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Information technology has been touted as a boon for productivity, but measuring the benefits has been difficult. This volume examines what macroeconomic data do and do not show about the impact of information technology on service-sector productivity. This book assesses the ways in which different service firms have selected and implemented information technology, examining the impact of different management actions and styles on the perceived benefits of information technology in services.
Information Technology Serving Society focuses on the potential roles of information technology in shaping society, including advances in the capabilities of computers, progress of processes in information transfer, and implementation of information technology control measures. The selection first discusses information transfer, as well as the benefits and risks of the relationship of computers and human, the need for information policy, and challenges in information technology. The book then takes a look at information policy and technology in transition. Topics include developments in information policy and technology, applications of computers to social functions, and use of data bases in time-sharing services. The publication examines the combination of computing power and human ingenuity, including the value of communications, role of automation, and voice command recognition. The text also underscores how the use of computers has improved the processes of information gathering, sharing, and retrieval in the congress and senate. The need for the government to impose regulations on information technology is emphasized. The selection is a must for readers interested in the developments and applications of information technology.
An anthology of writings by thinkers ranging from Freeman Dyson to Bruno Latour that focuses on the interconnections of technology, society, and values and how these may affect the future. Technological change does not happen in a vacuum; decisions about which technologies to develop, fund, market, and use engage ideas about values as well as calculations of costs and benefits. This anthology focuses on the interconnections of technology, society, and values. It offers writings by authorities as varied as Freeman Dyson, Laurence Lessig, Bruno Latour, and Judy Wajcman that will introduce readers to recent thinking about technology and provide them with conceptual tools, a theoretical framework, and knowledge to help understand how technology shapes society and how society shapes technology. It offers readers a new perspective on such current issues as globalization, the balance between security and privacy, environmental justice, and poverty in the developing world. The careful ordering of the selections and the editors' introductions give Technology and Society a coherence and flow that is unusual in anthologies. The book is suitable for use in undergraduate courses in STS and other disciplines. The selections begin with predictions of the future that range from forecasts of technological utopia to cautionary tales. These are followed by writings that explore the complexity of sociotechnical systems, presenting a picture of how technology and society work in step, shaping and being shaped by one another. Finally, the book goes back to considerations of the future, discussing twenty-first-century challenges that include nanotechnology, the role of citizens in technological decisions, and the technologies of human enhancement.
The flood of information technology (I.T.) products and services entering the market place often obscures the need to nurture the research enterprise. But as I.T. becomes integrated into all aspects of society, the need for research is even greater. And the range of issues that need to be addressed is broader than ever. This new book highlights the fundamental importance of research to ensure that I.T. meets society's expanding needs. Against the background of dramatic change in the I.T. landscape, the committee examines four key questions: Is the scope of I.T. research broad enough-particularly in the arena of large-scale systems-to address government, business, and social applications? Are government and industrial sponsors providing sufficient funding for I.T. research? Is the research net big both big and diverse enough to capture sufficient financial and intellectual resources to advance the field? Are structures and mechanisms for funding and conducting research suited to the new sets of research challenges?
"This book discusses methods of using information technologies to support organizational and business objectives in both national and international contexts, describing the latest research on both the technical and non-technical aspects of contemporary information societies, including e-commerce, e-learning, e-government, and e-health"--Provided by publisher.
Information Technology (IT) is conquering the world. It affects our jobs, our lives as private citizens, and society. Its impact is greater than other technologies, such as railways, personal cars, and the telephone. However, while most can understand the potential and constraints of these technologies, IT is often experienced as a “black box,” producing its effects without giving a clue as to how they are achieved. The aim of How Information Technology Is Conquering the World is to open this box and to offer a basic knowledge of the technology and how it works. We will then understand why IT can put toll both operators, metro train engineers, and stockbrokers out of a job, but at the same time have limited impact on bus drivers, nurses, and teachers. How Information Technology Is Conquering the World focuses on the interface between the technologies and the real world in order to explore not only where these technologies have their advantages but also where their limitations become apparent. The difficulty of introducing a new technology is emphasized with the practical goal of enabling readers to use technology to full advantage. This book is useful for those involved in, affected by, or interested in the technology; for students taking an introductory course in computing; and for managers and others who are interested in seeing how this rapidly evolving technology will affect their lives, jobs, and businesses now and in the future.
