From high-energy to high-information society

Of course, even these technologies have their environmental down-side: the new information technologies use electricity, and obsolete platforms and batteries are among the most toxic forms of waste. Making the technologies themselves greener should be an ongoing concern.

But the other way we need to use information is much simpler, and this is where we all come in. In the end, radical change can only come about because we all do things differently. To achieve this, we need good advice and viable examples.

And so we need to promote information exchanges between individuals, groups, data bases and institutions. In particular, the practicalities of new ways of doing things are crucial - a new theory or even new technology is useless if it can’t be made to work in specific conditions. The best answer to this is to swap experience. So, for instance, we can tell each other about local soil and climate, so this plant will thrive and that won’t. Or we might find that the best experience lies elsewhere, maybe overseas. In both cases, Google and the Internet will provide the critical links.

This building of a new social infrastructure will require some sponsorship by government. Initial funding and expertise is necessary to get things off the ground. Once such networks are in place, business will likely join in and keep the momentum going. This has been the pattern for the development of information technology up till now.

The new high-information use world will be in its own way as high tech as before, but technology will increasingly be the result of a more extensive and inclusive social process, as opposed to being dominated by the big institutions like government, the corporate sector and the military. As more people use the information technologies more effectively, they will generate demand for new products that better meet their needs.

We will still use a certain amount of energy, but it will be better distributed and used much more efficiently. Because of this renewable and small-scale energy sources, such as wind, solar, biomass and so on, will be more appropriate.

The high-information society is both high technology and highly social, more about networks and less about hierarchies, a fertile mix of the best of the old and new. The high-energy society was a stage we had to go through, but now it is time to move on. With the emergence of the global environmental-resource crisis, we have the clear incentive to do so.