In the post-Moore era, microelectronic systems characterized by miniaturization and integration and optoelectronic systems with the advantage of large transmission capacity are approaching their development limits. The silicon based optoelectronics (SBO) chip benefits from the mature CMOS technology and can integrate microelectronic and optoelectronic systems on a large scale on a silicon substrate. It is one of the best solutions to meet the development requirements of information systems in terms of miniaturization, functionality, large scale, and low power consumption. Based on the fundamental elements of information technology, our research briefly describes the development process of microelectronics and optoelectronics and demonstrates the necessity of SBO technology and its crucial enabling effect on the miniaturization of information systems. It further elaborates on some significant progress in recent years and analyzes three typical applications of SBO under the demand for large computing power, namely optical interconnection, optoelectronic sensing, and optoelectronic computing, so as to provide a valuable reference for researchers in related fields and promote the further exploration and application of SBO technology in the development of information technology.