The information society in Europe. Work and life in an age of globalisation

Book abstract:

The concept of the information society is not a new one. From the 1960s onwards, the notion has been developed that a transition was under way in the organising principles of society from an industrial to a post-industrial model, and finally to an informational model. As the 1980s began, there was a growing recognition of the convergence taking place between computing and communications to form information and communication technologies (ICTs). The current wave of 'information society' policies was launched in the United States by Senator Al Gore during the 1991-1992 presidential campaign. The wave swept eastward to Europe, with the establishment of the European Commission Action plan on the Information Society, and into national programs within Europe and subsequently globally, with the 1995 Summit on the Global information society. This book examines the various forms of the information society, it's effect on different sections of society and the impact on business, education and democracy.

Chapters include: Information infrastructures or societies?; Regional development in the information society; The use of information and communication technologies in large firms: impacts and policy issues; small firms in Europe's developing information society; new organizational forms in the information society; Today's second sex and tomorrow's first? Women and work in the European information society; Toward the learning labor market; Health and the information society; Information and communication technologies in distance and lifelong learning; Information and communication technologies and everyday life: individual and social dimensions; and Computer-aided democracy: the effects of information and communication technologies on democracy.

The contributors, drawn from a range of European universities and organisations, discern general social trends and patterns in the way that these technologies already affect our lives and work. But they find there is still considerable scope to use the technologies as a positive force for change or, equally, to fail to take up positive opportunities that may be offered.