Masters of the Wired World [antikvár]

foreword by The Rt Hon Tony Blair Prime IVIinister of the United Kingdom I he world's economy is undergoing a process of change as fundamental as the shift from agrarian to industrial production: the emergence of the knowledge-driven economy, the digital economy. In the next century, the source of sustainable competitiveness will be the ability to create, disseminate and rapidly exploit knowledge. Knowledge has, of course, always been of vital economic importance, but the scale of the knowledge revolution we are now witnessing marks out the new economy as something different in kind from anything that has gone before. That revolution is being fuelled by three key drivers. First, the explosion of scientific and technical knowledge. Second, the success of the international community in opening up the global market, allowing knowledge - and the capital and skills needed to exploit it - to flow freely across borders. Third, the ability, through modern technologies, to codify that knowledge in a common digital language that can be manipulated, assessed and communicated at high speed. The last of these drivers is the focus of this valuable and timely book. The digital revolution will transform the way we live and work. Some of the changes are with us now. Electronic commerce has the potential to revolutionize the way we do business even more than it has done already. Remote working will enable us to reshape our lives, and developments such as telemedicine mean traditional services can be carried out in new ways. However, the process of change has only just begun. We do not know exactly where it will take us or how quickly, but we do know that change will come, and that it will bring a vast array of new products and services, delivered in new ways we cannot yet imagine. One thing is clear. The changes flowing from the digital revolution have not been, and will not be, planned by governments - the massive, sprawling growth of the Internet is testament to that. However, I believe governments can play a vital role - viii