Lee Wei Zhi - Democratization Of Information

POWER, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT

Student Name: Student ID:

Lee Wei Zhi 71002090

Discuss the implications of the “democratization of information”. INTRODUCTION Democratization has been defined as the action of installing democracy which in turn refers to “the principle of equality of rights, opportunity, and treatment”. According to Mickael Book (2004), “Freedom of information is not only a part of the society; it is also a precept for life in society”. The philosopher Sir Francis Bacon once said “Knowledge is power”. With knowledge, citizens can now make more informed and independent decisions and judgement. Information democracy has been largely achieved with the help of technology; individuals now have broad access to public information. Specifically, the Internet has catalyzed the democratization of information. This technology has bridged the transnational and regional boundaries and plays the important role of “knowledge disseminators”. Human geographers term this phenomenon as globalization whereby the world becomes less diverse and more homogeneous as global cultures begin to assimilate into traditional cultures. At the same time, knowledge is also an important asset as it allows a competitive edge over others. This essay seeks to discuss the implications of information democracy on people, organization and nation. PEOPLE “Countries are finding it increasingly difficult to totally isolate their people from information about life outside their borders. This information is empowering citizens from across the globe to strive for better lives.” (Friedman, 1999) There appears to be a shifting power from the organization to individuals. Levine (2000) cites, “Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.” Advancements in information communications technology has enabled man to store more information in one year than what his Middle Ages counterpart would have read in his entire lifetime. Secondly, there is also an uptrend of collaborative writing, where written works are created by multiple people together. Such collaborations can significantly increase the speed of development and can be achieved with the evolution of computer-based collaborative writing like Wikis. Publication of electronic journals has also allowed the academia to bypass the expensive middleman publisher and allow for speedier and more cost-effective global collaboration. However, the improved accessibility of web content does not necessarily entail its accuracy. There have been many instances when the Internet has been misused by terrorist organizations like the Al-Qaeda to disseminate biased and factually-twisted propaganda, encouraging blind

Information Systems & The Networked Society (ISMNS) | Level III | Dr Anita Greenhill

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POWER, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT

believers to perform suicide attacks on innocent people. In fact, even shared content management systems such as the Wikipedia have implemented editorial features such as peer reviews to ensure that unscrupulous individuals do not misuse these systems for their own personal gain. ORGANIZATION During a keynote address, the analysts Dresner and Friedman (2005) mentioned that “an information democracy provides broad access to corporate information”. Companies must avoid an “information monarchy” where only senior management has access to information. “Information communism” is also undesirable because everyone gets the same information but it may not be very useful and they have to wait a long time to get it. By adopting a democratic culture, organizations will be more cohesive and effective. For example, Dow Chemical provides NetMeeting, a collaborative tool, where employees can share information and conduct work sessions wherever their location, which enables accelerated new product developments. Secondly, in the recent wake of corporate scandals, it has greatly heightened demands to make publicly-traded companies more transparent. There is a growing importance in organizations to demonstrate accountability and transparency, by providing online quarterly earnings reports to investors. Thirdly, there have been an increasing number of businesses adopting the open-source technology, which refers to software in which the source code is freely available for others to view, amend and adapt, like Linux. With the open-source online community space, goodwill and the free exchange of ideas and code will benefit all participants, resolving development problems much faster. Another good example of embracing open-source is Sun Microsystems whom has taken it further by “open-sourcing” their hardware designs. Nonetheless, developers may favour open-source tools but top management are citing concerns about its support, accountability and potential legal issues. Even though the information is widely available online, product support is not guaranteed as it is still highly dependent on the goodwill of the open-source community. NATION “Democratization of information can offer nations potential opportunities to improve the economic and social quality of citizen’s lives through effective policies. They are essential to compete effectively in the globalized economy of the twenty-first century,” (Cortada 2001). Knowledge is the fuel for the New Economy. It increases a nation’s competitiveness. Increased knowledge is akin to increased power. Less developed nations can now level the playing field by leveraging on the democratization of information. On the other hand, developed nations now need to seek innovative and proactive ways of remaining competitive. Secondly, it contributes to improving the overall welfare of the nation by improving access to education to sectors of population that are deprived of information due to their geographical constraints, ethnic background or physical disability.

Information Systems & The Networked Society (ISMNS) | Level III | Dr Anita Greenhill

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POWER, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT

Thirdly, Mark Poster points out, the Internet is one of the few places where meaningful protest can take place today. In the modern democratic society, electronic communication may make possible a radical new kind of revolutionary politics, where individuals can speak from a comfortable position of perfect anonymity. They will be able to voice their opinions openly without any pressure. On the contrary, not everyone is delighted with the Internet’s free-flowing worldwide conversation. For example, the Chinese government has developed sophisticated internet censorship in order to control or eliminate access to information on sensitive topics such as the Tiananmen Square protests. Furthermore, due to digital exclusion, there are still some voices within developing countries that are not being heard, resulting in a bias of information in favour of only those who are IT literate and have access to the Internet. CONCLUSION In conclusion, democratization of information presents both pros and cons to the people, organization and nation. To the people, it empowers individuals and they are no longer reliant on organizations for information. However, the accuracy of information cannot be guaranteed which may be misleading. To an organization, it allows greater transparency of companies and allows faster product developments via open-source technology, even though their support is highly dependent on the goodwill of the community. To the nation, it increases the nation’s competitive advantage and promotes freedom of speech. However, due to digital exclusion, not everyone in the nation benefits; only the IT-literate fully reaps the benefits. Democratization of information is an unavoidable phenomenon; it has already begun. On the micro and macro scale, everyone – people, organizations and nations included – will witness and experience the advent of the knowledge-driven New Economy.

Information Systems & The Networked Society (ISMNS) | Level III | Dr Anita Greenhill

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POWER, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT

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5) Dresner, H. & Friedman T. (2005), The Democratization of Information, http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid11_gci1065646,00.html [accessed 01st December 2007] 6) Friedlander A. & Bessette R S. (2002), Scholars debate the implications of information technology for Scientific Journal Publishing, SRS (Science Resources Statistics)

7) Friedman, Thomas L. (1999), The Lexus and the Olive Tree, First Anchor Books 8) Levine, F., Locke, C., Searls, D. & Weinberger, D. (2000), The Cluetrain Manifesto, Perseus Books Group 9) Mirabito M M. and Morgenstern B L. (2004), The New Communications Technologies, Fifth Edition: Applications, Policy, and Impact, Focal Press 10)National Research Council (2000), The Digital Dilemma: Intellectual Property in the Information Age, National Academies Press 11)New Mexico Public Education Department, Social Studies – Glossary, www.nmlites.org/standards/socialstudies/glossary.html [accessed 28th November 2007] 12)Ross S T. (1999), Unix System Security Tools, http://www.albion.com/security/intro-7.html http://www.albion.com/security/intro-7.html [accessed 26th November 2007] 13)Sir Francis Bacon (1597), “Knowledge is Power”, The Quotations Page, http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2060.html [access 28th November 2007] 14)Woodward D. (1989), Challenges of an Interactive Environment in the Context of Developing Countries in sub-Saharan Africa, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WGP-45M91HN1N&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_ urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=c9793d95bb9b417037106503196e0d52 [accessed 02nd December 2007]

Information Systems & The Networked Society (ISMNS) | Level III | Dr Anita Greenhill

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