Microelectronics and Society

Microelectronics and Society: For Better or for Worse: A Report to the Club of Rome focuses on the challenges, opportunities, and problems related with the development of microelectronics and its effects on society. The book first offers information on microelectronics and information technology. Discussions focus on the political consequences of technological development, national capacities for science and technology, employment, occupation, and the renaissance of society, and the relationships of microelectronics with automation, information, technology, and communications. The publication then examines the applications and influence of microelectronics on enterprise, including the impact on manufacturing processes, service enterprises, administrative and office work, infrastructure, and rates of diffusion. The manuscript elaborates on the impact of microelectronics on workers and the workplace and microelectronics and macroeconomics. Topics include parts of the service sector with increasing and decreasing employment, international trade, employment, quality of work, polarization of jobs, technological alternatives, and industrial relations implications. The text is a valuable reference for sociologists and readers interested in the influence of microelectronics on society.