Wolfgang Hofkirchner

Emergent information. Towards a unified information theory

This paper proposes the restoration of information theory by means of a philosophy of evolutionary systems. What this philosophy implies for the conception of information may be called a multi-stage model, comprising both the history and the ordering of information processing by real-world systems. Such a unifying information concept may assist suitable research in the coming field of information science.

The Austrian Experience with Literature-based Innovation Output Indicators

In spite of considerable public concern about industrial innovations in Austria there exist only four databases (of poor quality) which allow for quantitative innovation research. This was a reason to engage in the collection of literature-based innovation output data in Austria. This chapter reports on our experience from a first round of data collection.

The making of the information society: driving forces, `Leitbilder' and the imperative for survival

In the field of science-technology-society, there are three one-sided approaches to analyzing the spread of the Internet: technology-push, economy-pull, and community-pull. Information science, when dealing with the transformation of our societies, will have to cover all of them and even try to find out missing links. We propose adding the analysis of metaphors accompanying the introduction and diffusion of new technologies, and evaluating metaphors and technologies using the criterion of how well they are shaped to meet global challenges. We conclude that contrary to ideological promises the capability of society to generate survival-relevant information will not be improved by establishing the so-called data highway per se, unless additional requirements are met which refer to higher information levels of knowledge and wisdom.

Actio non est reactio: An extension of the concept of causality towards phenomena of information

The goal of this article is to subsume the concept of information under a more general heading. One basic notion which can be generally applied is the term “causality”. This concept is used in everyday language, in mythological thinking, and in scientific languages as well. Therefore there exists some chance to adapt it to the context of information, to extend it towards our needs, and to explicate it more precisely. We think it promising to look for information under this perspective, and to work out the differences, similarities, and the particularities of causality of information processes compared to purely physical ones. The advantage of this perspective is the unfolding of a larger range of analysis than is opened by physics. It allows for the inclusion of different causal relations which cannot be viewed by classical physics.

Epistemology and the Study of Social Information Within the Perspective of a Unified Theory of Information

Within the framework of the Unified Theory of Information (UTI) developed by the present author, knowledge is a part of social information. More specifically, social information is defined as any information appearing in social, or human, systems.

Self-Organisation as the Mechanism of Development and Evolution in Social Systems

This chapter explores how close the concepts of morphogenesis and self-organisation are. Both can be seen to have natural science origins, though applicable to the long-term history of societies, to events within societies and to the contemporary society into which modernity seems to be transforming. Both can be labelled descriptive, explanatory and normative at the same time. That view can be accomplished by integrating dialectical philosophy, evolutionary systems theory and critical social systems theory, each based upon the former. The argument starts with a discussion of revolution, proceeds to reflexivity and ends with the need to grasp unity-through-diversity in order to respond to the complexity of the global age.

“Mechanisms” at Work in Information Society

This chapter deals with “mechanisms” from the perspective of critical systems thinking. “Mechanisms” are rooted in self-organisation. Far from being mechanical, they are contingent dynamisms. They are the cause of the advent of Information Society; they are the cause for the reproduction of Information Society; and they are the cause of a transformation of Information Society.

Creating Common Good: The Global Sustainable Information Society as the Good Society

The “good”, eudaimonic society is characterised here as a society that cultivates the commune bonum, the common good, the commons. The topicality of the issue of the commons does not come as a surprise, because the dangers of an anthropogenic breakdown of our societal life originate from rising dysfunctions regarding the commons. The commons, are according to a social systems view, defined as any emerging synergetic relations, one which converges with defining it as a relational good as relational sociology does. In order to remove frictions in the functioning of the commons, a transformation is needed. Social morphogenesis can transform the current societal conditions into those of a true “morphogenic” society in which a ratchet is set up: the flourishing of the actors conditions the flourishing of the society and vice versa. This transformation has to take into consideration a global, a sustainable and an informational imperative. The global sustainable information society is the concrete utopia of today.

Substitution of Transport Activities: An Input-Output Approach to Determine Economic and Environmental Effects

Although it is not the whole story, in analytical terms the relationship between the socio-economic system and the environment can be described as a network of interrelations or, more simplified, as a feedback loop.

Anwendungskonzepte flexibler Automation in Klein- und Mittelbetrieben - ein Forschungsprojekt

Auf Initiative von Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Fred Margulies, der durch seinen plotzlichen und unerwarteten Tod seine Vorstellungen nun nicht mehr verwirklichen kann, wurde am Institut fur sozio-okonomische Entwicklungsforschung und Technikbewertung (ISET) eine Vorstudie “Anwendungskonzepte flexibler Automation in Klein- und Mittelbetrieben” /1/ durchgefuhrt, die das Bundesministerium fur Wissenschaft und Forschung finanzierte. Die Arbeiten daran begannen Mitte 1984 und wurden im Juli 1985 abgescblossen.1