The citizen, the expert and wisdom in the virtual workspace

Society's first encounter with computer networks and information technology (NETS&IT) has been crystallized in the metaphor of the information highway with its emphasis on the movement of digital packets, the economic impact of the technology, and its use by the individual producer and consumer. This paper extends the metaphor to encompass a vision of a sustained electronic (virtual) workspace as an integral part of future society, and focuses on its use as a venue for group social process in civil society's pursuit of a sustainable niche for the human species. This virtual workspace provides a venue for asynchronous social process across time and space, with an impact just as real as that of activity in the literal world. As such it will play an important role in our ability to fashion a civilization which is sustainable.