Technological Change and the Challenges for 21 st Century Governance

The conventional wisdom on the accelerating rate of technological change is a truism, and might actually be truer than we realize. In many respects, the changes to the fabric of daily life witnessed during the years from 1801 to 1900 were more fundamental than those occurring during the subsequent century from 1901 to 2000. But the 19 century’s transformation was largely predicated upon political, social, and technological changes that had occurred during the preceding 18 century. While one must always be wary of historical analogy, the next 100 years may well witness a similarly breathless degree of change, this time based on the political, social, and, above all, technological changes that have taken place during the past 25 years.