Information Society

We are right now living on the edge of what we can call an information society. The computer is no doubt one of the greatest inventions in history. It has truly changed our lives and there is more to come. Much more. But is it a blessing or a curse? That depends on how we use it. Like any other great invention, the computer can be both used and misused. There are many areas where computers can make our lives easier and allow us to do things that simply aren’t possible without computers. But there are also many pitfalls to watch out for.

We are right now living on the edge of what we can call an information society. More and more people use computers in their work and home computing is growing rapidly as well. Home computing is not hobby-oriented anymore, as in the eighties and nineties. Learning the technology is still the main goal for some computer buyers. But most people buy home computers because they want to do something productive with them. They are no longer toys; home computers are now a tool or a source of entertainment. The same computer and Internet connection can be used for both remote work and entertainment.

The current IT infrastructure already provides many valuable services to home users, not to mention business users. Companies and office workers have been using the net extensively for some time already. Larger organizations already live in the information society. It would for example be impossible to operate a bank nowadays without computers. But the Internet is changing. It is also becoming a valuable source of information for ordinary people. It is clear that the new group of users has changed the contents of the Internet. It is not strictly business anymore. Entertainment conquers a larger and larger part of the net. Nowadays there is a lot of useful information on the net, and the net is fun as well.

There are many problems in our young information society. The fundamental infrastructure that the Internet is based on was developed 20 – 30 years ago for the US army. The early Internet was for a long time a resource that only trained IT personnel had access to. It was not necessary to build proper security systems into the network infrastructure, so no one did. The fundamental security problems surfaced much later. Unfortunately the Internet had already become so big that the basic concepts couldn’t be changed anymore.

So the information highway is really an open system that moves data from one place to another, but without any kind of control and with very little security built in. Any vehicle is allowed on this highway and there are no driver’s licenses required. But this open highway is at the same time becoming the backbone of our business and one of the most important channels for entertainment. There are of course a numerous security systems in the Internet. But these systems are not really a part of the Internet core. They are rather features of the systems connected to the Internet. This means that the responsibility for implementing and using these systems lies on anyone that connects to the net, either as a service provider or as an ordinary user.

That was not a problem ten years ago when the typical Internet user was an IT-expert. So who will take the responsibility? Unfortunately, in many cases no one.

So are we living in a true information society today? No, not yet. There are two main obstacles to tackle: connectivity and security.

Connectivity is not a technical problem. An efficient broadband connection is a minimum requirement for the information society, and these connections are already available in most geographical areas. You do not have to pay per minute for browsing the mail order catalog that drops through the mail slot. So why pay per minute when browsing the catalog in the on-line store? The Internet must be something that you have open all the time. There can’t be any lengthy technical operations before the net is open. Then it is convenient enough to use the Internet-based services rather than their traditional competitors.

Attitude is another serious problem. Computers and Internet became widely known as a toy for nerds. At this stage everyone knew what it was but only a few had access to the net. The Internet’s image was unfortunately created at this time. The police will no doubt question you if they notice that you go from car to car and check if they are locked. But you can do the same virtually in the Internet quite safely. The authorities may also lack both the skills and resources that are required to investigate cyber crime.

The net is a powerful communication tool that unfortunately can be misused. This has been proven time after time when some of the fastest worms travel around the globe in less than couple of hours. These viruses and worms can easily overload systems, cause failures, damage data deliberately or disclose confidential information such as trade secrets or credit card numbers. A hacker can nowadays break into systems anywhere in the world from his home. He can route the attack through several servers to cover the traces. It’s natural that this totally new, technically complex, and global problem is a tough challenge for lawmakers and the police.

An ordinary Internet user can’t count on the authorities to ensure his or her security on the net. And most users don’t have the skills to ensure the security themselves. What should be done? The answer is fortunately rather simple. The need for broadband connectivity has boosted the sales of ADSL- and cable-subscriptions. And these connections often come with security features built in, either as standard or as an option. This is in many cases the ideal solution for home users and even for smaller companies. The operator ensures security and they have the skills to maintain the protection properly and react quickly enough in case of new threats. Security may be implemented both on the operators’ servers and the clients’ computers. A combined antivirus and personal firewall program can even be installed on each computer in the organization, and still be maintained by the service provider. A combined antivirus and personal firewall program is already becoming popular among home users, and the same program works for smaller companies as well. And there is only one bill to pay for all this.

The information society is really around the corner. Larger companies are already there and home users are joining in. New affordable broadband connections with built-in security will remove the last barriers and open a new world to ordinary people. This progress is not controlled by advances in technology anymore, but by our ability to adopt the new technology. But we should all remember that it takes more than just infrastructure to build an information society. A society is a group of people that interact. We are taking into use a new powerful channel that enables us to interact in new ways. We need to develop this channel, set the rules and learn how to use it efficiently. A society is after all made up of the people that belong to it, no matter how technologically advanced they are.


Author: Mikael Albrecht, Manager, Product Management


Begin | Back