{"id":19993,"date":"2022-04-28T11:43:18","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T09:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.teamnext.de\/blog\/the-digital-age-a-conceptual-classification\/"},"modified":"2023-04-04T17:03:45","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T15:03:45","slug":"the-digital-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamnext.de\/en\/blog\/the-digital-age\/","title":{"rendered":"The digital age: a conceptual classification"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The digital age: a conceptual classification<\/h1>\n

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Reading time:<\/span> 9<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Table of contents<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
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The term digital age<\/strong> is on everyone’s lips. We encounter it everywhere. There are various occupation groups that concern oneself with the term. For example, scientists, teachers and students from disciplines such as computer science, history of technology and communication studies, as well as software developers, media experts, IT consultants or digital economy experts. They have a professional understanding of the term, unlike most lay people.<\/p>\n

I would therefore like to bring a little more clarity to this topic with my contribution today. We speak of an age<\/em>\u00a0and thus describe a longer historical period that is characterized by particular features. Sometimes also similar terms, like epoch<\/em> or era<\/em>, are used for it. Basically, the digital age is characterized by several key features that can be explained by an interplay of digitization, connectivity, mobility and miniaturization.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Four key characteristics of the digital age<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Digitization <\/strong>is the conversion of information into the electronic language of bits and bytes. Once the data is available digitally, it can be further processed by computer systems and form the basis for new knowledge through factual linking, interpretation and evaluation. This process, also known as “digital value creation,” is a basic technology of the digital age.<\/p>\n

In addition, the exchange of digital data is also constantly generating new knowledge with enormous opportunities for value creation. Of course, for connectivity<\/strong> and digital communication to take place at all, basic network technology first had to be invented and developed. This includes in particular the use of various data transmission technologies via wired networks, and later increasingly also via mobile networks. We have known this network as the Internet since the mid-1990s at the latest. The Internet is, of course, THE most important communication medium of the digital age. It is global in scope, backed up by standardized procedures, and ideally does not exclude any political, social, or economic interest groups.<\/p>\n

Size does matter<\/h3>\n

Another important point is the mobility<\/strong> that comes with digital communication. The possibility of mobile data use decouples the creation and use of digital information spatially. You can communicate from almost anywhere in the digital age. In turn, this mobility was only made possible by the development of miniaturization<\/strong>\u00a0of computer systems, i.e. the reduction in size of hardware components. In addition, other forms of input and intuitive user interfaces had to be developed, which then led to the widespread use of mobile offerings, particularly in the form of the smartphone.<\/p>\n

When we speak of the digital age, it is also because every individual and all other parts of society have now become embedded in a data-driven infrastructure. Private user data that we leave behind on the web became the basis for new markets and business models. More social media platforms, messenger services and digital media<\/a>\u00a0channels are constantly emerging. User-generated content (such as memes<\/a>) forms a flood of images<\/a> and other information that many can hardly escape. Companies can only survive in this landscape if they professionalize their media accordingly. For example, by using AI-based DAM* systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* DAM stands for digital asset management<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n

Examples and statistics<\/h3>\n

For a better understanding, we will take a look at some statistical data. Whereas smartphones, tablets or on-board computers were still rare and expensive in the early 10s, today they are standard devices that are an integral part of everyday life. At the same time, the World Wide Web is so ubiquitous that by 2020, 100 percent of 14- to 49-year-olds in Germany would be Internet users. Even among 60- to 69-year-olds, the proportion of users was 93 percent. Only among people over the age of 70 is the proportion of users just under 80 percent. The fact that the proportion of smartphone users among 12- to 13-year-olds is already around 95 percent is also hardly surprising. This implicates the obligation to prepare children for the digital world both on their own responsibility and at school.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Four stages of development<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Basically, the age of global digitization can be divided into four evolutionary stages.<\/p>\n