Following on from the G-7 Summit meeting held in Naples in July 1994, Ministers from G-7 countries and Members of the European Commission met in Brussels on 25 and 26 February 1995. At the Opening Round Table for the Ministerial Conference on Information Society, I made the following remarks as the lead discussant for its session (Theme 4) on "potential risks".
Information technology is changing the whole world profoundly. To a large extent, this new world will be created on the basis of a powerful information infrastructure, an enormous network of networks open to everyone in the world to communicate with each other and to have access to the many diversified information resources connected to it. The knowledge and skills required of participants in this new world will be determined by need to collaborate closely across disciplines. This collaboration will be greatly served and fostered by this information infrastructure.
Needless to say, a great deal of world-wide collaboration on a variety of issues is required for planning, constructing and operating this infrastructure. In view of its enormous power and pervasiveness, it is also necessary to pay serious attention in utilizing this powerful tool for the good of humanity. In my introductory remarks, I would like to touch briefly upon some of the most important issues for harmonizing this information infrastructure with society. The issues are : developing information resources; ensuring integrity; creating jobs; promoting human-friendliness; enriching culture; and enhancing human resources development.
(1) Developing Information Resources
Information resources including libraries, museums, databases, publishers and broadcasters have to date been unevenly distributed across the Earth. In general, we find more information resources in developed countries rather than in developing countries and more in large metropolitan areas than in remote rural districts.
The information infrastructure that is covering the whole world will drastically alter this balance. Extensive utilization of digital technology will permit a variety of information resources to function as servers for the information infrastructure to which everyone as a client will have access regardless of where he or she is located. Full text of books and journals converted to digital form will be stored in "electronic libraries" that will permit clients to automatically retrieve, browse and print the contents at their terminals. Likewise, digital images of museum collections can be retrieved, displayed or printed out at clients' premises. Our society is obliged to support the growth of a great variety of information resources and to encourage their utilization on global scale.
(2) Securing Integrity
Information comes to us from very diverse sources, even when it is supplied through a single information infrastructure. Every user can post or transmit information at will by means of electronic bulletin board or electronic mail. Consequently, it has become extremely difficult for users who are themselves becoming increasingly information dependent, to ascertain the credibility and quality of the information provided. Therefore, information servers should exert a great deal of care in gathering and handling data to ensure its integrity.
When information concerns the background, knowledge or activities of individuals, integrity includes privacy and confidentiality. Insofar as possible, such information should be gathered only for very compelling reasons, should be kept for only as long as necessary, and should be guarded diligently against misuse.
(3) Creating Jobs
As a result of the current transition to an information-oriented industrial structure, not only skilled workers in industrial plants but also office workers and salespersons are being displaced by computers. On the other hand, enormous job opportunities are being created in the area of software production, since much new software is needed to improve productivity in traditional industrial areas and to support knowledge-dependent products and services. Education and training, which facilitate the smooth shift of the labor force from declining to emerging areas, are crucial for such a change in industrial structure.
In view of the enormous amount of software needed for the structural changes, software production has to be undertaken on an international basis. An information infrastructure will permit workers to produce software away from their offices and to cooperate with their colleagues across national boundaries.
(4) Promoting User-Friendliness
In the past decades, performance and productivity of manufacturing and service industries have been improved significantly by automation. However, strangely enough, automated systems and services have tended to become less and less friendly to human beings. In the future as our activities become more closely integrated through the information infrastructure, technological innovation and policies will have to be implemented to promote user-friendly interfaces. If we do not follow such a course, automated services will continue to deteriorate in quality, or will at best be viewed as a kind of necessary evil.
(5) Enriching Culture
Information infrastructure has been very useful and will be even more useful in learning about the cultures of different communities. However, exposure to different cultures brings both advantages and disadvantages. It helps one community to understand the cultures of others, and by selectively borrowing from these, a community will be able to enhance its own culture. If, on the other hand, one community is exposed to a powerful culture and absorbs it without discrimination, the cultural identity of that community will be lost. Taking full advantage of the power of the information infrastructure, an effort should be made to strengthen the endogenous culture of individuals and communities and to encourage artistic, literary and scientific creation.
(6) Enhancing Human Resources Development
The progress of information infrastructure and the success of societal development depend heavily on the quality and quantity of the available human resources.
Computer games and personal computers are changing the lives of the young. They do not merely watch the screen, but actively interact with computers. This participatory interaction with computers leads to new forms of learning by opening up a world of structured thought and behavior in the course of an activity that is both pleasant and rewarding. The new information infrastructure will provide opportunities for sharing the high cost of preparing instructional programs and will permit teachers to give advice to individual learners away from classrooms.
Another problem that needs to be addressed is the rapid rate at which knowledge is becoming obsolete due to the fast pace of scientific and technological progress. Public initiatives should be taken to ensure continuing education for refreshing knowledge and skills. Universities and other educational institutions should be expanded and re-oriented to allow this. The information infrastructure will play an important role in this respect by supporting such educational programs as "the University of the Air".
The global information infrastructure now being built is a novel infrastructure unprecedented in our history in its power and implications. It is already changing our lives dramatically and will continue to change it further. It is changing how and where we live and what we do. Our world has become a world of many diverse communities of interest having far-reaching insight and problem-solving ability. Collaborative efforts in building the global information infrastructure will strengthen these communities of interest and in turn, the communities of interest will help the growth of the global information infrastructure in harmony with society. This synergism will bring striking advances in our way of life and our legacy will live on in the history of civilization.