The very name "information society" first appeared in Japan. The specialists who proposed this term explained that it defines a society in which high-quality information circulates in abundance, and also has all the necessary means for its storage, distribution and use. Information is easily and quickly disseminated according to the requirements of interested people and organizations and is issued to them in a form that is familiar to them. The cost of using information services is so low that they are available to everyone.
Sociology gives a more formalized definition of the information society. In the history of its development, human civilization went through several socio-economic stages:
Agrarian Society;
Industrial society;
Post-industrial society.
The next stage of development should be called “information society”.
The socio-economic criterion that determines the stage of social development is the distribution of employment of the population. At the stage of an agrarian society, more than half of the population is employed in agriculture; in an industrial society, most of the population works in industry; if in a society more than 50% of the population is employed in the service sector, the post-industrial phase of its development has begun. According to this criterion, the stage of the information society begins under the condition that more than half of the population is employed in the field of information and intellectual production and services.
The socio-economic criterion is not the only one. An interesting criterion was proposed by Academician A.P. Ershov: the phases of progress towards the information society should be judged by the total bandwidth of communication channels... There is a simple idea behind this: the development of communication channels reflects both the level of computerization, and the objective need of society for all types of information exchange, and other manifestations of informatization. According to this criterion, the early phase of informatization of society begins when the aggregate capacity of communication channels operating in it is reached, which ensures the deployment of a sufficiently reliable long-distance telephone network. The final phase is when it is possible to implement a reliable and prompt informational contact between members of society on the principle “each with each”. In the final phase, the bandwidth of communication channels should be a million times greater than in the first phase.
According to a number of experts, the United States will complete the transition to the information society by 2020, Japan and most Western European countries by 2030–2040.
Russia's entry into the information society has its own characteristics associated with the current stage of its development. In Russia, there are a number of objective prerequisites for the transition to the state of the information society. Among them: the rapid development of the material base of the information sphere, the informatization of many branches of production and management, active entry into the world community, the preparedness of public consciousness, etc. human and scientific and technical potential of Russia.
Trends in the development of the information society
Changing the structure of the economy and the structure of labor
The transition to an information society is accompanied by a shift in the center of gravity in the economy from the use of materials to the provision of services, which entails a significant reduction in the extraction and processing of raw materials and energy consumption.
The second half of the twentieth century, thanks to informatization, was accompanied by an overflow of people from the sphere of direct material production to the information sphere. Industrial workers, who in the middle of the twentieth century made up more than 2/3 of the population, today in developed countries make up less than 1/3. The social stratum, which is called “white collar workers”, has grown significantly - people of hired labor who do not directly produce material values, but are engaged in information processing (in a broad sense): teachers, bank employees, programmers, etc. So, by 1980, 3% of workers were employed in agriculture in the USA, 20% in industry, 30% in the service sector, and 48% of the population was employed in the information sphere.
Informatization has also changed the nature of labor in traditional industries. The emergence of robotic systems, the widespread introduction of elements of microprocessor technology is the main reason for this phenomenon. The machine tool industry in the United States employed 330,000 people in 1990, and by 2005 there were 14,000 people left. This happened due to the massive reduction of people on the assembly lines, due to the introduction of robots and manipulators instead.
Another characteristic feature in this area is the emergence of a developed market for information products and services.
Development and mass use of information and communication technologies
Explosive development lies at the heart of the information revolution information and communication technologies... In this process, a feedback is clearly observed: the movement towards an information society sharply accelerates the development processes of these technologies, making them widely in demand.
However, the rapid growth in the production of computer technology, which began in the middle of the twentieth century, did not cause the transition to the information society. Computers were used by a relatively small number of specialists as long as they existed in isolation. The most important stages on the way to the information society were:
· Creation of telecommunication infrastructure, including data transmission networks;
· The emergence of huge databases, access to which through the network got millions of people;
· Development of uniform rules of behavior in networks and search for information in them.
A huge role in the discussed process was played by creation of the internet... Today the Internet is a colossal and rapidly growing system, the number of users of which by the beginning of 2007 exceeded 1 billion people. It should be noted that the quantitative characteristics of the Internet are becoming obsolete faster than the books in which these indicators are printed.
