- Email: [email protected]
Microelectronics: A challenge for Europe's industrial survival
71
Book Reviews Microelectronics: A Challenge for Europe's Industrial Survival by R. von Gizycki and I. Schubert; R. OIdenbourg Verlag; Munich, Vienna; 232 pages; softback; illustrated; references; bibliography, and appendices; ISBN 3-486-51751-1. In this report prepared for the Commission of the European Communities as part of the FAST (Forecasting and Assessment in the Field of Science and Technology) studies, the subject is the information society and the scope is the next 20 years. Co-sponsored by the Battelle-Institut e.V., the report is published as part of the Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe des Battelle-Instituts. There are eight earlier reports. One can not exaggerate the dependence on other nations that would result to a modern industrial nation if it should fall behind in microelectronics. The concern of the authors is that this is precisely what is happening in Europe and that existing remedial efforts are pushing in the wrong direction. The report examines the international status and then the R & D , Manpower, M a r k e t / p r o d u c tion, technology transfer, university/union relations and government policy strategies of Europe, Japan. and the US. The report then provides a one-line conclusion: Europe needs international cooperation, reorganization and integration. Now, to one who lives in one of the largest common markets in the world, this seems to be a restatement of an obvious truth. Why must it be restated as a special case for Europe and microelectronics? The report answers this question. The report states, " T h e increasing integration of the components and functions of electronic circuits appears to go hand in hand with increasing integration of the components and functions of society. Indeed, it seems as if society evolves in a similar fashion from small - over medium - to large scale integration, as does its electronic 'counterpart': The micro-processor appears to produce its related micro-society." Not surprisingly, the report mentions the need North-Holland4 (1985) 71-73 Computers & Standards
for standardization to facilitate the integration it proposes. More correctly, the report stresses that standardization must inevitably result to control the complexity of microelectronics. Unfortunately the date of material included in the report is ambiguous and mitigates the impact of the report. Either it should have been published in 1981 or it should state the timeframe of the assumptions and update the report with developments to the date of publication. Obviously the subject matter is critically important to Europe and the free world. And apparently the study should be an important decision tool. Therefore, it should not be questioned as to whether the recommendations were dependent on the several independent assumptions. Assumptions about the period 1980 to 1984 that are now obviously erroneous deal with the US's continued inflation, the price of oil, and the strength of the dollar. Worse, the Personal Computer revolution of the period 1981 to the present is completely missing. To this reader and observer, to ignore the societal impact of PC's and the consequential reaction of the information industry to this phenomenal issue is simply impossible.
Computer Based National Information Systems A Source Book, with an introduction by Stephen J. Andriole, 1984; Petrocelli Books, Inc., New Jersey; large format, 166 pages; hardback; $24.95; illustrated; ISBN 089433-255-4. The Office of Technology Assessment, a body of the US Congress, performed this study "on the use of computer technology in national information systems and related public policy issues." The issues addressed were: Innovation, productivity, and employment Privacy Security Government management of data processing Society's dependence on information systems Constitutional rights Regulatory boundaries Computer crime Transborder Data flow
0167-8051/85/$3.30 <{~'1985, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland)
Book Reviews Microelectronics: A Challenge for Europe's Industrial Survival by R. von Gizycki and I. Schubert; R. OIdenbourg Verlag; Munich, Vienna; 232 pages; softback; illustrated; references; bibliography, and appendices; ISBN 3-486-51751-1. In this report prepared for the Commission of the European Communities as part of the FAST (Forecasting and Assessment in the Field of Science and Technology) studies, the subject is the information society and the scope is the next 20 years. Co-sponsored by the Battelle-Institut e.V., the report is published as part of the Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe des Battelle-Instituts. There are eight earlier reports. One can not exaggerate the dependence on other nations that would result to a modern industrial nation if it should fall behind in microelectronics. The concern of the authors is that this is precisely what is happening in Europe and that existing remedial efforts are pushing in the wrong direction. The report examines the international status and then the R & D , Manpower, M a r k e t / p r o d u c tion, technology transfer, university/union relations and government policy strategies of Europe, Japan. and the US. The report then provides a one-line conclusion: Europe needs international cooperation, reorganization and integration. Now, to one who lives in one of the largest common markets in the world, this seems to be a restatement of an obvious truth. Why must it be restated as a special case for Europe and microelectronics? The report answers this question. The report states, " T h e increasing integration of the components and functions of electronic circuits appears to go hand in hand with increasing integration of the components and functions of society. Indeed, it seems as if society evolves in a similar fashion from small - over medium - to large scale integration, as does its electronic 'counterpart': The micro-processor appears to produce its related micro-society." Not surprisingly, the report mentions the need North-Holland4 (1985) 71-73 Computers & Standards
for standardization to facilitate the integration it proposes. More correctly, the report stresses that standardization must inevitably result to control the complexity of microelectronics. Unfortunately the date of material included in the report is ambiguous and mitigates the impact of the report. Either it should have been published in 1981 or it should state the timeframe of the assumptions and update the report with developments to the date of publication. Obviously the subject matter is critically important to Europe and the free world. And apparently the study should be an important decision tool. Therefore, it should not be questioned as to whether the recommendations were dependent on the several independent assumptions. Assumptions about the period 1980 to 1984 that are now obviously erroneous deal with the US's continued inflation, the price of oil, and the strength of the dollar. Worse, the Personal Computer revolution of the period 1981 to the present is completely missing. To this reader and observer, to ignore the societal impact of PC's and the consequential reaction of the information industry to this phenomenal issue is simply impossible.
Computer Based National Information Systems A Source Book, with an introduction by Stephen J. Andriole, 1984; Petrocelli Books, Inc., New Jersey; large format, 166 pages; hardback; $24.95; illustrated; ISBN 089433-255-4. The Office of Technology Assessment, a body of the US Congress, performed this study "on the use of computer technology in national information systems and related public policy issues." The issues addressed were: Innovation, productivity, and employment Privacy Security Government management of data processing Society's dependence on information systems Constitutional rights Regulatory boundaries Computer crime Transborder Data flow
0167-8051/85/$3.30 <{~'1985, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland)