The information revolution and Ireland: Prospects and challenges

PREFACE There has been an Information Revolution and we are either living in an Information Society or are about to enter an Information Society. At least, so proclaim newspaper and magazine articles, as well as television and radio programmes. Popular books describe the 'death of distance'(Cairncross 1997) as well as the 'third wave' which is coming after the agricultural and industrial 'waves' (Toffler 1980), and newspapers and magazines are zealous in their discussion of new gadgets and the transformation (sometimes good and sometimes bad) that these technological marvels herald. Academic writers are less certain, with some arguing that current technologies are leading to economic and social transformation (Poster 1990; Castells 1996) while others (Schiller 1985; Wood 1997) argue that the Information Revolution is just the Industrial Revolution with a few new frills. 1 Some have argued that new technologies will lead to freedom and empowerment (Bell 1973), while others have drawn attention to these technologies increasing the power of states or multinational corporations, at the expense of individuals (Lyon 1994; Lyon and Zureik 1996; Lyon 2002). This book is not intended to be an exhaustive or definitive discussion of the digital revolution or the Information Society, 2 nor is it intended to proclaim or denounce the new Information Society. However, whether there is a new economic, political, and social order emerging, or not; whether the new order is beneficial or detrimental to citizens; all agree that significant changes are taking place. Often, however, it is as though we are all bystanders, watching change taking place, with very little public participation in the process. The central issue in this book is that technology, including the new information and communications technology linked with the Information Society, is not a force external to society and beyond the control of society; technology is an integral part of society and is acted upon and altered by social forces (Williams 1974; Winner 1977). This book is not an attempt to predict the future; the future will result from interactions between technologies, individuals, social forces and political policies, and will differ from society to society. There has never been a single or inevitable result of technological change, and, in the context of recent technological changes, there is no 'one size fits all' outcome in which societies throughout the world will either become carbon copies of each other or mini-versions of the United States. The societies that will …