Information replacing physical capital

In the industrial age, power and wealth came from owning physical capital: land, factories, machines, raw materials and energy (coal, oil). In the information age, the main source is information and knowledge: data, ideas, software, patents and networks.

How the shift happened

1. Computers and the internet (from the 1970s–90s) made information cheap to store, process and send globally.
2. Value moved to intangibles: the richest firms today (Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta) are knowledge and data companies, while old heavy-industry firms have lower value.
3. Knowledge creates products at near-zero copy cost: software or a digital service, once made, can be sold to millions without new factories.
4. Data is used as capital: platforms earn by analysing user data for advertising and services; Uber and Airbnb own few cars or hotels but control information networks.
5. Workers' value depends on knowledge: skilled knowledge workers earn much more than manual workers; education became the main asset.
6. Power through information: governments and companies that control information, media and cyber tools gain political and economic power.

For Nepal, investment in education, IT skills and internet access is now more important for wealth creation than heavy industry alone.