Information-intensive Industry Research Articles

Security and credibility in an information-intensive society

In a world governed by market forces, Western nations are destined to see further of their primary industries and manufacturing base. Anything that can be made in the West can be made cheaper in lesser developed countries (LDC). Our one competitive edge is information technology. We can replace our unprofitable smokestack industries with information-intensive ones; but only if we maintain the credibility of our information technology. This means assuring: 1. (1) Protection of intellectual property. 2. (2) Personal and corporate privacy. 3. (3) Integrity of business data and contracts. 4. (4) Ready availability of service. Credibility can stem only from effective information security; and to achieve it we must overcome at least these five formidable obstacles; 1. (1) Fundamentally flawed computer architecture. 2. (2) Chaotic computer communications networks. 3. (3) Irrelevant national computer security programmes. 4. (4) Persistent mixing of experimentation and application. 5. (5) Freebooting technicians and apathetic managers. We have less than five years to put in place an effective information security programme focused on the private sector before we see our information-intensive industries fly off to join our expatriate steel mills and auto plants; and we are left frying hamburgers for each other.

Information Intensive Industries in Metropolitan Areas of the United States of America

In this paper the metropolitan geography of information intensive industries in the United States is analyzed. Such industries are a subset of Porat's definition of information industries and correspond to what Noyelle and Stanback as well as Hepworth among others have called producer services. Economic forces which have fueled the expansion of information intensive industries are identified and their growth is measured relative to overall real GNP growth. Examination of employment and other data for twenty-four of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States reveals substantial diversity in the degree of concentration of information intensive industries. Furthermore, there appears to be a divergent location-pattern for producer services compared with headquarters. Regression analysis supports this divergent location-pattern.

Japan's role in a post-fordist age

The shift away from mass production industries to new information-intensive industries is leading to speculation on what will supersede the Fordist model of industrial organization. This article outlines alternative models advanced as potential replacement for Fordism, and presents a new post-Fordist future, based upon exploration of the post-war evolution of Japan. Fujitsuism is posed as a potential post-Fordist form of industrial organization, and is investigated as a new mechanism for sustained economic growth particularly suited to the information age.

Computer-aided engineering in the construction industry

With the advent of the advanced information society, the construction industry of Japan is transforming itself into a knowledge and information-intensive industry, supplying and maintaining architectural products. In doing so, the industry creates a total information system that can be used to improve the quality and productivity of architects. The system supporting this information structure is CAE, computer-aided engineering.