Variety of information policies

Reflections on Associative Constraints and Possibilities in an Information society (Part #3)

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In order to clarify the actual discussion of the dimensions of the information society (in a subsequent section), it is appropriate to present the variety of information policies practised by the different forms of organization noted in Table 1. This may be done in a form such as Table 2, which, it should be stressed, is indicative rather than definitive.

3.1 Range of 'users'

Three types of user have been distinguished, those within the organization (whether operational units or membership), those constituting the organization's context (whether peer groups, patrons, sponsors, fund sources or sympathizers), and any wider audience (whether a 'target-group', the 'uninformed', or a 'market' for the organization's 'products').

3.2 Purpose of information

Three purposes have been distinguished: informing (taken in its its most disinterested and neutral sense), influencing (whether in direct support of the interests of the organization or to 'destabilize' its opponents) and facilitating learning (to engender innovative initiatives, possibly quite independently of the interests of the facilitator).

Informing and influencing as purposes are primarily characteristic of what has been identified, in a Club of Rome report (3), as 'maintenance learning'. This is in contrast to 'innovative learning' which is primarily characteristic of the third purpose of facilitating learning. Maintenance learning involves acquisition of information to ensure the continued functioning of the individual or the group. Thus learning to fulfil the criteria for a job or to fulfil the demands of a contract is a response to pre-defined expectations. Innovative learning involves the acquisition of the ability to respond appropriately in ways that cannot be predefined, especially in response to unforeseen situations characteristic of Personal and societal crisis.