ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a synopsis of the Information Societies Research Forum. It explores some of the issues identified in the 1984 conference up to date, focuses on themes that have endured in the study of information societies since that time, and examines the relevant regulatory trends that have evolved in the United States, Japan, and Europe. The information society has been studied by scholars in numerous disciplines, and a unified research paradigm has yet to emerge. High technology and the information society have become important topics on the public agenda in most advanced, industrialized nations. Frederick Williams emphasized the mixed success of a range of predictions concerning the socio-economic impact of advanced communication technologies and institutional change in the information age. South Carolina has had to force a structural change from an industrial society to an information society. The chapter also provides an overview of some of the international aspects of the US information economy.
