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Information technology and social change: An evolutionary systems analysis
Author(s) -
Laszlo Eruin
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 0005-7940
DOI - 10.1002/bs.3830370402
Subject(s) - variety (cybernetics) , technological change , perspective (graphical) , indigenous , information technology , social system , social change , sociology , knowledge management , data science , social science , political science , computer science , ecology , economics , economic growth , biology , artificial intelligence , law
It is known that technology plays a major role in catalyzing change in contemporary societies, but current empirical studies do not clearly elucidate the generic role of technology as a social change agent. This study seeks clarification by adopting an evolutionary systems perspective in light of which societies are complex and open dynamical systems in constant interaction with other societies as well as their natural environment. Technology is an indigenous factor shaping this interaction and prompting modification in societal structures. Information technology, in rapid development for the past hundred years and in explosive evolution during the last decade, constitutes a variety of technological innovation that specifies as well as intensifies the historical impact of the operative technologies on the societal structures exposed to them.