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ForewordThe term Information Society gives rise to many emotions. Like anything new, it can particularly invoke a combination of excitement and fear. It is always exciting to learn of developments that will affect our business and working lives but this is quite naturally accompanied by worries that we may not have the time or the ability to cope. This book adds to the excitement while improving our understanding of the changes and their possible effects. It gathers together over 150 papers from experts who have practical experience of working at the leading edge of computing and telecommunications. They describe the new technologies they are developing and the industrial implications so that we may understand what is coming and be less daunted by the possible effects. The editors have grouped the papers into six sections. The first sets the scene by looking at the business and strategic issues of the Information Society. The second section examines specific advances in the area of Electronic Commerce and the third section looks at the design, application and implementation of new business processes. Convergence is blurring the distinctions between technological domains but the next two sections concentrate on aspects of Multimedia and Embedded Systems. I was pleased to see that the final section is devoted to the concerns of smaller companies that are so often the source of innovation in other fields. They are frequently told that the Information Society will enable them to compete globally but they may not have the expertise to take advantage of it and these papers should therefore help them to face innovation. This book was made possible through the generous support of the European Commission that is helping Europe to develop new technologies for the Information Society and to use them wisely. Indeed many of the papers result from research projects that are guided and financially aided by the Commission. I congratulate the editors for this useful contribution to better business and work in the Information Society.
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Copyright © 2000, Cheshire
Henbury, Created by Paul T. Kidd, Revised July 2000
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