Information, Technology, and Society

abstractOn the one hand, technology, especially information technology, is viewed as being value-free and neutral; any failure to adapt is blamed on backwardness — cultural or educational — not on the technology itself. On the other hand, there is a deep-seated bias against technology and technologists. This paper points out that, in both viewpoints, technology is treated as something outside society, when in actual fact it is an integral part of the society it interacts with. Even so, information and technology have to be carefully managed in order to avoid the malaise of 'information anxiety'. Additional informationNotes on contributorsM. Alwi DahlanDr Dahlan is a member of Indonesia's National Telecommunications Advisory Board and teaches communications at the Faculty for Social and Political Sciences and the Graduate Program in Communications, University of Indonesia, Depok and Jakarta. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the National Board for the Promotion and Education of the Implementation of Pancasila, Chairman of the Indonesian Association for the Advancement of Social Sciences and former Assistant Minister for Population.