public services information management 1. the information society

Public Services Information Management

1. The Information Society

Public Services Information Management1. The Information Society

Daniel Bell in ‘The Coming of Post Industrial Society’ noted that:

• 1750-1850 was the century of the agricultural worker (product=agricultural)

• 1850-1960 was the century of the industrial worker (product=industrial)

• 1960-2050 is the century of the professional worker (product=knowledge)


• Not only have sectors changed but also methods of working within them

• Productivity gains have been enormous

• Fuelled by rising expectations

• And a ‘democratisation’ of expectations and of working cultures


• Spend a few minutes indicating how this may have been the case in your own working life

• And then communicate it round the table to the rest of the group…


Two ways to think about such dramatic changes:firstly:Castells.M –Social Formations in the Age of Information

‘a new form of capitalism has emerged: global, hardened goals, much more flexible’ BUT challenged by

Multitude of social movements as people struggle to take control of their lives. This provides the essential dynamic of the Information Age’ (NB the dialectic!)


Information and Call for Papers for"The Information Society" journal published quarterly by Taylor & Francis

An "information technology revolution" that can stimulate significant social change is clearly underway. The exponential growth in computational capability per unit dollar and rapidly increasing bandwidth continues to fuel high expectations that computerization will transform informational and social structures. Connectivity among individuals, companies and nations is forming what some are calling Cyberspace and virtual communities and new forums and formats for electronic publishing, communication and commerce. Since wealth, power and freedom of action derive from control over, access to, and effective use of, information and expertise, the shifting organization of information technologies and social life -- large scale and small scale -- is a major concern. These combined trends have stimulated discussions the relationships between technological change and social change.


The Information Age, Economy, Society and Caricature: The Rise of the Reworded Society? Volume 2001

Lyn Ellison and Debbie Jolly, Leeds University

In Manual Castells’ trilogy: ‘The Information Age, Economy, Society and Culture’, volume one maps: ‘The Rise of the Network Society’. A Society in which: ‘The convergence of social evolution and information technologies has created a new material basis for the performance of activities’. Castells informs us that we are part of a ‘New Economy’, consistent with ‘innovations, globalisation and decentred concentration; for work, workers and firms based on flexibility and adaptability’. These supposed changes provoke ‘… a polity geared towards the instant processing of new values’ (Castells 471:2000).




Clearly, we are part of a technological network in which innovations and globalisation are important. Work, workers and firms are based on flexibility and adaptability. But does this constitute a New Economy? Has information technology really created a new material base for the performance of all activities? If polities are geared towards the instant processing of new values does this suggest a distinctive Network Society, New Economy, or capitalism as caricature?




In the UK, DfEE policies aimed at the promotion of a ‘Work/Life Balance’ and calls for ‘Family Friendly’ workplaces may stimulate the processing of new values and new perceptions of flexibility. Yet, the notion that work, workers and firms are based on flexibility and adaptability is not specific to the 21st century: it has continuously underpinned the labour process. Is the New Economy merely a caricature of the old, drawn-up by political rhetoric and fashionable academic theory?


Rise of the Internet

1. 1960’s – need for military computers to communicate

2. Evolved into an academic research network

3. 1991-92 Gopher allowed hierarchical lists of computer directories

4. But Gopher never became the ‘killer application’ despite the fact it was free for non-commercial use


Rise of the WWW

1. Tim Berners-Lee (CERN scientist) invents HTML

2. Autumn 1993 – Mosaic browser launched, incorporating text AND graphics

3. Hypertext links became common place – point and click is not ‘rocket science’ which aids accessibility

4. 109 million in February, 2001 and growing at 50% a year

http://www.upsdell.com/BrowserNews/stat_growth.htm

public services information management 1. the information society

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