Data Warehouse Design Solutions

11

KNOWLEDGE AND INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL

The Information Age and the increased importance of knowledge to business success are accepted facts. During the Industrial Age, the acquisition and investment of capital to produce goods was paramount. In the Information Age, capital is subordinate to knowledge. The very fact that you are reading this book is a manifestation of the Information Age. Computer professionals have increased in ranks in the last 20 years much as the ranks of miners and factory workers increased at the onset of the Industrial Age, but the computer and software industry represent only one facet of the Information Age. The increased communication of information in the economy—the telecommunications revolution—is equally important. Together, these technologies have made the storage and exchange of information inexpensive.

The discontinuous force unleashed by advances in telecommunications and computing is change. Continuous, unpredictable, and often wildly profitable change is an established force in the economy. Everyone recognizes that change is causing the competitive storms that sweep through the global economy. What often goes unrecognized is the basic reason for all this change: the application of knowledge. With more information about the business, stored and easily retrieved with computers, companies can innovate more quickly than ever before. And with more telecommunications channels, a company can share information internally, or with business partners, more ...