Global information systems: agents of social change

The major feature of an information society is that it is global rather than national. Worldwide digital networks enable rapid communication across national boundaries and thus provide opportunities for individuals and organisations to form global partnerships and coalitions with a view to achieving their economic or political goals by-passing institutions of nation states. Our existing political and economic power structures are being changed by the high speed global information systems. The author considers implications of global networks using metaphors from our everyday life to underline the fact that in transferring our activities from the physical space to cyberspace we often retain our salient behavioural characteristics. Therefore we should not be surprised when we discover that the information society consists of bazaars, exclusive clubs, workshops and villages with village markets and village schools, to mention only some of the great variety of cyberspace institutions