Today in western societies more people are employed collecting, handling and distributing information than in any other occupation. Millions of computers inhabit the earth and many millions of miles of optical fibre, wire and air waves link people, their computers and the vast array of information handling devices together. Our society is truly an information society, our time an information age.

Information forms the intellectual capital from which human beings craft their lives and the basis on which organizations operate. However, the building of intellectual capital is vulnerable in many ways. For example, intellectual capital is impaired whenever you lose personal information without being compensated for it, when you are precluded access to information which is of value to you, when you have revealed information you hold intimate, or when you find out that the information upon which your very existence depends is in error. These are the ethical issues around digital information and the information age must deal with these threats to society.

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Digitization, in essence, is a simple process. The conversion of analog content into a series of ones and zeros is mechanical. But digitization has had a profound impact, which is likely to continue in the digital journey.

I would like to welcome you on the Digital Journey blog of Deloitte. After our prediction for 2008 within the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) industry, through this blog we will keep you informed and inspired about things we all encounter during the digital journey.

Digitization has transformed much of the world’s TMT industry. But the impact of digitization has affected not only the global TMT industry, but also much of the world’s economy. And the digital journey continues. While many products and services have already been digitized, from telephone networks to recorded music, much remains to be digitized, from books to face-to-face meetings.

We as Deloitte chose this digital journey, which affects us all, not only because of the wide spread of views on what it gives, but also what it can take away. While digitally distributed music provides a new, efficient route to market, broadband networks may also enable piracy.

The digitization of the letter and memorandum into email enabled instant communications with a seemingly infinite quantity of friends and colleagues. But this same development has given rise to junk mail, involving many billions of unsolicited emails per year.

Each company has a different perception of the pros and cons of digitization. I would like to invite you to join the debate in this blog with your personal thoughts, reflections and insights regarding the digital journey we currently go through.

Piet Hein Meeter
Industry Leader TMT
Deloitte Nederland

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