The Basics #6 Extra: The History of ICT and Why It Matters Today
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become such an integral part of our work lives that it’s easy to forget it has a history. Yet behind today’s dashboards, ERPs, and cloud apps lies a story of human collaboration: of people and organizations striving to share knowledge, coordinate efforts, and make better decisions together.
In this post, we’ll look at how ICT emerged and evolved, not just as a technological revolution, but as a response to how we organize ourselves. We’ll show how the need for structure, coordination, and shared knowledge in increasingly complex systems gave birth to the tools we now take for granted.
At Moonland, we often say that every digital solution begins with a simple question: how do people work together?
From Hierarchies to Networks: A Brief History of ICT
The Paper Era
Long before computers, organizations ran on paper. Offices were structured around departments with their own filing systems, forms, ledgers, and memos. Communication happened via printed letters, reports, and in-person meetings. Information was siloed. A sales team might have its own records, while finance kept separate books.
This made coordination difficult. Cross-department collaboration required duplication of effort and physical movement of documents, slow, error-prone, and unscalable.
But even then, the seeds of ICT were being sown: the need to centralize, retrieve, and share information across people and roles.
The Mainframe Revolution (1950s–1970s)
With the rise of mainframe computers, governments and large corporations started to digitize recordkeeping. Banks, airlines, and public institutions were among the first adopters. These systems were centralized, housed in a single server room, and accessible by terminals.
For the first time, data could be shared across teams, managed consistently, and retrieved quickly. This allowed organizations to grow more complex, more products, more staff, more locations, while maintaining control over operations.
But the technology was still limited to large players. It was expensive, technical, and highly centralized, meaning all decisions about information had to be routed through IT departments.
The PC and Office Software Boom (1980s–1990s)
The personal computer changed everything. Suddenly, individual employees could create and manage their own documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Word processors and early databases like MS Access became common in offices. Email enabled faster internal communication.
This democratization of technology gave people more autonomy, but also brought new challenges: decentralization, duplication, and lack of shared structure. Everyone had their own version of the truth, saved in different folders or formats.
Organizations responded by introducing network drives, intranets, and shared file systems, trying to bring some order to the chaos.
The Internet and Cloud Era (2000s–Today)
The rise of cloud computing, SaaS platforms, and APIs marked the next leap in ICT. Tools like Salesforce, Airtable, Notion, Google Workspace, and Slack don’t just store information — they connect people, workflows, and systems.
What changed?
- Real-time collaboration across time zones and devices
- Centralized but accessible data structures
- Integration across platforms, allowing end-to-end process automation
- User-centric design, putting power back into the hands of teams instead of just IT
These modern tools reflect a deeper shift: organizations moved from linear hierarchies to dynamic networks. The old model of centralized command gave way to cross-functional collaboration, project teams, and agile ways of working.
ICT didn’t just evolve with technology. It evolved with us, with the way we work, communicate, and organize.
The Future of ICT: Intelligence, Trust & Decentralization
If the cloud revolution was about access and connectivity, the next wave of ICT is about intelligence, autonomy, and trust. Technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, and distributed systems are reshaping how organizations structure themselves and collaborate — often in radical ways.
Artificial Intelligence: From Information to Insight
We’re entering an era where information systems not only store and process data, but increasingly analyze and act on it. AI is accelerating this shift. From forecasting sales and optimizing supply chains to automating customer support and detecting anomalies, AI allows organizations to scale their decision-making capacity in real time.
At Moonland, we already integrate AI tools to support SMEs and NGOs in working smarter and making data-driven decisions. Some AI capabilities include:
- Enriching CRM data by analyzing publicly available sources (e.g. social media, reports) to help teams better understand the current priorities of clients, donors, and partner organisations.
- Automatically auditing narrative reports and financial documents, flagging potential inconsistencies or risks through smart alerts.
- Prompt personalised dashboards to provide real-time visual insights tailored to each team’s needs.
- Spotting hidden trends in sales, attendance, or impact data insights that would typically take hours for a human to uncover.
But the bigger story is cultural: AI is changing how people interact with information. Interfaces are becoming conversational. Systems are becoming proactive. The dream of every team having a digital assistant is fast becoming reality.
Blockchain: Trust Without Middlemen
Another frontier is blockchain, which introduces the concept of trust without central control. It’s not just about cryptocurrency, blockchain has real potential in sectors like logistics, humanitarian aid, and compliance-heavy industries.
For example:
- Provenance tracking in supply chains, ensuring data about sourcing and transport is tamper-proof.
- Decentralized identity systems that give individuals control over their credentials or health records.
- Smart contracts that automate financial agreements or grant disbursements when conditions are met.
- Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, where physical assets (like financial assets like bonds or shares, crops, buildings, or equipment) are digitized and made tradable on-chain unlocking liquidity and transparency for underserved communities.
- Decentralized insurance, especially in agriculture and disaster recovery, where smart contracts can trigger automatic payouts when predefined conditions (like drought or flood indicators) are met, reducing the need for intermediaries and speeding up relief.
In traditional systems, trust is ensured through centralized intermediaries (banks, governments, IT admins). Blockchain opens the door to shared systems of truth where rules are embedded in code, not enforced by people and expensive middlemen.
The Convergence: Smarter, Fairer, More Resilient Systems
What unites AI, blockchain, and other emerging ICT trends is the pursuit of scalability without fragility. In complex, fast-moving environments, organizations need systems that are:
- Autonomous but still aligned with human goals.
- Transparent without being bureaucratic.
- Secure without being rigid.
- Distributed without being chaotic.
The future isn’t about replacing people with machines. It’s about designing human-centered ecosystems where people and technology collaborate intelligently, whether it’s two colleagues in the same office or a global network of partners and suppliers.
Why Collaboration Needs Centralization
This evolution reveals a powerful insight: as organizations become more complex and interconnected, centralized information systems become essential. That might sound counterintuitive, isn’t decentralization better?
Yes and no.
You want decentralized autonomy, letting teams act independently. But to do that effectively, they need centralized information, a single source of truth that aligns everyone. When everyone works off their own spreadsheet, confusion reigns. But when everyone connects to a shared platform (like a well-structured Airtable base), collaboration becomes frictionless.
This is where Moonland comes in.
We help SMEs and NGOs design centralized, flexible, and human-first information systems. Whether it’s a CRM, inventory manager, or reporting dashboard, the goal is always the same: to support how your people organize, collaborate, and decide, not just how your tech is set up.
Final Thought: ICT Reflects Us
The story of ICT isn’t just about machines. It’s a story about how people build structures to manage growing complexity. It’s about trust, communication, and shared understanding.
And today, as even small organizations face the challenges of distributed teams, remote work, and rapid change, the need for smart, scalable information systems is more important than ever.
If you’re building something bigger than yourself, your systems need to keep up. That’s what ICT has always been about, and that’s where Moonland can help.
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About the Author
Pello Múgica Gonzalez is the cofounder of Moonland, a digital consultancy based in Ghent and Brussels, focused on empowering impact organizations through data, automation, and AI. With hands-on field experience at the Red Cross and a background in data science, Pello understands the unique challenges of the impact sector, from complex stakeholder environments to demanding reporting cycles.
He leads digital transformation initiatives that help NGOs and nonprofits streamline operations, unlock insights, and build long-term resilience through accessible, human-centered technology. In recognition of his work, Pello was named a Digital for Development laureate, honoring his innovative contributions to the humanitarian and development field
Passionate about making technology work for social good, Pello continues to support impact-focused teams in turning fragmented data into actionable strategy, helping them stay agile, transparent, and mission-aligned in a rapidly changing world.
