THE SPACES IN WHICH WE WORK are changing to suit the type of work we are now doing. The modern office grew out of the factory as a necessary by-product of the bureaucratization of industry. Today, however, much of the repetitive, linear, process-driven work that used to occupy vast numbers of office workers is done by the computers; consequently the contemporary workplace is increasingly the setting for a new type of work that is far removed from the repetitive tasks characterised by time-and-motion studies. The most common term for this new type of office work is 'knowledge work', and it is now the dominant mode of working in most of the world's advanced economies. Knowledge work depends not so much on formula and process, but rather on applying considerable theoretical knowledge and learning. It is based less on individuals following explicit instruction within a supervised hierarchy, and much more on the shared working practices of collaboration, initiative and exploration, in which knowledge is often implicit. Doctors, lawyers, academics and scientists were among the first to be identified as knowledge workers. The term, which was first used in 1960 by the American economist Peter Drucker, now extends to most executive, managerial and marketing roles within organizations.

Drucker has also drawn attention to a class of worker he describes as 'knowledge technologists'. These computer technicians, software designers, analysts in clinical labs, paralegals and so on are swelling the ranks of knowledge workers worldwide. Increasingly, in the early years of the twenty-first century, the world of work is becoming a world of knowledge work. Where once manual and process work fuelled economic growth, such activities are now increasingly out-sourced to developing economies. In the developed world, companies and governments alike must look to the knowledge worker for the key to future prosperity. In both the public and private sectors, ways to build, share, exchange and retain knowledge have assumed the highest priority.