Christiane Floyd Boeken

In the last three decades, women's intervention in the social and natural sci ences, in medicine and technology has introduced new paradigms. We have to admit that it takes time and energy to influence these fields in a feministic way. Women do not only work for the growth of knowledge, but also for the trans formation of knowledge systems. This book is about using knowledge for action in an interdisciplinary effort focussing on information as a social resource. Women's approach to the information age is different, as becomes visible in this book: Women's scholarly explorations include not only developing technol ogy, but also improving communication and networking, as well as supporting democratic processes by taking advantage of the tremendous technological op tions. I am convinced that this approach is vital for living the information soci ety, and that it will also make fields relating to information technology more at tractive to women. This book is the outcome of the Project Area INFORMATION of the Interna tional Women's University (ifo) held at the University of Hamburg in the sum mer 2000. As the Deputy Minister for Science and Research of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg I was responsible for promoting this study program. The international gathering of 150 participants was a most exciting event. The experience of ifo has enriched me as a scientist, as a feminist and as a politician.

Technology is fundamental to every product-based business in reducing costs, differentiating products, providing new opportunities, and driving strategic change. This work sets out to answer the key questions which confront top how to decide which technologies to invest in and how to manage and exploit them for maximum commercial benefit; how much to invest in R&D and to measure whether it delivers the goods; how to shape management roles, corporate structure and culture to fit technology strategy; and how to gain both employee and shareholder commitment. This text explores these and other key issues in an accessible, non-technical way, providing a best practice grounding in technology measurement. It offers guidelines on a variety of different scenarios compnies may experience and demonstrates the values and pitfalls of different approaches, quoting many real examples from well-known companies. It is aimed at senior managers in large and medium companies, chief executives, marketing, technical and planning directors and managers, and those involved in manging innovation and new product development.

«Es gibt keine eindeutige Determination der sozialen und gesellschaftlichen Entwicklung durch die wissenschaftlich-technische Entwicklung, wie dies aus technokratischer bzw. scientistischer Sicht gerne angenommen wird. Es gibt aber sicher keine soziale und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung ohne wissenschaftlich-technische Entwicklung. Es wird höchst wahrscheinlich auch keinen weiteren wissenschaftlich-technischen Fortschritt ohne sozialen Fortschritt geben, beide Entwicklungsprozesse müssen durch bewußte Gestaltung miteinander vermittelt werden.» «Die modernen Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien müssen mit den Erfordernissen einer am Humanismus orientierten gesellschaftlichen, sozialen und persönlichen Entwicklung in Einklang gebracht werden.» (Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski)