116 01 From Periphery to Center: Emerging Research Topics on Knowledge Society From Periphery to Center: Emerging Research Topics on Knowledge Society Ilkka Tuomi Technology Review 116/2001 From Periphery to Center: Emerging Research Topics on Knowledge Society Technology Review 116/2001 For more information Riku Mäkelä Te k e s P. O . B o x 6 9 FIN-00101, Helsinki Tel. +358-10521 5817 E-mail: [email protected] Ilkka Tuomi Metaxis Arkadiankatu 20 A 19 FIN-00100 Helsinki Finland Tel. +358-50-564 6768 E-mail: [email protected] National Technology Agency Technology Review P. O . B o x FIN-00101 Helsinki Finland Tel. +358-105 2151 Fax +358-9-694 9196 [email protected] www.tekes.fi August 2001 ISBN 952-457-046-7 ISSN 1239-758X From Periphery to Center: Emerging Research Topics on Knowledge Society Ilkka Tuomi Technology Review 116/2001 Helsinki 2001 Tekes – your contact for Finnish technology Tekes, the National Technology Agency of Finland, is the main financing or- ganisation for applied and industrial R&D in Finland. Funding is granted from the state budget. Tekes’ primary objective is to promote the competitiveness of Finnish indus- try and the service sector by technological means. Activities aim to diversify production structures, increase productivity and exports, and create a foun- dation for employment and social well-being. Tekes supports applied and industrial R&D in Finland to the extent of some EUR 390 million, annually. The Tekes network in Finland and overseas offers excellent channels for co- operation with Finnish companies, universities and research institutes. Technology programmes – part of the innovation chain The technology programmes for developing innovative products and pro- cesses are an essential part of the Finnish innovation system. These programmes have proved to be an effective form of cooperation and net- working for companies and the research sector. Technology programmes promote development in specific sectors of technology or industry, and the results of the research work are passed on to business systematically. The programmes also serve as excellent frameworks for international R&D co- operation. Currently, a total of about 50 extensive national technology programmes are under way. ISSN 1239-758X ISBN 952-457-046-7 Cover: LM&CO Page layout: Ilkka Tuomi Printers: Paino-Center Oy, 2001 Foreword Information society, or knowledge society, is an example of those widely used terms that have different meaning for different people. Although information society related research and technol- ogy development is currently one of the main stars in the sky, we do not have a clear picture of it, or its position. This report is the result of the mapping of thoughts and visions of large number of thinkers in three continents about the information society and research related to it. The report is part of the activities during the preparation of research cooperation program between Finland and the research units of the University of California Berkeley. Finland-Berkeley Program for Research in Informa- tion Technology and Information Society, or shortly Finland-Berkeley Program, was officially started in February 2001 with an agreement between International Computer Science Institute (ICSI) from Berkeley and Tekes. This report gives two views to the information society related research. The first view outlines some of the key areas, themes and activities that have taken place this far. The second view suggests a set of maps and paradigms to be usable in defining research projects and strategies. If we stay in traditional research sectors and in their definitions, we are in a big risk of missing those things we should find when building up our picture of the current day and visions for the future. In addition to work needed in the traditional sectors, we need more new research areas and multidisciplinary research activities. Many interesting questions and answers are waiting in no- man’s land between and behind of the areas we have mapped this far. New areas and combinations require boldness from the research. They also require at least the same level of scientific quality in research methods and processes as we are used to. With this report, we wish you new ideas about research in the area called information society. August 2001 Tekes Table of contents Foreword 1 Introduction 1 2 The concept of knowledge society 4 2.1 Impact of ICTs on society 5 2.2 Three waves of knowledge society 8 3 Previous work on research issues 10 4 Opening up the social dimension: four case examples 16 4.1 Social theory of the Internet: the Net as communication 16 4.1.1 “Hollywood” and “peer-to-peer” models of Net use 17 4.1.2 Internet as a medium of communication 19 4.1.3 Arenas of circulation 21 4.2 Regulation and law 24 4.2.1 Transformation of public sphere 26 4.3 Virtual communities, space, and mobility 28 4.3.1 Geography and economy of life opportunities 28 4.3.2 Social logic of time and space 30 4.3.3 Transpatial solidarity 33 4.3.4 Role-to-role networks 35 4.4 Ethics in knowledge society 37 5 Research on knowledge society 41 5.1 Overview of knowledge society research domains 41 5.1.1 Everyday life 42 5.1.2 Systems of production 45 5.1.3 Culture and institutions 48 6 Conclusions 51 References 53 Acknowledgements 63 Technology Reviews from Tekes 1 Introduction This report is a result of a study on emerging research Engineering cultures, however, have relatively issues in information society. Tekes, the National autonomous criteria for design quality, and engineering Technology Agency of Finland, commissioned the study conventionally operates within these systems of values. as a background research for the Finland-Berkeley Within a specific engineering discipline, there usually Program for Research in Information Technology and exist well-defined criteria for effectiveness and Information Society1. acceptable design. In this report we, however, do not study engineering within a given discipline of engineer- The goal of the study was to find issues and areas that ing. We do not try to uncover interesting research issues could become central in the information society in the that would generate new knowledge on how bits can be next five years. The insights generated in the process stored, distributed, processed or made secure. Instead, we provided a framework for discussing potential research ask, for example, why bits need to be stored and moved topics within the Berkeley initiative. A specific in the first place, and how social transparency, visibility emphasis was put on topics that are currently to some and privacy generate the need for secure communica- extent peripheral, but which have the potential to become tions. central in the near future. The content of the report is based on research that The focus in this report is on knowledge society. This attempted to generate new knowledge on issues that concept is used on purpose. The ongoing socio-economic relate to knowledge society. The starting point was a transformation is based on three interrelated processes of rather subjective set of personal insights, generated as a increasing informationalization, changing communica- byproduct of extensive involvement with knowledge tions and interdependence structures, and changing society related practical and theoretical work. This initial processes of knowledge creation and utilization. set of themes was complemented by background research Knowledge society is not only about digitized informa- based on existing literature and sources on the Internet. tion or about electronic networks. The transformation of The set of themes was then further developed through knowledge society can only be understood if we view it interviews. The interviews were conducted in the U.S., in a broader context, as a social process where bits, Europe and Japan between October 2000 and July 2001, networks, and knowledge have a social context. In and they covered many key thinkers and researchers in knowledge society, everything is not information, relevant areas of expertise. technology, or knowledge. Technology, itself, exists in a context of meaningful social practice, and technological This research process can be characterized as “snow- change cannot be understood without understanding the balling.” The themes and insights that emerged during processes of social change. New information technolo- the interviews were introduced to subsequent interview- gies and the new economy reflect an underlying level of ees and new themes were defined based on the feedback. social interactions. To understand technological change, The comments of the interviewees were used to refine and the issues it generates, we therefore have to study the the original set of themes. Similarly, if a theme in the social dimension of knowledge society. original set didn’t seem to make sense to the interview- ees, the theme was dropped.2 During the process, also the Until recently, technology was often in the center when list of interviewees was expanded based on recommen- information society was discussed. In this report purely 3 dations of the interviewees. technical topics are intentionally put in the periphery. Although the report describes some aspects of techno- logical development, it approaches this development from a social perspective. Strictly speaking, this distinction is, of course, a blurred one. Technical design often implements theories of social world, and social 2 practice is, in turn, often constrained by our theories of This method is a variant of the grounded theory approach. We technology and its functionality. On a closer study, every try to find concepts and themes that make sense to key thinkers feature of an engineering design reflects a complex and experts who are well versed in issues that relate to the development of information society. picture of social reality. 3 In theory, when the various interviewees start to suggest interesting new interviewees who already are on the list, the process converges.