Good ICT Society
What is Quality of Life in a society that has embraced information and communication technology (ICT)? What is Wisdom in this kind of society? And what things are helping or hindering us from having both wisdom and a good quality of life in ICT societies?
Taking the reader through a quick analysis of the current social and psychological changes in the Information and Communication Society, Bradley challenges us to avoid becoming victims of technology - whether we are professionals, policymakers, parents or citizens. Indeed, she introduces a theoretical model based on four decades’ worth of research to help the reader to understand this complex, technological world. In addition to focusing the reader’s attention on convergence and acceleration, this model describes the interplay between technology, societal structure, organizational design and human roles, thus leading to what Bradley describes as a "good ICT society".
Emphasising the necessity of a co-operative parallel between the automation and humanization of society, this innovative volume will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in the subjects such as Information and Communication Technology and Social Change, Psychology and Sociology, Computer Technology and Media Technology.
Gunilla Bradley is Professor Emerita in Informatics at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) – School of ICT in Stockholm. GB is originally a psychologist and has a broad background in the social and behavioral sciences. Her research concerns the interplay between Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Human Beings, and Society – Social Informatics. Her cross disciplinary research groups were first hosted by Stockholm University for twenty years. She has then been a visiting professor at Stanford University two years and professor of Technology and Social Change at the Royal Institute of Technology. From 1997–2001 she served as professor in Informatics at Umeå University and Mid Sweden University. In 1997 she received the prestigious Namur Award from IFIP for her pioneering research to increase the social awareness of the impact of ICT. Gunilla has authored thirteen books and contributed extensively in international scientific journals and the popular science press. Her latest book Social and Community Informatics – Humans on the Net (Routledge 2006) is widely used in both ICT related disciplines and in the social sciences. In 2008 Gunilla was invited as guest professor in Salzburg. She initiated and chaired the annual IADIS conference on "ICT, Society and Humans" for some years. In 2010 she was honored by a "Fest Symposium" at Linnaeus University in Sweden and a "Festschrift" (Eds. Haftor & Mirijamdotter, 2011). More than 60 distinguished researchers from all continents of the world contributed with chapters. Gunilla is currently writing the book The Good Information and Communication Society – From Theory to Action (Routledge).