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The Future of Information Its Changing Role in Society

The Future of Information Its Changing Role in Society. Ashok K. Agrawala Director, MIND Lab Professor, Computer Science University of Maryland. “Information is not knowledge” Albert Einstein

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The Future of Information Its Changing Role in Society

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  1. The Future of InformationIts Changing Role in Society Ashok K. Agrawala Director, MIND Lab Professor, Computer Science University of Maryland

  2. “Information is not knowledge” • Albert Einstein “… the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as through it has an underlying truth.” • Umberto Eco What is information??

  3. Two Basic Entities • Energy/Matter • Information

  4. Traditionally • Information => Power • He who has information has power • Controlling flow of information => Controlling population

  5. Information • Plays a critical role in all decision making/actions • Available Information • Storage • Accessible Information • Transport and Access Methods • Useful Information • Selection Process – What question to ask? • Security and Protection

  6. Aspects of Information • Information • Production/Reproduction/Collection/Recording • Storage • Transfer • Accessibility • Duplication • Security and Authentication • Trust in the authenticity • Meaning ?? • Technology has always played a key role. Its form has been different at different times. • Relative costs have changed substantially

  7. Impact of changes in Costs • Form • Human Memory • Stone • Paper • Film • Digital • Punched cards • Tapes • Cassettes • CD – DVD – CMOS • … • Production/Collection • Storage • Transfer • Accessibility • Duplication • Security and Authentication

  8. Information Past • Production/Reproduction • Human • Large Capacity • Automatic Input/Output • Unreliable Recall • Distortions – Intentional/Unintentional • Transfer • People Movement • Communication Through a natural language • Accessibility • Local • Copying/Reproduction?? • Security/Authentication • Physical Security of humans • Trust in the Authenticity?

  9. InformationPast • Form • Typically on paper • Files • Books • Libraries/Archives • Accessibility • Difficult • Filing Systems • Catalogs • Systematic arrangements • Production/Reproduction • Handwritten • Printed • Duplication • By hand • Photocopying • Cost ???

  10. Information Past • Storage • Paper • Handwritten • Printed • Books/Files/Reports/… • Libraries • Transfer • Physical Movement of Paper • Postal System, etc. • Accessibility • Catalogs • File indexes • …

  11. InformationPresent • Form • Encoded as bits, bytes, words, records, etc. • Stored in digital media • Accessibility • Through computers • Networks • Internet • Much easier • Production/Reproduction • Conversion from non-digital form • Direct digital production • Duplication • Easy • Inexpensive

  12. Dissemination/Spread of Information • Mechanism • Transfer • Broadcast • Who controls the event and the contents? • Multicast • Who can receive? • How many? • Unicast • Repetition process • Measure • No of people consciously aware as a function of time

  13. Spread of information • Media • Web • Phases • Rise • Decay • Many factors determine the time constants

  14. Spread of Information • Rise Phase • Triggers • Current sensitivities • Mechanisms • Media • Web • Word of Mouth • Decay Phase • Authenticity ? • Other information competing for attention • Time Information Butterfly Effect !!

  15. Controlling Butterfly Effect • Rise Phase • Blocking flow of information • Dictatorships • Decay Phase • Quick challenge to authenticity • Offer competing information to grab attention

  16. Sharing of information • Trust • Handling conflicting information • Creating a consistent view

  17. World Wide Web • Easy Accessibility to HUGE amount of information • Most of the information generated for the Web • Broad Band Access by a large number of people • Web servers backed up by databases of mostly web pages

  18. Live vs. Archived • Live • Collected directly in digital form • As it happens • Text, Audio, Video, Sensor data, … • Archived • Saved as collection of records

  19. Other information • Specific Databases • Law Enforcement • Healthcare • Credit bureaus • Personnel Records • Census Bureau • Financial record • Telephone Records • Hundreds of thousands of such databases exist • Contain a lot of data collected as a part of normal operation of an entity • Business • Government • Private operations • Duplication of a lot of records with little controls

  20. Example – Law Enforcement • Many organizations • Federal • State • Local • Special • Private • Each organization • Collects data and stores it • Controls access to it • Has to conforms to laws, policies and practices • Sharing of information • Exception rather than a norm • Attempts have been made to create “Fusion Centers” • Hardly successful • You Don’t know what you know • You Don’t know what you don’t know

  21. InformationFuture • Assumptions • Unlimited availability of • Processing Power • Storage • Bandwidth Anywhere/Anytime • We are still in the initial transient phase of information revolution Note that Human Capacity to Assimilate has not increased

  22. Impact on Education • Role of a Teacher • What should we be teaching? • What should a student take for granted? • Calculator? • Web Access? • Ability for • Assimilation • Abstraction • Cooperation • Increased Awareness • Changing the world view

  23. Impact on Society • Social Interaction • Cell Phones • SMS • Social Networks • All Aspects are impacted

  24. Impact on Work Environment • White Collar Worker/Information Worker • Not tied to a location • Employer optimizes ROI • National boundaries have little meaning or impact

  25. Impact on Politics • National • We are seeing some of it this year in presidential election • What is a national interest • Internationally • Flow of information is making events known globally • What is the meaning of national boundaries

  26. Resource Constrained World • With limited resources • Information will play an ever increasing role • Decisions will require a higher degree of awareness • Cooperation rather than confrontation

  27. Concluding Remarks • Tip of the Iceberg • Change is occurring faster than the society can adapt to it • Proactive vs. Reactive Participation • So What is information?? • That is a topic for another day

  28. Ashok Agrawala Agrawala@cs.umd.edu 301-405-2525

  29. Information Butterfly Effect

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