It has become necessary to understand the expected trends and forces-of-change behind the global realities of technological advancement and the information age. The emergence of a new information age societal framework is rapidly altering the way in which social, business, economic, educational, and political exchanges are conducted. Motivating these changes is a high-tech economic equation, a technology insertion process, enabling us to "do more with less." Characteristics and dimensions of the information age environment include (1) information ecology, environment, and sociology; (2) information economy and capitalism; (3) information technology, tools, and systems; (4) information resources; (5) information conferencing and dialoguing, and (6) information politics. Without some command over the future in this high-tech information age arena, it will not be possible for Europe or any other country to remain and/or become competitive in the interconnected global economy. The European Economic Community (EEC) is falling behind in the crucial race for its economic and industrial well being, with the United States capturing over 70 percent of the world market in high-tech microcomputers, and Japan surpassing all of Europe. The emerging shift in the United States and world economy from the European countries to the Pacific Basin countries presents a myriad of new opportunities, problems, outlooks, and power shifts. Future global events should be viewed as opportunities to plan and design through the use of proactive, anticipatory management rather than as problems to react against. (LH)