If this line from The Great Gatsby is anything to go by, F Scott Fitzgerald had an optimistic view of the power of knowledge but he could also have been ahead of his time. In my view information and knowledge are, and should be recognised as, the fundamental resource of any organisation. They underpin and add value to the other resources.
Information is the new resource . . .
If we, as information professionals, do not recognise this concept, then we and UK plc are losing out. Knowledge, and the way it is acquired and used in what is now called the learning organisation , is coming to be seen as the sole sustainable source of competitive advantage. A growing number of world-class companies have recognised this fact. And they are developing ways of identifying and converting individual knowledge into a resource, specifically to support innovation. In today s information age, businesses and organisations need to manage, develop and exploit information for competitive advantage.