The growth rate of the number of network users is fairly stable at about 20% per year. The first place in terms of the number of Internet users is occupied by the United States - about 200 million Americans are connected to the global network (all data at the beginning of 2007). In second and third places are China and Japan with 111 and 87 million users, respectively. In Russia, the number of people connected to the Internet is 21.8 million, which is 17.5 percent more than in the previous year. This indicator allowed Russia to take 11th place in the ranking of the most Internet-connected countries. Note, however, that “connected” does not mean “regularly using”; in statistics of this kind all over the world there are difficulties in data interpretation.
According to some indicators related to the Internet, our country is in the lead. Thus, in terms of the number of users of fiber-optic networks, Russia ranks first in Europe. This is due to the fact that with the relatively late start of mass Internetization, it was easier for Russian providers to develop new and technologically more advanced Internet access channels than to modernize existing ones.
Information and communication technologies are constantly evolving. Gradually happens universalization of leading technologies, i.e. instead of creating their own technology for each task, they are developing powerful, versatile technologies that allow for many use cases. An example of this is office software systems in which you can perform many different actions, from the simplest typing to the creation of fairly specialized programs (say, payroll using a spreadsheet processor).
The universalization of information technology promotes widespread use of multimedia. A modern multimedia system is capable of combining functions, for example, of a computer, TV, radio, multi-projector, telephone, answering machine, fax, while providing access to data networks.
The improvement of computing technology leads to the personalization and miniaturization of information storage devices. Tiny, palm-sized devices with all the functions of a personal computer allow a person to acquire their own universal reference book, the amount of information which is comparable to several encyclopedias. Since this device can be connected to the network, it also transmits operational data - for example, about the weather, current time, the state of traffic jams, etc.
Overcoming the information crisis
The information crisis is a phenomenon that became noticeable already at the beginning of the twentieth century. It manifests itself in the fact that the flow of information that poured into a person is so great that it is inaccessible to processing in a reasonable time. This phenomenon takes place in scientific research, and in technical developments, and in social and political life. In our increasingly complex world, decision-making is becoming an increasingly responsible business, and it is impossible without completeness of information.
The accumulation of the general volume of knowledge is accelerating at an astonishing rate. At the beginning of the 20th century, the total volume of all information produced by mankind doubled every 50 years, by 1950 it doubled every 10 years, by the end of the 20th century - every 5 years, and this, apparently, is not the limit.
Here are some examples of the manifestations of the information explosion. The number of scientific publications in most branches of knowledge is so large, and traditional access to them (reading journals) is so difficult that specialists cannot manage to navigate them, which gives rise to duplication of work and other unpleasant consequences.
It often turns out that it is easier to redesign some technical device than to find documentation about it in countless descriptions and patents.
A political leader who makes a responsible decision at a high level, but does not own the completeness of information, will easily fall into a mess, and the consequences can be catastrophic. Of course, information alone in such a case is not enough; adequate methods of political analysis are also needed, but without information they are useless.
The result is information crisis which manifests itself in the following:
· The information flow exceeds the human capacity for the perception and processing of information;
· There is a large amount of redundant information (the so-called "information noise"), which makes it difficult to perceive information useful to the consumer;
· Strengthening economic, political and other barriers that prevent the dissemination of information (for example, due to secrecy).
A partial way out of the information crisis is seen in the use of new information technologies. The introduction of modern means and methods of storing, processing and transmitting information greatly reduces the barrier to access to it and the speed of search. Of course, technologies alone cannot solve a problem that is both economic (information costs money) and legal (information has an owner), and a number of others. This problem is complex, so it should be tackled by the efforts of both each country and the world community as a whole.
Freedom of access to information and freedom of its dissemination
The discussed problem lies more in the political and economic plane than in the technical one, since modern information technologies, purely technically, have opened an endless space for information exchanges. An information society is impossible without freedom of access to information. Freedom of access to information and freedom of its dissemination is a prerequisite for democratic development, contributing to economic growth, fair competition in the market. Only relying on complete and reliable information, it is possible to make correct and balanced decisions in politics, economics, science, and practice.
Freedom of dissemination of information of a cultural and educational nature is of great importance. It contributes to the growth of the cultural and educational level of society.
At the same time, the problem of freedom of access to information has an opposite side. Not all information of state, corporate or personal importance should be freely circulated. Everyone has the right to personal secrets; likewise, a state or corporation has secrets vital to their existence. There should be no freedom to disseminate information that promotes violence and other, unacceptable for society and the individual, phenomena. Finding a compromise between freedom of access to information and inevitable restrictions is not an easy task.