Computers, communications, digital information, softwareâ€"the constituents of the information ageâ€"are everywhere. Being computer literate, that is technically competent in two or three of today's software applications, is not enough anymore. Individuals who want to realize the potential value of information technology (IT) in their everyday lives need to be computer fluentâ€"able to use IT effectively today and to adapt to changes tomorrow. Being Fluent with Information Technology sets the standard for what everyone should know about IT in order to use it effectively now and in the future. It explores three kinds of knowledgeâ€"intellectual capabilities, foundational concepts, and skillsâ€"that are essential for fluency with IT. The book presents detailed descriptions and examples of current skills and timeless concepts and capabilities, which will be useful to individuals who use IT and to the instructors who teach them.
High Tech Society is the most definitive account available of the technology revolution that is transforming society and dramatically changing the way we live and work and maybe even think. It provides a balanced and sane overview of the opportunities as well as the dangers we face from new advances in information technology. In plain English, Forester demystifies "computerese," defining and explaining a host of acronyms or computer terms now in use.Tom Forester is Lecturer and Director of the Foundation Programme in the School of Computing and Information Technology, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. He is the editor/author of five books on technology and society.
Digital information and networks challenge the core practices of libraries, archives, and all organizations with intensive information management needs in many respectsâ€"not only in terms of accommodating digital information and technology, but also through the need to develop new economic and organizational models for managing information. LC21: A Digital Strategy for the Library of Congress discusses these challenges and provides recommendations for moving forward at the Library of Congress, the world's largest library. Topics covered in LC21 include digital collections, digital preservation, digital cataloging (metadata), strategic planning, human resources, and general management and budgetary issues. The book identifies and elaborates upon a clear theme for the Library of Congress that is applicable more generally: the digital age calls for much more collaboration and cooperation than in the past. LC21 demonstrates that information-intensive organizations will have to change in fundamental ways to survive and prosper in the digital age.
In Part I, Prof. Targowski takes us through the evolution of modern computing and information systems. While much of this material is familiar to those of us who have lived through these developments, it would definitely not be familiar to our children or our students. He also introduces a perspective that I found both refreshing and useful: looking at the evolution on a country by country basis. For those of us who live in the U.S., it is all too easy to imagine that evolution to be a purely local phenomenon. I found my appreciation of the truly global nature of computing expanding as he walked me through each country’s contributions. In Parts II and III, constituting nearly half of the book, Targowski provides what I would describe as an in-depth case study of the challenges and successes of informatics in Poland. As he tells each story—many of which involved him personally—the reader cannot help but better understand the close relationship between the freedoms that we in the west take for granted and the ability to produce innovations in IT. Even after Poland left the orbit of the former Soviet Union, the remaining vestiges of the old way of thinking remained a major impediment to progress. Being right and being rigorous were far less important than being in tune with the “approved” ways of thinking. There are important lessons to be learned here, particularly as we try to project how IT will evolve in rapidly developing economies such as China. But, from my experience, they apply equally well to western academia, where moving outside of preferred values and patterns of research can lead a scholar to be ignored or even disparaged. In Part IV, Targowski presents a bold, forward-looking synthesis of informatics and informing science in the future. Building upon articles recently published in Informing Science: The International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline, he presents a conceptual scheme of historical informing waves that builds upon historians such as Toynbee. He then considers how these trends will necessarily force us to rethink how we develop and apply IT. He does not steer away from the controversial. But he also provides cogent arguments for all his predictions and recommendations.