One of the pioneers of applied information systems in Poland, he is an executive, university professor, scientist, civilizationist, philosopher, visionary, writer, and generalist.
[1][2][3] In Poland he is known for developing a computerized the social security number (PESEL, 1972–74) for 38 million citizens,[4] a prototype of INFOSTRADA (1972–1974), and authoring of the first books on applied information technology in business, economy, and society.
Targowski's father was arrested by the Germans in 1940 and sent to Auschwitz, later to Gross-Rosen and Nordhausen Mittelbau-Dora, where he was a slave worker for the production of V1 and V2 weapons.
When Joseph Stalin died on March 23, 1953, he and other boys shot air guns at pictures of the state officials, hanging in a classroom, celebrating the too soon conceived victory over the occupiers.
After his divorce, he remarried Irmina Dura-Kubas (MD and Ph.D.)[3] in 1978 and has a son John (attorney)[4] and a step-daughter Agnieszka (geophysicist), and three grandchildren; Julian (computer professional), Marcel and Veronica.
Defended in a public presentation a master's degree thesis on "The Computerized Integrated Information Systems in the RAWAR T1 Factory," which was making military and civilian (commercial navy) radars.
During his professional life he passed an intensive computer training at IBM schools in Belgium, Austria, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.
In ZETO-Zowar he initiated and oversaw the design of the first in Poland (1966) Production Calculation Software Package – now called ERP (BOMP, MRP I and MRP II) – advanced industrial processing systems, supporting integrated production management in the automotive plant FSO and Nowotko diesel engine plant in Warsaw, first on IBM 1440,[18] and later on IBM System/360 mainframes.
INFOSTRADA and KSI development plans were hindered by the political authorities as too risky for the dictatorship of the communist system, because they promoted the free flow of information in society.
In the United States, his experience on information highways (INFOSTRADA) from Poland, led to the launch of one of America's first digital city projects—Telecity of Kalamazoo (1996).
This approach should provide a clear target for the enterprise systems software development, just as in civil engineering the architecture of a church should be different from that of a school.
He invented the concept of the Semantic Ladder, composed of the following units of cognition, organized as steps (levels); 1-DATA (measurement), 2-Information (change), 3-Concept (direction), 4-Knowledge (principles, rules, laws), 5-Wisdom (judgment & choice).
Those layers/links (Physical, Systems, Session, Environment, Functions & Role, Symbols, Behavior, Value, Storage Retrieval) contribute to the logical understanding of communication between the sender and receiver and as the result generate reflective information.
They published their work as a chapter „The Framework for Cross-culture Communication Process Efficiency and Cost in the Global Economy” in ed.
They are supported by data, information, and knowledge – leading to conclusions, positions, solutions, decisions, actions, and so forth, which are understandable, competent, and sensitive.
Targowski perceives the art of life as set of the following traits:be philosophical (know your values), be moral and ethical, control emotions, be reflective:remember-forget-connect, be altruistic, be patient, communicate your solutions, other.
In the Spring 2012 he taught a course on HRS 4900 Wisdom at the Lee Honors College at Western Michigan University (WMU) and published his experience in his book (2012).
The New World Order was announced and Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the end of history (1992) and the return to the ideals of the French Revolution.
Ever since Targowski has pursued this idea and became an active member of the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations, eventually being elected its president for two terms (2007–2013).
Spirituality 2.0 would teach complementary morality, founded upon the most essential values of the particular Religions 1.0 such ones as those which steer these civilizations: Western, Eastern, Chinese, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, African (eclectic).
In this situation, a new socio-political system needs to be developed, which Targowski calls Ecologism, from the word ecosystem, a synonym of biosphere.
Targowski is a realist and thinks that the likelihood of the introduction of the enforcement of Spirituality 2.0 is currently very small but given the good will of those involved, and particularly if they prove wise, might be possible.
It implies that business values (profit maximization and social responsibility minimization) dominate the mind set of the World Elite.
Furthermore, just common sense wisdom tells us that a large country's service economy cannot grow, since is based upon weak income and low demand.
Since the Western-West (Atlantic) civilization is in decline in the 21st century, some political leaders suggest recovery from that state by emphasizing more innovations by business.
This kind of engineering should be only developed today and aimed at the sustainability of our civilization in times of shrinking strategic resources of the planet.
Targowski and Modrák presented their laws in a paper "Is Advance Automation Consistent with Sustainable Economic Growth in Developed World?
He found that wisdom (in the civilization context), the purposes of life, and happiness must be recognized as indispensable attributes of human existence and nature, and they represent necessary resources that enhance resilience to all kinds of challenges.
However, the regime was clever and allowed young people to dance American rock and roll in in-door places to avoid any unrest at the streets.
He was elected (1971–1972), but after conducting 32 meetings/year, each a few hours, he resigned, since he stopped playing tennis and could not carry his job at the national information technology office.