The pace of innovation in the information technologies continues unabated, and massive investment in the digital infrastructure required for distributed information systems is proceeding steadily. The paper summarises some of the basic technology trends of the past five years and describes some of the consequent systems trends, including workstation networks, open system standards, digital communications and computer supported co-operative work. A key characteristic of most of these developments is the need for systems that support co-operation between people, between people and machines, between machines, and between organisations. Some examples of these are discussed including X400 electronic mail, CCITT SS7 separate channel signalling and electronic conferencing. Some of the newer disciplines required to support an engineering approach to building very large distributed information systems are then described, including protocol engineering, distributed systems architecture, object-oriented design and system control and management. The paper concludes by reviewing some of the issues these technologies raise for the engineering professional and the role of the IEE in the 1990s