Converging Technologies
CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES:
THE FUTURE OF THE
GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY
Introduction:
The complex web of the global information grid will undergo explosive changes over the coming decades. As advances in science and technology converge, a myriad array of discoveries in biotechnology, nanotechnology and information technology will produce unpredictable effects that must be accounted for in any estimate of what the world will look like in this future. A strategically important feature of this world will be the emerging trend of information warfare. Though still immature at present day, this trend will become increasingly dominant in the years to come. The information warfare of tomorrow will be radically different from its prototype today. No longer will it be confined to the mainframes of the Internet or to corporate databases: the battleground of the future will draw into its scope the scientific advances being made today in bio- and nano- technologies. The divisions between man and machine will blur.
When networked technologies are ubiquitous, a state-sponsored attack on the Internet can have far-reaching, and devastating, physical consequences. This briefing examines the contributing factors that have lead to shaping this most unique of times in human history. Alvin and Heidi Toffler’s Third Wave has been realized. We live in an increasingly information-dominated world, vulnerable to attack from the very features that give it its power and versatility. In digital space, location no longer bears any meaning.
Convergence:
Futurists Alvin and Heidi Toffler mapped the evolution of society in three progressive
‘waves’: the agrarian, industrial, and information stages of development. These transitions revolutionized the very foundations of modern society. We are now witnessing the convergence of technologies catalyzed by the information age. We have traversed the crest of the Third Wave, and will witness in the 21st century a synthesis of
THE FUTURE OF THE
GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY
Introduction:
The complex web of the global information grid will undergo explosive changes over the coming decades. As advances in science and technology converge, a myriad array of discoveries in biotechnology, nanotechnology and information technology will produce unpredictable effects that must be accounted for in any estimate of what the world will look like in this future. A strategically important feature of this world will be the emerging trend of information warfare. Though still immature at present day, this trend will become increasingly dominant in the years to come. The information warfare of tomorrow will be radically different from its prototype today. No longer will it be confined to the mainframes of the Internet or to corporate databases: the battleground of the future will draw into its scope the scientific advances being made today in bio- and nano- technologies. The divisions between man and machine will blur.
When networked technologies are ubiquitous, a state-sponsored attack on the Internet can have far-reaching, and devastating, physical consequences. This briefing examines the contributing factors that have lead to shaping this most unique of times in human history. Alvin and Heidi Toffler’s Third Wave has been realized. We live in an increasingly information-dominated world, vulnerable to attack from the very features that give it its power and versatility. In digital space, location no longer bears any meaning.
Convergence:
Futurists Alvin and Heidi Toffler mapped the evolution of society in three progressive
‘waves’: the agrarian, industrial, and information stages of development. These transitions revolutionized the very foundations of modern society. We are now witnessing the convergence of technologies catalyzed by the information age. We have traversed the crest of the Third Wave, and will witness in the 21st century a synthesis of