THE INformaTIoN aNd INTErNET rEvoluTIoN

Not since the industrial revolution have people all over the world experienced such dramatic business and lifestyle changes as are now occurring due to information technology (IT) in general and to the Internet specifically. According to the RAND organization (Hundley, 2004): Advances in information technology are affecting most segments of business, society, and governments today in many if not most regions of the world. The changes that IT is bringing about in various aspects of life are often collectively called the " information revolution. The current IT revolution is not the first of its kind. Historians and nations may debate the exact time and place of previous information revolutions, but they were: • The invention of writing, first in Mesopotamia or China about 3000B.C. • The invention of the written book in China or Greece about 1000B.C. • Gutenberg's printing press and engraving about 1450A.D. One is reminded of the opening sentence from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: " It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. " Dickens was referring to the French Revolution, but today in the 21 st century we are well into the " IT Revolution. " All major revolutions help some people and organizations, and these may think it is the " best of times " but they also hurt some, and these organizations and people think it to be the " worst of times. " With big revolutions there always will be big winners and big losers. As an example, when the printing press was invented, the largest occupation in Europe was the hand copying of books in thousands of monasteries each of which was home to hundreds of monks; fifty years later the monks had been completely displaced. The impact to society was enormous, not because of the displacement of monks by other craftsmen and machines, but because the price of books dropped so drastically that common people could now afford to educate themselves. For many this new IT revolution is bringing great things with unprecedented improvements in the quality and efficiency of all we do as organizations and as individuals. However for others, IT is a double-edged sword bringing about many problems, disturbances, and unresolved issues such as the creation of a " Digital Divide " between the IT the " haves " and the " have-nots. " In addition IT security and privacy problems …