Growth of information culture
The modern understanding of information culture is the ability and needs of a person to work with information by means of new information technologies.
Purposeful efforts of society and the state to develop the information culture of the population are mandatory when moving towards an information society. One of the important tasks of the computer science course is the development of elements of the information culture of students. This task is complex in nature, it cannot be solved only by the school. The development of elements of information culture should begin in childhood, in the family, and then go through the entire conscious life of a person, through the entire system of education and upbringing.
Information culture encompasses much more than a simple set of technical information processing skills using computers and telecommunications. Information culture should become a part of universal human culture. A cultured (in a broad sense) person should be able to evaluate the information received qualitatively, understand its usefulness, reliability, etc.
An essential element of information culture is the mastery of the method of collective decision-making. The ability to interact in the information field with other people is an important sign of a member of the information society.
Changes in education
Big changes are taking place as we move towards an information society in education. One of the fundamental problems facing modern education is to make it more accessible to everyone. This accessibility has economic, social and technological aspects.
However, the problems of building the education system in the information society are not limited to technologies. By virtue of its dynamism, this society will require from its members continuous, over the course of tens of years, training. This will allow a person to keep up with the times, be able to change profession, take a worthy place in the social structure of society. In this regard, even a new concept arose: “the principle of lifelong professional development”. Economically developed countries have already embarked on the path of creating a system of continuous education, including preschool and school education, vocational education, a system of professional retraining and advanced training, additional education (sometimes non-formal), etc. The level of quantitative and qualitative development of the educational system makes it possible to judge the degree of advancement of the country along the path to the information society.
Changing the way of life of people
The formation of the information society has a significant impact on the daily life of people. From the examples already available, one can foresee that the changes will be profound. Thus, the massive introduction of television in the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century significantly changed the life of people, and not only for the better. On the one hand, millions of people have the opportunity to access the treasures of national and world culture, on the other hand, live communication has decreased, more stereotypes implanted by television have appeared, and the reading circle has narrowed.
Let us consider the individual components of the way of life, analyzing what has already taken place and what is being born in our time.
Job. According to a sociological study conducted in the United States, already now up to 10% of workers can do their job without leaving home, and 1/3 of all newly registered firms is based on the widespread use of self-employment, not associated with regular coming to the office.
Studies. In a number of countries, the number of children not attending school, but being educated at home using computer programs and telecommunications, is increasing. If this tendency continues to develop, the school faces the most serious danger since its inception as a mass public institution. If we consider that the school not only teaches, but also instills in children the skills of socialization, social behavior, then such a development causes a certain concern.
Leisure activities are changing before our eyes. Computer games, already taking a significant amount of time for some people, are being transformed into network games with the participation of several remote partners. The time spent on “walking” on the Internet without a specific purpose, as well as on the so-called “chat”, with not too meaningful messaging is growing. At the same time, educational trips to educational sites, virtual museums, etc. are being implemented. As mentioned above, information culture is only a part of the culture of a common humanity, and the form of spending leisure time is determined primarily by the general culture of a particular person.
A recent advancement in internet technology is shopping trip real goods to a virtual online store - is already beginning to noticeably affect the trading system.
The dwelling of a person has a tendency to more and more "informatization". Houses are already being commissioned, in which instead of a wiring harness (electrical wiring, telephone, television, burglar and fire alarms, etc.), only one power cable and one information cable are included. The latter takes care of all information communications, including the provision of many cable TV channels, Internet access, etc. A special electronic unit in such an apartment will control all devices, including household appliances and life support systems, and help the inhabitant of the apartment live as comfortably as possible. Such a house is called “smart”.
Since for many people the car has become an extension of their habitat, the emergence of “ smart cars ” also important. Such a car, in addition to the already obligatory microprocessor devices serving its technical part, is constantly connected with the city information services, suggesting the most optimal route at the moment (taking into account the busyness of the tracks). In addition, the “smart” car is linked to the “smart home” of its owner, and this house can be controlled from it.
The dangers of the information society
While admiring the opportunities that the information society brings, one should not forget about the contradictions that it potentially contains and which are already manifesting.
It should be understood that the concept of "information society" does not lie in the same circle of concepts that are associated with the concepts of "capitalism", "socialism", etc., i.e. does not directly indicate the nature of property relations and the economic structure. In the same way, it should not be perceived as another utopia that promises universal happiness.
