Leaders recognize that, in an information economy, it's inappropriate to value intellectual and customer capital at zero, to look at training as a cost rather than an investment, and to use industrial-age yardsticks to report performance. Qualitative, customized Balanced Scorecards have replaced financial statements. Broadband and fiber have put interactive video on most desktops in the office and set-tops at home. Virtual private networks and individualization have eliminated firewall problems. Cornea and fingerprint scans insure that people are who they say they are.
Wireless connectivity frees people to work wherever they please.
We run applications and store files on the Internet, making them accessible from anywhere. Swarms of personal software agents continuously crawl the net, screening and feeding information to individual personal portals. A vast array of connected gadgets and gizmos both complicate and simplify our lives. T he toaster talks. It feels more and more like You Are There.