: The first electronic computer was invented by John Vincent Ansoff. He named it the Anatasoff Berry Computer, or the ABC. It was the world's first electronic digital computer.

The first personal PC -- The personal computer (PC), which is also called the microcomputer, It was designed for use by one person. The same machine was first developed for businesses in the early 1970s by Steve Wozniak & Steve Jobs.

The first internet based email: Computer engineer, Ray Tomlinson invented internet based email in 1971. The first email was sent to his friend who was sitting beside him. The first email message was "QWERTYUIOP".

Ethernet - The physical communication technology underlying the Internet, Ethernet was created by Robert Metcalfe in 1971.

TCP/IP - In May, 1974, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) published a paper titled "A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection." The paper's authors - Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn - described a protocol called TCP that incorporated both connection-oriented and datagram services. This protocol later became known as TCP/IP.

Internet: No single person or organization created the Internet but multiple people developed the key technologies that later grew to become the Internet. Since TCP/IP is the heart of the Internet protocols, I would say Vinton and Robert who developed the TCP/IP protocol were significant contributors.

Now let us look at the biography of the inventors. Alexander Graham Bell who invented Telephone was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, and later on moved to Boston, USA.  John Vincent Ansoff who invented the first electronic computer was from New York, USA.  Steve Wozniak & Steve Jobs who developed the first personal PC are from California, USA. Ray Tomlinson is from New York. Vinton Gray is from Connecticut, USA. Robert Kahn, who worked with Vinton to invent TCP/IP protocol, is from USA. Not only the inventors but also the US government helped in IT development. Few research says During World War II, the US government funded research into tools for calculating the trajectories of artillery shells, which led to the development of various digital computer systems and technology Products.

Having said that, in my opinion many inventors and countries contributed for IT development, but these inventions played key roles in the history of Information Technology development, and most of these are from the USA. Hence I would say United States of America can take the credit for Information Technology developments. Every American should be proud of their people’s contribution to the development in IT field.