Session 2 the network society

The Network Society

Dr. Juan Luis Manfredi SánchezCorreo-e: [email protected]

[email protected]: @juanmanfredi

http://ciberdemocracia.blogspot.com

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

2Juan Luis Manfredi, Ph.D @juanmanfredi

1. Technology, Society and Historical Change

The current transformation is not a question related only to Internet and New Media

Castells’ Theory is based on the pre-internet technologies: they prepare the current structure and the forthcoming change

Information is the backbone of society, so where’s is the difference?

Information society means that the info leads the economy, the politics and the society

The new paradigm is equal if not greater in impact to the industrial revolutions that have shaped the development of the modern age

The current development changes all the human activity starting with the economy



Economy and economie

s

Politics and policies

Technology Society

Network Society



The key question is the capacity for change: the ability to develop tech is useful indicator of development “The ability or inability of societies to master technology, and particularly technologies that are strategically decisive in each historical period. Largely shapes their destiny, to the point that we could say that technology per se does not determine historical evolution and social change, technology (or the lack of it) embodies the capacity of societies to transform themselves, as well as the uses to which societies, always in a conflictive process, decide to put their technological potential.” (p.7)



The tech is not responsible for the change itself The different historical influences defines how a country reacts to the information tech and how they utilize it Informationalism ≠ industrialism It is “a new mode of development shaped by the restructuring of the capitalist mode of production towards the end of the 20th century” (p.14)

The change affects:• The class relationships• The labour and the organizers of production• The interaction amongst ourselves• The way we consume• The primacy of experience over production

TECH



The use of computer networks as communication medium accelerate the pace of the change Audience or consumers are no longer a homogeneous mass entity

The change rienforces the audience as an aggregate of demographic, ethnic, and lifestyle variables with differents needs and interests

Moreover, the audience and its relationship to media is transforming as well• The era of narrow or targeted media• Consumers control 5W access to meet wants and needs• Branding and marketing push is needed to build awareness and loyalty • Crowded, competitive marketplace• New ways to engage audiences

SOCIAL ASPECTS



SOCIAL ASPECTS

Who? Early Boomers (+50 years old)

Late Boomers(40-49 y.)

Generation X(30-39 y.)

Generation Y(20-29)

When? 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s

What? Limited broadcastingSome TV channelsAM Radio

Remote controlColor TVMore TV channelsFM Radio

CableVCRCNN, MTV and specialty channelsCD

InternetVideogames100 TV channels or moreMobile phonesMp3



The change goes further the economy or the media consumption:• The transformation of labour• The challenge to traditional families and patriarchalism• The definition of the self• The identity: ethnic and religious groups

The more globalized and interdependent is the world, the more reduced is the creation of insular identities

The government faces the challengeWhy? The informationalism is based on the technology of knowledge and it has the potential to impact across several level of society

SOCIAL ASPECTS



The new mode of development transforms the economy:• It increases the efficiency of the production • It modifies the nature and the quantity• More services and experiences

Where’s the value? The mode of capitalist production is based in the tech of knowledge generation, information processing and symbol communication This is the core of the informational economy:• The information is the raw material • The knowledge itself becomes the commodity

ECONOMY



The new sources of competitiveness:• Technological capacity• Access to integrated markets• Production costs and prices• Political capacity to lead the change

The nature of the radical transformation affects the operations and the way of doing business New values include:• Decentralization• Networking companies• International trade blocs• Transnational institutions• The decline of the Nation-State

ECONOMY


1. Technology, Society and Historical Change Porter’s Five Forces



GlobalisationGlobal Standards + Transnational Advertising + Privatization + Trade Agreements + Global Products & Customers +… Digitalization Storage, processing and transmission of information impacts processes such as sales and customer service, and in many cases, the product or service itself can be re-packaged or delivered electronicallyInformation is costly to produce but cheap to reproduce in fact the marginal cost may reach zero.

Three New Forces

Deregulation The opening up of markets that were previously closed by factors such as monopoly, state owned or controlled production or by restrictive legislation or trade practices. Key industries affected by deregulation and which are vital to e-government include telecommunications and broadcasting. As new operators have entered the markets, there have been notable innovations created, as these new entrants have not necessarily had the benefit or burden of legacy systems and processes.



