Summary: The term information revolution (sometimes called also the “informational revolution”) describes current economic, social and technological trends beyond the Industrial Revolution.

Many competing terms have been proposed that focus on different aspects of this societal development.

The British polymath crystallographer J. D. Bernal (1939) introduced the term “scientific and technical revolution” in his book The Social Function of Science in order to describe the new role that science and technology are coming to play within society. He asserted that science is becoming a “productive force”, using the Marxist Theory of Productive Forces. After some controversy, the term was taken up by authors and institutions of the then-Soviet Bloc. Their aim was to show that socialism was a safe home for the scientific and technical (“technological” for some authors) revolution, referred to by the acronym STR. The book Civilization at the Crossroads, edited by the Czech philosopher Radovan Richta (1969), became a standard reference for this topic.

Daniel Bell (1980) challenged this theory and advocated Post Industrial Society, which would lead to a service economy rather than socialism. Many other authors presented their views, including Zbigniew Brzezinski (1976) with his “Technetronic Society”.

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Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society

1. There is little doubt that information and communication technology (ICT) has promoted profound economic and social change over the past decade or so. The need for statistics and analysis to support and inform policy making has grown alongside the rapid emergence of new ways of communicating, processing and storing information.

2. The Guide to Measuring the Information Society documents the work of the OECD and others in developing statistical standards for measuring the information society. While, the main focus of the Guide is on the work of the OECD’s Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society (WPIIS), relevant statistical work in other areas of the OECD, National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and other organizations is also included.

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