Transcript Towards the Information Society PSI 2007 Kaido Kikkas This

Towards the Information
Society
PSI 2007
Kaido Kikkas
This document uses the GNU Free Documentation License (v1.2 or newer).
The Rapids of Change
Hunting/gathering => agriculture
Industrial => ???
Virtually unlimited production AND
destruction capabilities
The planet DOES have its limits
Sources
Robert Theobald
Charles Handy
Manuel Castells
Vint Cerf
Paul Redmond
Pekka Himanen
Immigrants to the new time
“Let the young learn, old ones know”??
Not any more
Learning: hierarchical => networked
Estonian proverb: “A man learns
throughout the life, but dies a fool
anyway”
Constructed knowledge
Mindquake
Concept by Robert Theobald
A certain point in the process of change
where the old model and old
understanding lose their meaning - a new
one must be obtained or constructed
The main skill – how to cut the long fall
into many small descents (it is much
wiser to use stairs)
“May you live in interesting times!” - turn
the curse into a blessing
Shift of focus
It used to be "The one who has the most
stuff at his death will win"
New focus: the person
Not individualism but perfection via social
interaction
Differences will be valued
Actually amazingly similar to the hacker
mindset described by Himanen
Handy's nine paradoxes
intelligence
work
productivity
time
riches
organizations
aging
individual
justice
Castells' information society
information-based economy
global economy
network enterprise
changes in work and employment
social exclusion and polarisation
the culture of true virtuality
hard and dirty politics
timeless time
space of flows
Vital skills: education
Diverse models of education
Same/different time/place
Future of Work (P. Redmond)
Traditional
Future
clarity
vagueness, diversity
employer
client
job
adding value
career
portfolio
promotion
personal development
degree
lifelong learning
Vital skills cont'd
The main keyword – flexibility (plus a
good base education)
Ex: Japan
McJob (D. Coupland)
The work
Gomberg: the Whirling Dervish economy
Handy: labour => skill => knowledge
Himanen: monastery vs academy
Freedom vs responsibility. Burnout!
Handy: return of the guilds
Networked society
Is the society the same in networks?
Does cyberspace exist?
Changes in communication (Ex: mobile)
Vint Cerf: in Internet, the variety of
communication measures is the key
The magic solution?
Should we just connect everyone in
Africa?
Estonia: a dangerous experiment that
paid off
What to learn from King Koko
Hacker Ethic (P. Himanen)
The work should also be a hobby
Life is not totally serious
Greed is a Bad Thing
Is our life a Friday or a Sunday?
Passionate life
A final thought
do we live to work – or work to live?