INFORMATION AGE The information age (also known as the computer age, digital age, or new media age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century, characterized by a rapid epochal shift from the traditional industry established by the industrial revolution to an economy primarily based upon information technology. Timeline of information age What technological inventions progressed in this period? 1. DNA FINGER PRINTING - DNA fingerprinting is now taken for granted. Whether in criminal trials, paternity and maternity testing, personal identification or the diagnosis or treatment of inherited diseases, people are used having access to this technique. 2. THE INTERNET - For educational purposes, it is widely used to gather information and to do research or add to the knowledge of various subjects. Internet plays a very vital role in education. 3. WIRELESS ELECTRICITY - From smartphones, to laptops, to MP3 players, people’s lives are now dominated by technology that requires power – and they generally need wires to recharge these devices What societal needs/ changes arises in science and technology? The innovation of different inventions that made the industrial countries stronger. Progress in handling information Emerged communications and information technology industries. A newly developed technology termed recombinant DNA. Theories in information age 1. Industrial society The theory of industrial society, as developed by Raymond Aron, which encompasses both socialist and capitalist forms of economic organization as a single social reality of industrial civilization, accentuates first and foremost the extent to which science and technology shape the social organization of productive activities. 2. Postindustrial society The more recent theories of postindustrial society, in particular those of Daniel Bell, have elevated theoretical knowledge to an axial principle of society. That “rational knowledge”, fabricated in one system, apparently travels with great ease and without loss across the boundaries of social systems, for instance, from science into the economy or state institutions, is hardly ever questioned. 3. Knowledgeable society The first to employ a related term, “knowledgeable society", appears to have been Robert E. Lane. Lane's conception of a knowledgeable society, science will help to bring about a society in which common sense has been replaced in major social institutions by scientific reasoning. 4. The age of discontinuity The Age of Discontinuity, refers to “knowledge society”. Drucker regards knowledge as central to modern society and as the foundation of its economy and of social action. Daniel Bell also employs this term in the context of his discussion of the emergence of post-industrial society, a designation he himself prefers. Contribution of information age Information regarding science and technology are easier to access with the use of internet Spreading information about science and technology are easier by using internet software A lot of people are aware regarding the advances of science and technology nowadays due to social media platforms Science and technology in this current era are continuously progressing and getting more advanced as years goes by
