THE Information Age is a concept that concerns the current evolution of techniques and technical objects that make up the process of production and transformation of geographic space, as well as the way of living in the society. By definition, the information age - also called the digital age or technological age - corresponds to all instrumental transformations that occurred after the Third Industrial Revolution.
In the everyday context, it is easy to see the characteristics of the information age, such as the acceleration of transport communication systems. Events that occur in the most diverse parts of the world are quickly reverberated and transmitted to us, at a speed known as “real time”. Today, it is also possible for us to move quickly over distances that previously took a long time to travel.
Therefore, the information age is directly related to the technical advances that allowed the advancement and consolidation of the globalization process across the world, in which distances have been shortened and the speed of technological change has accelerated. Quick and easy access to different forms of knowledge has never been so broad, although it manifests itself unequally in different regions of the planet.
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The processes of structural and technological transformations in the socio-spatial scope mark the concept presented by geographer Milton Santos, that of Technical-scientific-informational environment, which corresponds to the current information age. This medium is deeply marked by the union between science and technique, in a dynamic that starts to obey the logic of capitalist markets.
In the meantime, it is important to observe the various technological incorporations introduced in the scope of techniques and technical objects, such as biotechnology, microelectronics, fiber optics, the internet, satellite communication systems and many others elements. Among the consequences, it is worth highlighting the expansion of digital networks, the proliferation of multinational companies, the formation of international agreements, among countless other events socio-historical.
The information age is, in this way, an instrumentation that allows the advance of modernity and introduces what many authors call the “post-industrial age”. This introduces effects that are felt at the most diverse scales, from the global economic dynamic to the daily relationships of work, leisure and living within the scope of geographic space.
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PENA, Rodolfo F. Alves. "Information Age"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/era-informacao.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
