Information Society
信息社会

by Richard Sidaway

理查德•赛德威


Once upon a time societies were organised around religion, farming, trade or industry. In many parts of the world today this is still true, but something else is becoming more important - the exchange of information, and the technology that we use to do this. Twenty-four hour news, e-commerce, international call-centres, mobile phones, Global Positioning Systems … all these are making the world smaller and faster.
   曾经，社会是围绕着宗教，农业，贸易或工业组成的。如今世界的许多地区，仍然是如此，但是其它一些东西正变得更加重要--信息交流以及我们曾经使用的技术。24小时新闻，电子商务，国际呼叫中心，移动电话，全球定位系统......所有这些正使世界变得更小更快捷。


The growth in telecommunications is now giving more and more people access to democratic ideas, to the principles of international law and human rights, to the science that will help their country to develop or to the medical knowledge that can fight disease. It is starting a real global village which people only dreamed of a generation ago.
   现在电信的发展正让越来越多人了解民主思想，国际法律的规则和人权，以及能帮助国家发展的科学知识或可抗击疾病的药学知识。一个真正的地球村正在形成，这只是前一代人的梦想而已。


But how can everybody in the world share the recent technological advances? Millions of people cannot read these words because they don’t have access to a computer. They don’t understand English either, the language that 80% of the information is written in. They don’t even have a telephone. They are more worried about how far they will have to walk today to get clean water or if they can feed themselves and their families. For most people on this planet, information is not a priority.
  但是，怎么才能让世界上的每一个人分享现今的技术进步呢？几百万人不能读到这些话，因为他们没有电脑可使用。 他们也不明白英语，而80%信息是用英语写的。他们甚至没有电话。他们更关心他们今天需要走多才能得到干净的水或者他们是否能养活他们自己和他们的家庭。对于这个星球的大多数人们，信息不是首要的。

 

The contrast between countries that have information technology and those that don’t is called the ‘digital divide’. Scandinavia and South East Asia have a high number of people who use Information Communication Technologies (ICT). Central Africa and the Pacific have almost none.
国家间拥有信息技术和没有信息技术的对比叫做“数字鸿沟”。斯堪的纳维亚和东南亚国家有大量使用信息通讯技术的用户。中非和太平洋国家几乎没有信息通讯技术。


The United Nations is trying to make the information society a reality for more of the developing world. It wants to see rich countries transfer new technology and knowledge to poorer nations.
   联合国正试图使信息社会在更多的发展中国家成为现实。联合国希望看到富裕的国家将新技术和知识传播到较贫穷的国家。

 

Ten years from now, the plan is that everybody in the world will have a radio or television and that 50% of the world’s population will have access to the internet from schools and universities, health centres and hospitals, libraries and museums. This will improve medical care and education, science and agriculture, business opportunities and employment. At the same time, they say, local communities, languages and cultures will become stronger.
    计划在十年后世界上每个人将拥有一部收音机或电视机，50%的世界人口可以从学校和大学，医疗中心和医院，图书馆和博物馆进入互联网。这将改善医疗，教育，科学，农业，商机和就业。同时，他们说，当地社区，语言和文化会变得更强大。


Just a dream? Certainly there are some contradictions. Does only good come with freedom of information? If information is power, why will people share it? Doesn’t more technology mean fewer jobs? And how can the exchange of information keep local cultures alive if most of that information is only in one language?
   只是一个梦想吗？当然会有一些矛盾之处。是否信息自由只带来好处呢？如果信息是强大的，那为什么人们要分享信息？难道更多的技术不是意味着更少的工作岗位吗？如果大多数信息用一种语言表达，信息交流又是如何有怎么能让当地文化保持鲜活呢？


It is much easier to get people connected to broadband or put government online in Europe than in South America or the Middle East. However, developing countries often leapfrog the process which richer nations went through, and avoid their mistakes. Brazil collects most of its taxes online these days. There are cyber cities in Dubai and Mauritius. And Taiwan and Hong Kong have better access to ICT than the United Kingdom. Maybe the English language isn’t so important after all.
比起南美或中东，在欧洲的人们更容易连接宽带或使市政府在线。然而，发展中国家通常跳过较富裕国家经历的过程，避免了他们的错误。迪拜和毛里求斯有一些网络城市。台湾和香港比起英国能更好地获取信息通讯。或许英语毕竟也不是那么重要。


Perhaps the spread of technology means that the old centres of power are also changing. The United States introduced internet technology in the 1970s. But people are asking why they should continue to be in charge. Why should a small organisation in California tell the rest of the world how computers talk to each other?
也许技术的传播意味着旧的权力中心在改变着。美国在20世纪70年代引进网络技术。 但是人们在问为什么他们还要继续掌控着？为什么加利福尼亚的一个小组织要告诉全世界电脑是如何交流的？

 

The US says it makes the rules, but it doesn’t control the flow of information. The domain name system (DNS) controls how internet addresses work, but not what a website or database contains. Many want a more international approach, however. But they also want the internet to remain open and free for all to use.
美国说它指定规则，但不控制信息流通。域名系统控制网络地址如何工作，但不控制网页或数据库所包含的东西。然而，许多人想要更国际化的方法。但是，他们也想要网络继续保持开放，让所有人免费使用。



Can the world create an information society for all? If a farmer in Bangladesh can read this in the year 2015, then maybe the answer is yes.
世界能为所有人创造一个信息社会吗？如果孟加拉国的一个农民能在2015年读到这篇文章，那么答案可能是肯定的。