Global Information Technologies

Changing business environments and information technology advancements fundamentally reshaped the traditional information landscape in our contemporary society, urging companies to seek innovative ways to diffuse and manage assets on a global scale. It is crucial for society to understand the new methodologies and common practices that organizations can utilize to leverage their knowledge into practice. Global Information Diffusion and Management in Contemporary Society is an essential reference source featuring research on the development and implementation of contemporary global information management initiatives in organizations. Including coverage on a multitude of topics such as data security, global manufacturing, and information governance, this book explores the importance of information management in a global context. This book is ideally designed for managers, information systems specialists, professionals, researchers, and administrators seeking current research on the theories and applications of global information management.

Returning to the fundamentals of political science, namely power and governance, this book studies the relationship between information technologies and global politics. Key issue-areas are carefully examined: security (including information warfare and terrorism); global consumption and production; international telecommunications; culture and identity formation; human rights; humanitarian assistance; the environment; and biotechnology. Each demonstrates the validity of the view now prevalent within international relations research—the shifting of power and the locus of authority away from the state. Three major conclusions are offered. First, the nation-state must now confront, support, or coexist with other international actors: non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations; multinational corporations; transnational social movements; and individuals. Second, our understanding of instrumental and structural powers must be reconfigured to account for digital information technologies. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, information technologies are now reconstituting actor identities and issues.

Information technology has had a major impact on individuals, organizations and society over the past 50 years. There are few organizations that can afford to ignore IT and few individuals who would prefer to be without it. As managerial tasks become more complex, so the nature of the required information systems (IS) changes - from structured, routine support to ad hoc, complex enquiries at the highest levels of management. Global Information Systems aims to present the many complex and inter-related issues associated with culture in the management of information systems. The editors have selected a wide range of contemporary articles from leading experts in North America and Europe that represent a wide variety of different national and cultural environments. They offer valid explanations for, rather than simply pointing out cultural differences in articles that cover a variety of national cultures, including: China, Egypt, Finland, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Jamaica, Peru South Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden, the United Arab Emirate, the UK, and the US.

Today, information and the technologies that store and disseminate it are producing deep-rooted and widespread changes in society - changes of the same magnitude as those that occurred during the Industrial Revolution. The purpose of this book is to give a complete picture of the information society by examining in detail the social, economic, political, and cultural roles of information and information technology. This book is effectively a second edition of the author's classic The Information Society. In it, the author illustrates the major trends in and inter-relationships between information, information and communication technologies, and the global economy and society. In tracing the direction of information-based change he reveals the implications for ordinary citizens, for the quality of everyday life, for economic and social activity, and examines the prospects of nations and trading blocs. This book provides a new way of looking at society, one that is essential for understanding social and economic structures and processes in the information age.

"This collection compiles research in all areas of the global information domain. It examines culture in information systems, IT in developing countries, global e-business, and the worldwide information society, providing critical knowledge to fuel the future work of researchers, academicians and practitioners in fields such as information science, political science, international relations, sociology, and many more"--Provided by publisher.

Managing information technology (IT) on a global scale presents a number of opportunities and challenges. IT can drive the change in global business strategies and improve international coordination. At the same time, IT can be an impediment to achieving globalization. IT as an enabler of and inhibitor to globalization raises interesting questions. Global Perspective of Information Technology Management provides a collection of research works that address relevant IT management issues from a global perspective. As the world economy becomes more interdependent and competition for business continues to be more globally oriented, it has, likewise, become necessary to address the issues of IT management from a broader global focus.

Includes the most important issues, concepts, trends and technologies in the field of global information technology management, covering topics such as the technical platform for global IS applications, information systems projects spanning cultures, managing information technology in corporations, and global information technology systems and socioeconomic development in developing countries.

This collection of papers by scholars of technology and society, based on a National Academy of Engineering symposium, explores the process of mutual adjustment between information technologies and social institutions. The topics addressed include recent developments and likely futures in information technology, comparison of information technology to historical developments in other technologies, and the interaction of information technology with businesses, homes, property rights in information, and various hierarchies of social organization.