Modern cultures throughout the world have begun the transition into a new paradigm of human existence. The Age of Information has been fully thrust upon Western Civilization with the advent of the Information Superhighway. A paradigm has arisen which fulfills ancient dreams and has the potential to make the sum of human knowledge available to the common citizen. Thomas Jefferson advocated the principles of individual liberty, a commitment to pluralism, diversity, and community. The Information Age promises to deliver Jefferson's dream in a context he could not have imagined.
A driving force behind the oncoming Information Age is the concept of Information on Demand. Information on Demand has been around in limited forms for several centuries through public libraries and archives. Technology has begun to fundamentally change the way information is stored, what information is stored and the manner in which it is retrieved. Information on Demand is a broad concept that encompasses all information that can be stored in an electronic format and retrieved instantaneously. To fully utilize Information on Demand one needs a multi-media capable computer platform. Multi-media provides methodologies in which different forms of data like, print, graphics and video are integrated. The user benefits from multiple perspectives and methods in which the information is delivered.
The multi-media platforms which support Information on Demand will encompass a variety of forms. Those with media capable personal computers are among the first to experience the promise of the technology with applications of CD-ROM and the World-Wide-Web. These applications are becoming more common to the home but currently they are predominately found in educational institutions, and some public libraries. The commercial sector has discovered the promise of Information on Demand and the dynamic growth of the Internet is a precursor to a new technology that will be coming into homes before the end of the decade. Information on Demand will become widespread through the application of new communications technology. Consumers will be able to utilize information with clients such as their home computers or special cable television boxes. These client devices will be plugged into new networks that are being built by cable operators and the telephone companies which employ broadband technologies. The new communications networks will enable consumers to reach millions of servers around the world which contain digital libraries that are rich with educational materials, entertainment and electronic democracy.
David Letterman once quipped about his TV show, "as an information highway without information." The course being set in the evolution of information on demand is at a crucial juncture. Industry is now undertaking development of the network infrastructures needed to support high bandwidth applications like video on demand. Decisions are being made which will affect the kinds of applications that can be implemented on these networks. The premise of Information on Demand, is built around the concept of networked multi-media systems. Full scale implementation of Information on Demand will require fully switched high bandwidth infrastructure. Network architecture will play a crucial role in the types of services that are ultimately delivered. Those services could range from applications of being able to call video on demand, or a fully inter-networked system that provides consumers with a broad range of information, not limited to that which the network carrier provides.
Letterman may have quipped about a highway without information, however this is perhaps one of the largest obstacles that the telecommunications industry will have to overcome. Content and the ability to retrieve content are crucial issues to overcome with Information on Demand. A number of Digital Library Research projects funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency, including Informedia which are exploring the development of content for Information on Demand and methods for retrieving data. Among the greatest challenges which digital libraries must overcome are the telecommunications problems posed in delivering such a system on a mass scale to consumers.
The implications of Information on Demand within the realm of social sciences are vast. A re-alignment of the socio-economic fabric society could occur on a scale not seen since the advent of electronic mass communications in the early 20th Century. Information on Demand will represent the full realization of our civilizations technology of which the impact will be felt for several future generations. Electronic information exchange will become a social system in itself with implications for the economy, and human psychological makeup. Existing social systems such as families, religious, cultural, educational and political institutions are already feeling the effects of fallout from the dawn of the Information Age.
Problem Statement
The fruit of the Information Age is about to bear. Technologies needed to facilitate Information on Demand have matured and the necessary, economic and social forces are moving forward to create a critical mass of resources needed to bring the dream into reality. Several forms of broadband networks have matured and are ready to deliver information, digital libraries are under development, and consumer grade interface technology to travel the superhighway awaits passengers. The Information Age has vast implications for the economy, social institutions, families, and the human psychological makeup. Historical periods of enlightenment are driven by new technology which allowed for the dissemination of knowledge. The Renaissance was driven by information technology, when Johann Gutenberg in 1455 invented movable type. The Age of Information processes potential to bear fruit that has not been realized on a scale since this period.