The talk will deal with an attempt to cast a framework for a unified theory of information. That framework is based upon systems thinking, in particular, on the concept of »evolutionary system«. It will be demonstrated that every evolutionary system can be regarded as an agent that is capable of generating as well as utilising information. Information is then a relation that is actualised by an evolutionary system relating a perturbation that occurs to a system to a change in the system’s structure, state or behaviour. Such a definition can include semiotic concepts, in particular, those of C.S. Peirce. Emergence is shown as a sine qua non for the existence of information.
Wolfgang Hofkirchner: ao. Professor für Technology Assessment an der TU Wien, Gründungspräsident der International Society for Information Studies und Präsident des in Wien angesiedelten Bertalanffy Centers for the Study of Systems Science