Organisations ignoring the Information Society are, in effect, abandoning their competitive position because the technologies are already affecting how business is conducted and leading to new products and services. In order to prosper, companies must remain aware of advances in Information Technology and appreciate the implications if they are to be ready to spot the opportunities and react quickly. This is particularly true for the companies in those fields, in which the system concept is dominating, including obviously the microelectronics industries.
This book will help all those having a responsibility for business and research strategies. It covers the three key areas of electronic commerce, multimedia and embedded systems and examines their possible effects. The editors have brought together more than a hundred papers from International experts that describe current thinking, research projects and emerging technology. The papers are grouped in five main sections. The first, on policy considerations, opens with examples of companies that are adopting new strategies to take advantage of technological developments. The section continues with a look at the influence of government research programmes and closes with views by some technology vendors.
The next section considers those aspects of Information Technology of particular concern to the smaller businesses that frequently lack the knowledge and resources to follow developments and apply them effectively. The final three sections address Electronic Commerce, Multimedia and Embedded systems and cover applications, development tools and emerging technologies.
This book is supported by the European Commission and includes several research projects in the ESPRIT programme. Commission funding and organisation has contributed greatly to the progress of the Information Society in Europe.
