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The term "information technology" came about in the 1970s. Its basic concept, however, can be traced back even further. Throughout the 20th century, an alliance between the military and various industries has existed in the development of electronics, computers, and information theory. The military has historically driven such research by providing motivation and funding for innovation in the field of mechanization and computing.

The first commercial computer was the UNIVAC I. It was designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly for the U.S. Census Bureau. The late 70s saw the rise of microcomputers, followed closely by IBM's personal computer in 1981. Since then, four generations of computers have evolved. Each generation represented a step that was characterized by hardware of decreased size and increased capabilities. The first generation used vacuum tubes, the second transistors, the and the third integrated circuits. The fourth (and current) generation uses more complex systems such as Very-large-scale integration or System-on-a-chip.

Today, the term Information Technology has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term is more recognizable than ever before. The Information Technology umbrella can be quite large, covering many fields. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include:

Data Management
Computer Networking
Database Systems Design
Software design
Management Information Systems
Systems management