[1] It thus encompasses any other decision-making practice with society-wide constitutive efforts that involve the flow of information and how it is processed.
[2] It has since then evolved from being seen as relatively unimportant to having a much more overarching strategic significance since it establishes the conditions “under which all other decision making, public discourse, and political activity occur.”[2] The growing awareness in the importance of information policy has sparked an interest in various groups to further study and analyze its magnitude.
[2] Although information policy generally has a broader definition and encapsulates a multitude of components, its scope and impact can vary depending on the context.
It can also have a much broader context in relation to different subjects and be within a larger time period, for example dating back to Roman civilization, the Bill of Rights, or the Constitution.
[2] The obvious reason for the need of information policy deals with the legal issues that can be associated with the advancement of technology.
Convergence is thought to be the result of the need for expansion into new markets due to competition and technological advances that have created a threat of new entrants into various segments of the value chain.
[8] As a result, previously disparate technologies interact with one other synergistically to deliver information in new and unique ways and allow for inventive solutions to be developed.
[9] Social networking sites have begun interacting with e-mail functionalities, search engines have begun integrating Internet searches with Facebook data, Twitter along with various other social media platforms have started to play a prominent role in the emergency management framework (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery) among several others.
In 2012 a prominent issue arose that deals with the convergence of social media with copyright infringement monitoring systems.
Various officials from all over the world have expressed an interest in forcing social networks to install and utilize monitoring systems to determine if users are illegally obtaining copyrighted material.
[10] For example, if implemented, these filters could prevent the illegal sharing of music over social networking platforms.
The issue of converging social networks with piracy monitoring systems becomes controversial when it comes to protecting personal data and abiding by privacy laws.
[15] For example, coordination of IP addresses and managing the Domain Name System (DNS) ensure computers and devices can correctly connect to the Internet and can communicate effectively globally.
Legislation such as the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USAPATRIOT or USAPA) Act of 2001 is an example of security taking precedence over civil liberties.
It is a commonly used in the studies of on-the-job policy makers in government or industry (Moore and Steele, 1991; McIntosh, 1990; Rowlands, 1997).
The factors include constraining data collection, analysis and interpretation within the framework of a specific discipline.
As information policy becomes a larger and more important topic, it will also become a greater subject to governmental regulation in regards to the future of technology as well.
[2] The information policies will earn more advantages for national and organizational, such as getting the best from development of Web 2.0 nationally and in organization, influence people for paying attention to the socio aspect and socio-technical system, for securing preservation of digital content, bringing out information product, also respecting all users and making thinking time respectable.
A single nation can take the lead in establishing communication-based relationships specifically regarding the internet.
These relations will need to be slowly and consistently established in order to truly unify any kind of information policy and decision-making.
If information policy can be established and guided on a semi-national level, the degree of communication and cooperation throughout the world will increase dramatically.
Information policy is playing a greater role in the economy leading to the production of goods and services, as well as selling them directly to consumers (UCLA, 2009).