Alvin Toffler, in The Third Wave, introduced the concept of waves of change that fundamentally alter the very nature of civilization and destroy the preceding civilization. He asserts that civilization has moved from an Agricultural Age to an Industrial Age and is presently moving into an Information Age. In this Information Age, the nature of every aspect of civilization, including economy and family structure, will be fundamentally and irreversibly changed by widespread access to information.
There has been widespread adoption of the term Information Age. However, it is not clear that the type of fundamental change to civilization Toffler described is actually occurring. Information has not become the basis of the economy as he predicted. Likewise, social structure has changed less due to information than it did as a result of industrial age phenomenon such factories and rapid transportation which promoted the breakup of the traditional nuclear family and changed social values. In contrast, increasing access to information appears to be making largely incremental changes in social behavior and economics. The majority of working Americans still physically travel to their place of employment and, whether conducted in a “virtual” store or a “brick and mortar” store, commerce remains fundamentally unchanged; physical products are produced, marketed, and sold.
There have been claims that the nature of conflict in the Information Age will be fundamentally different from conflict in previous ages. It seems this claim may be somewhat overstated. Certainly, technology has enabled a much faster pace for military operations and has made weapons far more accurate and effective than at any previous point in history. However, precision weapons and unmanned vehicles are simply refinements of existing capabilities. Even systems which collate and process vast amounts of intelligence data are nothing more than improvements on age old processes. Some would argue that the emerging field of Cyber Warfare is the entirely new nature of conflict Toffler predicted. However, it seems to me the strongest claim that can be made is that this is a new domain wherein the traditional concept of conflict will be conducted.
Humans are becoming increasingly effective at conflict. However, the fundamental nature of conflict does not appear to be changing dramatically. The specific enabling technologies undeniably are changing but the basic objectives and types of capabilities are not.
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I could not see an available place to comment on your video. However the Autonomous Combat System Video was great to include a good selection of music. I must admit I had to start "rocking".
ReplyDeleteI would agree with an overstatement of changes. However this Information Age has allowed social networking capabilities only dreamed of years ago. For example with items such as Facebook I can connect with family in Germany, Ghana, France, and all over the states. I now spend my time in virtual environments meeting new friends and discussing topics I would not have the chance to years ago at this pace.
McNurlin and Sprague examined the works of the original researchers to compare how managing Information Technology (IT) investments has become much more complicated today contrary to the pioneer era of Information Age in 1957 (2006). Regardless of this fact that managing Information Technology investments grows increasingly complex and costly, organizations have since become much more critically dependent on their Information Technology investments for operational efficiencies and increased competitive advantage.
ReplyDeleteOrganizations invest in Information Systems because they are idealized to provide the relevant, timely, comprehensive and reliable information and support for the organization’s short term or day to day tactical operations. Secondly, Information Systems are purposed to support the organization’s long term strategic decision making, forecasting and risk management. Ideally, Information Systems provide a holistic view of the organization, and sometimes, in relation to the whole industry for comparison. The goal is to empower management to make informed, accurate, cost effective decisions for the organization’s operations. This improves Information Technology’s responsiveness to the business needs which leads to increased productivity and hence competitive advantage in the industry.