Emergence of Information Society

ByKunwar Singh

PGDLIS, UU

Introduction• The human civilization has passed through different stages

such as stone age, Iron age, industrial age, and so on. • Now it has entered the information age. • One of the vital force of this age is information which is the

outcome of continuous inventions and innovations that drive all human activities.

• Dynamics of inventions and innovations are gaining momentum to relieve people from starvation, diseases and miseries.

• Since the dawn of human civilization most societies underwent several changes.

• Most remarkable changes noticed so far is the transition from primitive tribal society to agrarian society then to industrial society.

Cont…..• An information society is a society in which the creation,

distribution, diffusion, use , integration and manipulation of information takes place as a significant economic, political, and cultural activities.

• A number of scholars, scientists and philosophers have been predicting a revolutionary transformation of modern industrial society.

• Now information, knowledge, ideas, skills, etc., have always been at the heart of the growth, progress, and developmental process of a society.

• The countries rich in information are today in a much more advantaged position compared to those poor in information.

• In many cases the countries are obliged to purchase information from the vendor sometimes with vary high cost.

• The advent of Internet has proved to be a great boon for access of any information from any part of the world practically in no time.

• In other words in information has become a commodity.

Development of Information Society• The concept of ‘Information Society’ emerged

during the 1970s and continued through out the 1980s and rapidly gained popularity and currency.

• The proponents of the concepts of information society are scholars and academic authors and popular writers.

Concepts of Information Society• Concepts such as knowledge/information

economy, post-industrial society, post-modern society, information society, network society, information capitalism, network capitalism, etc. show that it is an important sociological question in which society we live and which role technologies and information play in contemporary society.

Features of Information Society• One of the key features of information society is the networking logic of

its basic structures, which explains the use of the concept of network society.

• The data explosion;• The growing information consciousness and information dependence of

society at large;• Accelerating developments in computing and communication

technologies.• Science-based computerization, where computer is used extensively in

national-scale projects. • Management-based computerization in both government and business;• Society-based computerization in which computer will be used for the

benefit of the society as a whole. • Individual-based computerization where each individual will have

access to the terminal and computer information to solve problems, creativities will flourish in this high mass knowledge creation society.

Cont….

• That a high degree of computerization’• Large volumes of electronic data processing and • Shift from an industrial economy to an information

economy. • A telecommunication based information service

infrastructure.• A high degree computerization, large volumes of

electronic data transmission and employment of IT;

• Characterized by the fact that the rapid and convenient delivery of needed information is the ordinary state of affairs.

Implications of Information Society

• Information and Knowledge • Information Technology• Change in resource structure• Change in technological centers• Economic Implication• Professional implication

Cont….

Information and Knowledge• Information and knowledge are generated by individuals and

groups in the social environments in which they live. These get disseminated and grow with peer review and criticism to get validated and to ensure quality. These get cumulated to make a reservoir of knowledge.

Information Technology• Information technology has enabled the wealth of

information and knowledge to become much more easily accessible and available to all. It functions as a powerful means to store larger volume of information, store it for instant retrieval, provide ample multiple outputs, transmit information irrespective of geographical distances, etc. but the quality of contents has to be ensured by those who input them.

Cont….

Change in resource structure• Information and knowledge which grow phenomenally would

be the principal generators of wealth. This change in the resource structure will effect a change in the power structure. An ever increasing gap will grow between ‘information rich’ and ‘information poor’ globally and also within nations.

Change in technological centers• Information and knowledge become the principal

generators of wealth in the form of educational institutions, research and development establishments, scientific and technological centers and other similar knowledge-oriented bodies.

Cont…..Economic implication• Generally the state of information in the economy has

pervasive effects on working of the economy. It has great impacts on those set that provide information products and services such as press, TV, radio, film to libraries and other information providers.

Professional Implication• The information profession is the body of people engaged

in the generation, collection, codification, storage, retrieval, manipulation, management, dissemination, packaging, evaluation and marketing of information. The primary function of the information profession is to ensure that society will have the information it needs to function.

Conclusion• In the information society profession must

engage itself in information mediation and user empowerment. There are different ways in which the profession may carry out the process of mediation. One way is creating databases and systems that use technology to assist the user in searching for ex- for providing appropriate metadata for electronic resource to ensure that they are retrievable or by using technology to group information of different types and different locations.

Thank You