Here are some of the dangers and challenges on the road to an information society:
· A real possibility of destruction by information technologies of the private life of people and organizations;
· The danger of an ever-increasing influence on society from the media and those who control these means;
· The problem of selection of high-quality and reliable information with a large volume;
· The problem of adaptation of many people to the environment of the information society, to the need to constantly improve their professional level;
· A collision with virtual reality, in which illusion and reality are difficult to distinguish, creates for some people, especially young people, little studied, but clearly unfavorable psychological problems;
· The transition to an information society does not promise any changes in social benefits and preserves the social stratification of people; moreover, information inequality can add to existing types of inequality and thereby increase social tension;
· The reduction in the number of jobs in the economy of developed countries, which is not fully compensated by the creation of new jobs in the information sphere, leads to a dangerous social ailment - mass unemployment.
The so-called “ information wars”. This term is interpreted as an open or hidden informational impact of state systems on each other in order to obtain a certain gain in the political or material sphere. The main targets of defeat in such wars will be the information infrastructures and psychology of the enemy.
Information war is understood as a complex impact on the system of state and military control of the opposing side, on its military-political leadership. In principle, this impact should, even in peacetime, lead to the adoption of favorable (for the side - initiator of information pressure) decisions, and in the course of a conflict completely paralyze the functioning of the enemy's command and control infrastructure. Information confrontation preceding information war is realized by influencing the information and information systems of the enemy while strengthening and protecting their own information and information systems and infrastructure. At a certain stage, an information war can turn into a conventional one, using traditional types of weapons to suppress a weakened enemy. Unfortunately, there are already examples of information wars that have taken place.
Information society. State and development trends of information technologies and their impact on the life of society and citizens. Electronic services, e-government, e-inclusion, e-business, telemedicine and other facets of the information society.
The development of modern society is impossible without information technology, which allows us to talk about a new phase of social development, which is called "Information Society". Many outstanding scientists of the world, such as W. Martin, M. Castells, M. McLuhan, J. Masuda, T. Stonier, were involved in the development of the concept of the information society. The author of this term is considered to be a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology Yu Hayashi.
The information society is a stage in the development of society when the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) has a significant impact on the main social institutions and spheres of life:
- economics and business,
- public administration,
- education,
- social services and medicine,
- Culture and art.
Communication means - telephony, radio, television, the Internet, traditional and electronic media - are the technological basis of the information society.
Let's see how the information society can manifest itself in various areas of our life.
Economic: information is used as a resource, service, product, source of added value and employment, and electronic business is being developed. There is no need to send a representative to a business partner from another region, documents are certified with an electronic digital signature. There is no need to waste time on choosing a product, it is enough to look through the catalog of an electronic store. You do not need to visit the tax office to submit tax returns. No need to waste time on the road to get the job done (for some professional activities). You don't need to go to the ticket office to buy a train ticket, you just need to order and pay remotely.
Political: freedom of information leading to the development of e-democracy, e-government, e-government. To express your opinion on a particular issue or to form a group of like-minded people for the implementation of any initiative, it is enough to go to the corresponding website on the Internet. To receive a public service, it is enough to remotely fill out the request form, and after a certain time receive the necessary document in your mailbox. More about e-government will be discussed in the next lecture.
Electronic government is a way to improve the efficiency of government activities based on the use of information systems. This implies that the executive (e-government) and legislative branches (e-parliament, e-democracy), as well as the judiciary (e-justice) function with the use of ICT.
We can say that at the moment there is a process of formation of an electronic state, as evidenced by the emergence of the Single portal of electronic democracy of the Russian Federation
(http://e-democratia.ru/). The "Electronic Democracy" system makes it possible to participate in managerial decision-making, public discussions of official documents and control over the activities of government bodies.
Social: information acts as an important stimulant to change the quality of life. To get specialist advice, the patient does not need to go to the medical center, but it will be enough to leave his documents on the portal and at the appointed time get in touch with a specialized doctor (telemedicine). To get help in an emergency, it is enough to use a single emergency number (for example, the "Care" system, which will be described in more detail in one of the following lectures). To get a student to school, it is enough to download a set of textbooks from the regional educational portal and save them in an electronic book.
Cultural: recognizing the cultural value of information (eg UNESCO's Digital Heritage Project). To select literature on a topic of interest, it is enough to use the electronic catalog of any library throughout the country. To visit a foreign museum, it is enough to visit the corresponding website. To get an education at any university in the world, you need to turn to its distance learning resources.
