"Knowledge is Power" goes the old German adage. But power, as any schoolboy knows, always has negative and positive sides to it. Information exhibits the same duality: properly provided, it is a positive power of unequalled strength. Improperly disseminated and presented, it is nothing short of destructive. The management of the structure, content, provision and dissemination of information is, therefore, of paramount importance to a nation, especially if it is in its infancy (as an independent state).
Information has
four dimensions and five axes of dissemination, some vertical and some
horizontal.
The four dimensions are:
Structure – information can come in various physical
forms and poured into different kinds of vessels and carriers. It can be
continuous or segmented, cyclical (periodic) or punctuated, repetitive or new,
etc. The structure often determines what of the information (if at all) will be
remembered and how. It encompasses not only the mode of presentation, but also
the modules and the rules of interaction between them (the hermeneutic
principles, the rules of structural interpretation, which is the result of
spatial, syntactic and grammatical conjunction).
Content – This incorporates both ontological and
epistemological elements. In other words: both "hard" data, which
should, in principle, be verifiable through the employment of objective,
scientific, methods – and "soft" data, the interpretation offered
with the hard data. The soft data is a derivative of a "message", in
the broader sense of the term. A message comprises both world-view (theory) and
an action and direction-inducing element.
Provision – The intentional input of structured
content into information channels. The timing of this action, the quantities of
data fed into the channels, their qualities – all are part of the equation of
provision.
Dissemination – More commonly known as media or
information channels. The channels which bridge between the information
providers and the information consumers. Some channels are merely technical and
then the relevant things to discuss would be technical: bandwidth, noise to
signal ratios and the like. Other channels are metaphorical and then the
relevant determinants would be their effectiveness in conveying content to
targeted consumers.
In the economic realm, there are five
important axes of dissemination:
From Government
to the Market – the Market
here being the "Hidden Hand", the mechanism which allocates resources
in adherence to market signals (for instance, in accordance with prices). The
Government intervenes to correct market failures, or to influence the
allocation of resources in favour or against the interests of a defined group
of people. The more transparent and accountable the actions of the Government,
the less distortion in the allocation of resources and the less resulting
inefficiency. The Government should declare its intentions and actions in
advance whenever possible, then it should act through public, open tenders,
report often to regulatory and legislative bodies and to the public and so on.
The more information provided by this major economic player (the most dominant
in most countries) – the more smoothly and efficaciously the Market will
operate. The converse, unfortunately, is also true. The less open the
government, the more latent its intents, the more shadowy its operations – the
more cumbersome the bureaucracy, the less functioning the market.
From Government
to the Firms – The same
principles that apply to the desirable interaction between Government and
Market, apply here. The Government should disseminate information to firms in
its territory (and out of it) accurately, equitably and speedily. Any delay or
distortion in the information, or preference of one recipient over another –
will thwart the efficient allocation of economic resources.
From Government
to the World – The
"World" here being multilateral institutions, foreign governments,
foreign investors, foreign competitors and the economic players in general
providing that they are outside the territory of the information disseminating
Government. Again, any delay, or abstention in the dissemination of information
as well as its distortion (disinformation and misinformation) will result in
economic outcomes worse that could have been achieved by a free, prompt,
precise and equitable (=equally available) dissemination of said information.
This is true even where commercial secrets are involved! It has been proven
time and again that when commercial information is kept secret – the firm (or
Government) that keeps it hidden is HARMED. The most famous examples are Apple (which
kept its operating system a well-guarded secret) and IBM (which did not),
Microsoft (which kept its operating system open to developers of software) and
other software companies (which did not). Recently, Netscape has decided to
provide its source code (the most important commercial secret of any software
company) free of charge to application developers. Synergy based on openness
seemed to have won over old habits. A free, unhampered, unbiased flow of
information is a major point of attraction to foreign investors and a brawny
point with the likes of the IMF and the World Bank. The former, for instance,
lends money more easily to countries, which maintain a reasonably reliable
outflow of national statistics.
From Firms to
the World – The virtues of
corporate transparency and of the application of the properly revealing
International Accounting Standards (IAS, GAAP, or others) need no evidencing.
Today, it is virtually impossible to raise money, to export, to import, to form
joint ventures, to obtain credits, or to otherwise collaborate internationally
without the existence of full, unmitigated disclosure. The modern firm (if it
wishes to interact globally) must open itself up completely and provide timely,
full and accurate information to all. This is a legal must for public and
listed firms the world over (though standards vary). Transparent accounting
practices, clear ownership structure, available track record and historical
performance records – are sine qua non in today's financing world.
