A tremendous economic change is taking place. We are witnessing the emergence of the Digital Economy. Computers, the software that runs on them, and the networks that connect them are the key enabling technologies of the new economy; an economy based on the digitisation of information. Information is easier to produce and harder to control, is easy not just to duplicate, but to replicate. Successful firms have to keep innovating to keep ahead of copycats nipping at their heels. The digital economy has given rise to a world in which innovation is more important than mass production. A world in which investment buys new concepts or the means to create them, rather than new machines and a world in which rapid change is a constant. The result: new rules of competition, new sorts of organisation, new challenges for management. The Digital Economy is an environment characterised by immediacy, globalisation, digitisation, virtualisation, internetworking, innovation and convergence. The way in which economic values are created will change fundamentally in the Digital Economy and thus transform the general structure of economies and societies.
             The system of corporate governance in Britain and the US is often criticised for its absence, i.e. allowing shareholders to monitor the managers continuously and to intervene when things go wrong. New technology has helped Investment Relations managers disseminate financial information more widely. The webcasts of briefings and conferences have become commonplace, while there has been a huge increase in demand for online reports. There could come a time when a company's annual general meeting could be held solely online, making it easier for people to have their say and ask questions.
             Governments too will be using the web to engage citizens to help shape government policy and discuss politics. The Local Government Commission for England website allows submissions & representations to be made electro...