[eccr] IT's Place in U.S. History: Information Technology as a Shaper of Society

Greetings,

We would like to announce the posting on our website of a new paper.


Peter H. Daly
IT's Place in U.S. History: Information Technology as a Shaper of Society
[35 pages; April 2002/Research Report]

Every era embodies the conflict between inherited conditions and new ideas,
and the "information age" is no exception. With the advantage of hindsight,
history reveals patterns of cause and effect among an array of social and
technological forces pitted at different times against one another. But, at
the dawn of the twenty-first century and of the "information age," events
often may appear random and myriad stories are begun and interrupted. An
observer can only speculate: What is holding it all together? What are the
large themes? How can so many different impulses and pursuits amount to
anything as coherent as a national direction? This report will explore
accommodation between inherited conditions in the United States, that is, a
legacy of social structures, and the barrage of new ideas associated with
the emerging information society. It will review three historical
periods-Colonization, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial
Revolution-which influenced the formation of contemporary society and will
explore, in particular, what is called "the digital divide"-the gap between
those who use computers and are connected to the Internet and those who do
not and are not. The intention of the report is to help policymakers and
others who must devise strategies and allocate resources on either a micro
or macro scale to broaden their consideration of IT beyond mere
connectivity and lead them toward a better understanding of the influences
of IT on social structures in the future. ISBN 1-879716-68-2 P-02-3

You can link directly to the Acrobat PDF version of this item.  It can be
downloaded or printed at:

http://www.pirp.harvard.edu/publications/pdf-blurb.asp?id=556


Feedback of any kind is always welcome.

Sincerely,


Anthony G. Oettinger
John C. B. LeGates
(617)495-4114 - Phone
(617)495-3338 - FAX



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