From Firms to Firms
– This is really a subset of the previous axis of dissemination. Its
distinction is that while the former is concerned with multilateral,
international interactions – this axis is more inwardly oriented and deals with
the goings-on between firms in the same territory. Here, the desirability of
full disclosure is even stronger. A firm that fails to provide information
about itself to firms on its turf, will likely fall prey to vicious rumours and
informative manipulations by its competitors.
Positive information is
characterized by four qualities:
Transparency – Knowing the sources of the information,
the methods by which it was obtained, the confirmation that none of it was
unnecessarily suppressed (some would argue that there is no "necessary suppression")
– constitutes the main edifice of transparency. The datum or information can be
true, but if it is not perceived to be transparent – it will not be considered
reliable. Think about an anonymous (=non-transparent) letter versus a signed letter
– the latter will be more readily relied upon (subject to the reliability of
the author, of course).
Reliability – is the direct result of transparency.
Acquaintance with the source of information (including its history) and with
the methods of its provision and dissemination will determine the level of
reliability that we will attach to it. How balanced is it? Is the source
prejudiced or in any way an interested, biased, party? Was the information
"force-fed" by the Government, was the media coerced to publish it by
a major advertiser, was the journalist arrested after the publication? The
circumstances surrounding the datum are as important as its content. The
context of a piece of information is of no less consequence that the
information contained in it. Above all, to be judged reliable, the information
must "reflect" reality. I mean reflection not in the basic sense: a
one to one mapping of the reflected. I intend it more as a resonance, a
vibration in tune with the piece of the real world that it relates to. People
say: "This sounds true" and the word "sounds" should be
emphasized.
Comprehensiveness – Information will not be considered
transparent, nor will it be judged reliable if it is partial. It must
incorporate all the aspects of the world to which it relates, or else state
explicitly what has been omitted and why (which is tantamount to including it,
in the first place). A bit of information is embedded in a context and
constantly interacts with it. Additionally, its various modules and content elements
consistently and constantly interact with each other. A missing part implies
ignorance of interactions and epiphenomena, which might crucially alter the
interpretation of the information. Partiality renders information valueless.
Needless to say, that I am talking about RELEVANT parts of the information.
There are many other segments of it, which are omitted because their influence
is negligible (the idealization process), or because it is so great that they
are common knowledge.
Organization – This, arguably, is the most important
aspect of information. It is what makes information comprehensible. It includes
the spatial and temporal (historic) context of the information, its
interactions with its context, its inner interactions, as we described earlier,
its structure, the rules of decision (grammar and syntax) and the rules of
interpretation (semantics, etc.) to be applied. A worldview is provided, a
theory into which the information fits. Embedded in this theory, it allows for
predictions to be made in order to falsify the theory (or to prove it).
Information cannot be understood in the absence of such a worldview. Such a
worldview can be scientific, or religious – but it can also be ideological
(Capitalism, Socialism), or related to an image which an entity wishes to
project. An image is a theory about a person or a group of people. It is both
supported by information – and supports it. It is a shorthand version of all
the pertinent data, a stereotype in reverse.
There is no
difference in the application of these rules to information and to
interpretation (which is really information that relates to other information
instead of relating to the World). Both categories can be formal and informal.
Formal information is information that designates itself as such (carries a
sign: "I am information"). It includes official publications by
various bodies (accountants, corporations, The Bureau of Statistics, news
bulletins, all the media, the Internet, various databases, whether in digitized
format or in hard copy).
Informal
information is information, which is not permanently captured or is captured
without the intention of generating formal information (=without the pretence:
"I am information"). Any verbal communication belongs here (rumours, gossip,
general knowledge, background dormant data, etc.).
The modern world is
glutted by information, formal and informal, partial and comprehensive, out of
context and with interpretation. There are no conceptual, mental, or
philosophically rigorous distinctions today between information and what it
denotes or stands for. Actors are often mistaken for their roles, wars are
fought on television, fictitious TV celebrities become real. That which has no
information presence might as well have no real-life existence. An entity –
person, group of people, a nation – which does not engage in structuring
content, providing and disseminating it – actively engages, therefore, in its
own, slow, disappearance.
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