Some basic of the situation of information society, according to Himanen´s article, is that the new technology isn´t the issue, it is a new way of doing things. Also the development of the technology won´t help if it isn´t combined to the changes in structure. These deep structures are the ones which need the change.
The article of Himanen comes to a conclusion that development of the deep-set structures of society is the most critical aspect to the development of information society - these structures need our attention. In the article it is pointed out that information society is not same as an information network or Internet program.
Himanen presents ten major trends which are already in progress. First one has to do with increasing international tax competition, which means that countries reduce tax rates in order to compete for investments and skilled labor. The second trend is about the new global division of labour, meaning that cheaper countries like China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and Brazil get the routine production. The more developed countries need to specialize to more creative work. Third trend is the aging of the population which is happening especially in Europe. Fourth trend is about increasing pressures on the welfare society, the first three trends cause this to happen. Fifth is second phase of the information society which means that the technical development (which started the first phase) continues focusing to social matters.
The sixth trend is the rise of cultural industries, meaning how information economy expands to the field of culture. Seventh trend is the rise of bio-industries. The eighth is about regional concentration which means how expertise concentrates to certain regions. Ninth trend is the deepening global divide which means the rise of inequality and marginalization. The tenth and last trend is the spread of a “culture of emergency”. It is about the acceleration of development which increases the volatility of economies.
Himanen also presents some development scenarios. From a geographical perspective USA, Europe and Asia are leading, USA has kind of a upper hand for example since one third of the world’s economy is in there. Still thinking geographically, there are also three different models: The Silicon Valley model, The Singapore model and The Finnish model. The first model refers to the neoliberalist scenario of “leaving the weak behind”, the second is based on tax competition, i.e. “a race to the bottom” and the third one is the current European combination of the information society and the welfare state. Due to the article, it really is possible to combine the welfare state and the information society, it just needs courage to revise this last mentioned model. There is a need to change from a reactive to a proactive policy, react beforehand and lead the way.
In the article there are also listed some values which are underlying the original European welfare state and innovative entrepreneurship. The values are caring, confidence, communality, encouragement, freedom, creativity, courage, visionariness, balance and meaningfulness. These are the values which make life worth living so they are important to any society.
But to meet the global competition with the scenario and values, it is important to notice also these concepts: A creative economy, a creative welfare society, humanly meaningful development and a global culture.
So, what is about creative economy? It is important to rely on creativity (and expertise) under these pressures of international tax competition and the new global division of labor. Creativity is the key when aims are in increasing the added value and to improve the efficiency of production. A creative welfare society on the other hand is about the goal of people having equal opportunities to realize their potential and are protected against the random misfortunes of life.
Humanly meaningful development has the core in the human sustainability, all the time rapidly crowing global development really is an important question in the information society. The global culture is about the fact that in global development the progress should be towards joint development that is sustainable on a world scale. Open mindedness is a key to that.
Pekka Himanen: CHALLENGES OF THE GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY
The article of Himanen comes to a conclusion that development of the deep-set structures of society is the most critical aspect to the development of information society - these structures need our attention. In the article it is pointed out that information society is not same as an information network or Internet program.
Himanen presents ten major trends which are already in progress. First one has to do with increasing international tax competition, which means that countries reduce tax rates in order to compete for investments and skilled labor. The second trend is about the new global division of labour, meaning that cheaper countries like China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and Brazil get the routine production. The more developed countries need to specialize to more creative work. Third trend is the aging of the population which is happening especially in Europe. Fourth trend is about increasing pressures on the welfare society, the first three trends cause this to happen. Fifth is second phase of the information society which means that the technical development (which started the first phase) continues focusing to social matters.
The sixth trend is the rise of cultural industries, meaning how information economy expands to the field of culture. Seventh trend is the rise of bio-industries. The eighth is about regional concentration which means how expertise concentrates to certain regions. Ninth trend is the deepening global divide which means the rise of inequality and marginalization. The tenth and last trend is the spread of a “culture of emergency”. It is about the acceleration of development which increases the volatility of economies.
Himanen also presents some development scenarios. From a geographical perspective USA, Europe and Asia are leading, USA has kind of a upper hand for example since one third of the world’s economy is in there. Still thinking geographically, there are also three different models: The Silicon Valley model, The Singapore model and The Finnish model. The first model refers to the neoliberalist scenario of “leaving the weak behind”, the second is based on tax competition, i.e. “a race to the bottom” and the third one is the current European combination of the information society and the welfare state. Due to the article, it really is possible to combine the welfare state and the information society, it just needs courage to revise this last mentioned model. There is a need to change from a reactive to a proactive policy, react beforehand and lead the way.
In the article there are also listed some values which are underlying the original European welfare state and innovative entrepreneurship. The values are caring, confidence, communality, encouragement, freedom, creativity, courage, visionariness, balance and meaningfulness. These are the values which make life worth living so they are important to any society.
But to meet the global competition with the scenario and values, it is important to notice also these concepts: A creative economy, a creative welfare society, humanly meaningful development and a global culture.
So, what is about creative economy? It is important to rely on creativity (and expertise) under these pressures of international tax competition and the new global division of labor. Creativity is the key when aims are in increasing the added value and to improve the efficiency of production. A creative welfare society on the other hand is about the goal of people having equal opportunities to realize their potential and are protected against the random misfortunes of life.
Humanly meaningful development has the core in the human sustainability, all the time rapidly crowing global development really is an important question in the information society. The global culture is about the fact that in global development the progress should be towards joint development that is sustainable on a world scale. Open mindedness is a key to that.
Pekka Himanen: CHALLENGES OF THE GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY
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