READIT-2007 - Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

Knowledge a Commodity in the New Millenium
A.Amudhavalli ♣
Abstract
One of the first thinkers to posit the coming of the "Information Age" was the economist Fritz
Machlup and his predictions generally included the proposition that information was an important
commodity, which would form the basis of a new economic force. “In an economy where the only
certainty is uncertainty, the one source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge. When markets
shift, technologies proliferate, and products become obsolete almost overnight, successful companies
are those that consistently create new knowledge, disseminate it widely throughout the organization
and quickly embody it in new technologies and products.” (2). Knowledge is mass-produced,
packaged, distributed, exchanged and sold as discrete objects. Accurate, relevant and timely
information is the key ingredient to effective decision-making. Any individual/institution’s long-term
economic development is dependent on its ability to use information to make decisions that enable
growth, progress and productivity. Therefore, researchers need to learn to critically consume
knowledge products; and the information professionals need to design and distribute knowledge
products as re-usable objects with the aid of object-oriented design and standard knowledge
distribution protocols.
"New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more
truth we have to work with, the richer we become." (1)
1.INTRODUCTION
That information, knowledge and wisdom have financial value has been
acknowledged for many years. If I may quote from the Christian Holy Bible: "Happy
is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding For the
merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than
fine gold". This is extracted from the "Book of Proverbs", whose compilation started
eight hundred years before the present era. In spite of this, the idea that information
(as opposed to the information carriers such as manuscripts and books) is something
that should be paid for is not something that has been apparent to the general public,
except in the cases of military and industrial espionage. One of the first thinkers to
posit the coming of the "Information Age" was the economist Fritz Machlup and his
predictions generally included the proposition that information was an important
commodity, which would form the basis of a new economic force.
For quite some time, there have been attempts to identify the information
component of products and to cost out the value of these. Peter Drucker, the
management guru, for instance has pointed out that in new industries information, as
opposed to parts and labour, is increasingly forming inputs to products. The cost of an
automobile, for example, is 40% material and 25% labour, whilst for a silicon chip the
cost is 1% materials 10% labour and 70% information. Even in the case of an
automobile, the proportion of information that is input to its manufacture is rising
rapidly.
Hence, we can say that we are living through another great swing point in
history that has led to the emergence of an economy that is:
♣ Professor & Head, Dept. of Information Science, University of Madras &
President, Madras Library Association, Chennai.
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