ABSTRACT
The latest advances will link laptops with cellular telephones and satellite communications for downloading information under any conditions and circumstances. Managers, salespeople and knowledge workers will have instantaneous access to the most current information needed to improve their performance. The flow and transformation of data into information and ultimately into knowledge can be compared to a living organism that requires a timely peripheral input of nutrients to be transformed into the healthy growth of the whole organism. A living system of information flow cannot be delegated to a department or a computer center. It must become the prime focus of every individual in the organization. It must be universally understood and practiced that information is the life blood of the enterprise. Computerized retailing, distribution, production processes, point-of-sale recorders and even taxicab dispatch devices require some computer-use knowledge from grass-roots workers and the lowest paid employees.
