The information society

Conclusion

Technology

Competition between:

• individuals
• companies
• countries

• no end in sight
• no evidence of slackening of pace
• there is worringly little evidence of consideration of effects

Business

• dramatic changes
• end of one hundred years of bureaucracy in business
• demise of
  • clerks and typists
  • secretaries
  • middle managers
  • large corporations
• focus on the customer
• information as a lever to service

Economy

• shift to Pacific Rim
• growing challenge of NICs
• growth of white collar productivity
• creative destruction of existing industries
• loss of national companies through internationalisation

Society

• pushed on by effects of decisions by companies about technology, products and work
• growing internationalisation of:
  • business
  • job opportunities
  • education
  • culture
• is the “free” market enough to ensure “our” interests?

Individuals

• ever starker divisions into those with intellectual capital and those who can flip burgers
• access to information services
• entertainment
• education
• need to keep coming back for more education

Revolutions and change

• there is change
• but is it a revolution?
• does it matter?

• the under-educated
• the poor

Driving forces

Competition between:

• nations
• regions
• cities
• companies
• individuals

Inertia

• social
• organisational
• political

• individually
• career groups
• countries
• groups of countries

No evidence of

• more spiritual values and contemptlation
• more leisure time for the masses

Can we stop it?

• no
• if anything it is getting faster
• no time to react
• we might be able to change the direction
• difficult to know what the effects might be
• often the visible changes are less significant

Feedback

• staff-student committee
• course evaluation forms in Centre for Informatics
• they are anonymous

Examination

• three questions from a dozen
• i.e. one hour each
• no trick questions

Preparing for the examination

• read your notes
• read several books
• identify themes
• locate theories and models
• identify examples
• analyse the examples using the theories and models

Questions

• answer the question as set
• any reasonable interpretation is acceptable
• if in doubt state your interpretation
• try to provide a structure
• write legibly and coherently
• make it interesting