The Information Society: Emerging Landscapes

In 1990, members of IFIP Working Group 9.2 were instrumental in producing one of the first books to describe the Landscape of the new phenomena created by the uptake of computerization the so-called Information Society. Ten years later, at the annual Namur meeting of its Working Group in January 2000, a proposal was made to produce a second book and the brainstorming began. In the time that had passed, the developments in computer technology had brought the Internet within reach of ordinary citizens, and the World Wide Web had spawned a new e-industry . The landscape of the information society had changed dramatically, and it continues to change at a breathtaking pace.§This book is the result of those discussions, culminating with the "Landscapes" Conference held at Turku University, Finland, in July 2005. The themes chosen for the conference philosophy, ethics and sociological aspects, culture and education; social aspects; politics and regulation; economics and work; technology and emerging technologies represent many of the perspectives from which to view this landscape. The papers illustrate the diverse impacts of the information society and the changing paradigms within education, law, health care, the workplace and on future societal infrastructures through research initiatives and the development of new technologies. In this book, IFIP WG9.2 has attempted to capture the new emerging landscape of the Information Society.§A picture of profound technological and social change emerges from this holistic approach. It offers a key to understanding the ramifications of computer technologies within the information society, and of the social accountability of all those who work with and are affected by them.This book is compiled of selected proceedings from the "Landscapes" Conference held at Turku University, Finland, in July 2005. The themes chosen for the conference philosophy, ethics and sociological aspects, culture and education; social aspects; politics and regulation; economics and work; technology and emerging technologies represent many of the perspectives from which to view this landscape. The papers illustrate the diverse impacts of the information society and the changing paradigms within education, law, health care, the workplace and on future societal infrastructures through research initiatives and the development of new technologies. In this book, IFIP WG9.2 has attempted to capture the new emerging landscape of the Information Society.§A picture of profound technological and social change emerges from this holistic approach. It offers a key to understanding the ramifications of computer technologies within the information society, and of the social accountability of all those who work with and are affected by them.International Federation for Information Processing§The IFIP series publishes state-of-the-art results in the sciences and technologies of information and communication. The scope of the series includes: foundations of computer science; software theory and practice; education; computer applications in technology; communication systems; systems modeling and optimization; information systems; computers and society; computer systems technology; security and protection in information processing systems; artificial intelligence; and human-computer interaction. Proceedings and post-proceedings of referred international conferences in computer science and interdisciplinary fields are featured. These results often precede journal publication and represent the most current research. The principal aim of the IFIP series is to encourage education and the dissemination and exchange of information about all aspects of computing. §For more information about the 300 other books in the IFIP series, please visit springeronline.com. §For more information about IFIP, please visit www.ifip.org.