Killer App are “inventions whose impact has extended far beyond the activities for which their creators built them. Ultimately, the havoc they visited on social, political, and economic systems has outweighed the impact of their intended usage” (p. 3)

Do you know anyone?



These new principles involve the political development

Are our democracies prepared to such a change?

Are we using zombie categories? (Beck)

Can we foresee the consequences?

Politics and Policies


2. The information technology paradigma) The information is raw materialIt demands growing flows of information to maintain the level of activity“These are technologies to act on information, not just information to act on technology” b) The effects of the ICT are pervasivenessIt does define how we approach to the society c) FlexibilityOrganizations and institutions can be modifiedThe material basis of the organization can be reprogrammed and retooled

d) The networking logic is a defining characteristic of the information societyThe creative power of technological interaction and communicationSocial networks are based on this logicThe social cohesion is dependent on these technological issues e) ConvergenceSpecific technologies go into an integrated system Telecommunications has experienced a shift integrating microprocessor and optoelectronic data transmissionMore and more efficiency


2. The information technology paradigm

Are we facing a disruptive paradigm?

Clayton M. Christensen: “process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves ‘up market’, eventually displacing established competitors”

Video definition by himself

Disruptive technologies are innovations that result in worse product performance, at least in the near term. They are generally cheaper, simpler, smaller, and, frequently, more convenient to use

Disruptive technologies occur less frequently, but when they do, they can cause the failure of highly successful companies who are only prepared for sustaining technologies.

http://www.claytonchristensen.com/disruptive_innovation.html


2. The information technology paradigm

Some remarks

1. Market progress is separate from technology progress. Customers do not always know what they need.

2. Innovation requires resource allocation which is extraordinarily difficult for disruptive technologies.

3. Disruptive technology needs a new market. Old customers are less relevant. Disruptive technology is a marketing problem, not a technological one.

4. Organizations have narrow capabilities. New markets enabled by disruptive technologies require very different capabilities.

5. Information required to make investment decisions does not exist. Failure and iterative learning are required.

6. It is not wise to always be a leader or always a follower. Disruptive innovations reward leaders.

7. Small entrant firms enjoy protection because they are doing things that do not make sense to the industry leaders.


3. A New Sputnik Moment?

1957: USSR launches the Sputnik satellite It shocked Americans and prompted a national commitment to education, space and science spending

Federal Government supports the innovation through R&DThe creation of ARPA Advanced Research Projects Agency NetworkIt is the origin of Internet and the scientific revolution

Is any New Sputnik there?



http:

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(Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Goal: Basic ResearchThe plan will place a new emphasis on translating the research into technologies that can power economic growth and address pressing national needs

Seven key areas1. Nuclear fusion and nuclear-waste

management 2. Stem cells and regenerative

medicine 3. The flux of carbon between land,

oceans and atmosphere4. Materials science, I5. Information technology 6. Public health 7. Environment



Obama: “This is our generation’s Sputnik moment”It will mean strong investments in biomedicine, ICT and clean-energy technologyThe government investment will support basic research, the system based on innovation and free trade


4. What does it happen to communication and culture?

The information paradigm has an effect on the character rather than the means of communication and culture Why? ICT transforms the way both are transmittedThe primacy of the multimedia narrative instead of the print cultureMultimedia integrates the communication structure: written + oral + visual modesAltering the means of how the language is communicated, changes our conceptions of society The rise and the decline of mass mediaThe traditional TV is the reference case to show the end of the typographical mind• Conversation mode: face to face and debate • Intellectual tendencies: Sequential reasoning



Instead of the unidirectional media, ICT increase the new media as well as the diversification of mass audienceE.g. Local editions in newspapers, personalized audio devices or videorecording systems These examples confirm the ability to participate in broadcasting The mass media depends on the interaction between the sender and the receiver in the interpretation of the messageThe message is no longer uniform within the nation-stateThere’s place for specific contents dependent on viewing preference and personal tasteThis segmentation includes local culture, global news or transnational advertising



The rise of computer mediated communicationThe way Internet and new media are developed difficult to censor or control the contentsThe underlying reason is the nature of digital communication Four cultural patterns:• Widespread social and cultural differentiation• Social stratification• Diverse messages are all within the communications network• All cultural expressions as well as the diversity is invited

Documents

Session 2 the network society