We can say that the information society is most pronounced in countries that are characterized as a "developed post-industrial society" (Japan, USA, Western Europe).
Here are some dates, strategies and programs. In March 2000, the European Union adopted a 10-year working strategy for economic, social and environmental renewal, called the "European Research Area" (ERA). The aim of this strategy is the EU's transition to a knowledge-based economy, which should become the most dynamic and competitive in the world.
One of the projects stimulating intensive economic development and strengthening of the EU's position in the international market is the largest political project "Electronic Europe" (eEurope), within the framework of which many programs can be implemented both within the EU member states and at the level of the European Commission.
In 2000, the leaders of the G8 adopted the Okinawa Charter for the Global Information Society. The Charter points out the importance of the development of the information society for improving the well-being of citizens and the development of the economy as a whole. It explains how new technologies and their diffusion are today a key driver of the socio-economic development of countries. The Charter also points to the need to implement national and international strategies for the implementation of the tasks set.
The development of the ideas of the information society can be considered the concept of "knowledge society" supported by UNESCO, which emphasizes humanistic principles. The economic and social functions of capital are transferred to information, and the university as the center of production, processing and accumulation of knowledge becomes the nucleus of social organization. It is especially emphasized that in the “knowledge society” the priorities should be the quality of education, freedom of expression, universal access to information for all, respect for cultural and linguistic diversity.
The development of the information society inevitably leads to the fact that many specialists work in the field of production and dissemination of information. This requires not only new skills and new knowledge, but also new thinking, desire and opportunity to learn throughout life.
Unfortunately, in our country there is still an insufficient level of development of the information technology industry, which leads to lagging behind the world leaders. The inadequate level of dissemination of basic skills in the use of information technologies both among the population as a whole and among state and municipal employees hinders the formation of the information society in Russia.
The problems hindering an increase in the efficiency of the use of information technologies in order to improve the quality of life of citizens are complex in nature. Their elimination requires significant resources, coordinated implementation of organizational changes and ensuring the coherence of actions of public authorities.
As a result of the implementation of the federal target program "Electronic Russia (2002-2010)", a certain groundwork was created in the field of introducing information technologies into the activities of public authorities and organizing the provision of public services.
Since the development of the information society is a platform for solving higher-level tasks - modernizing the economy and public relations, ensuring the constitutional rights of citizens and freeing up resources for personal development, the Information Society Development Strategy and the State Program "Information Society (2011-2020)" were adopted (Fig. . 1.1).
Rice. 1.1. Components of the Information Society program
The activities of the Program in accordance with the Strategy should provide the following results:
Formation of a modern information and telecommunication infrastructure, the provision of high-quality services on its basis and ensuring a high level of accessibility of information and technologies for the population;
improving the quality of education, medical care and social protection of the population based on information technologies;
Improving the system of state guarantees of constitutional human and civil rights in the information sphere, increasing the efficiency of public administration and local self-government, the quality and efficiency of the provision of public services;
Development of the economy of the Russian Federation based on the use of information technologies, increasing labor mobility and ensuring employment of the population;
Increasing the efficiency of public administration and local self-government, interaction of civil society and business with public authorities, the quality and efficiency of the provision of public services;
Development of science, technology and technology, as well as training of qualified personnel in the field of information technology;
Preserving the culture of the multinational people of the Russian Federation, strengthening moral and patriotic principles in the public consciousness, as well as developing a system of cultural and humanitarian education;
counteraction to the use of the potential of information technologies in order to threaten the interests of Russia.
Currently, the technical and economic aspects of the formation of the information society are coming to the fore. Unfortunately, the social and humanistic aspects of this process are still underdeveloped.
It should be noted that such a complex socio-economic phenomenon as information inequality is widespread in Russia. Many localities and social groups do not yet have access to information technology and are dropping out of the information society. To solve this problem, a set of measures is needed, including not only the development of telecommunications infrastructure, but also the elimination of "information illiteracy" of citizens, assistance to low-income strata of the population in purchasing computers, and the creation of public access points.
Thus, in the modern world, information technologies have a significant impact on the life of society and citizens in all spheres of public life. In Russia, with the support of the state, the process of formation of the information society is taking place: the federal target program "Electronic Russia" has been implemented, the "Strategy for the Development of the Information Society" and the state program "Information Society" have been adopted.
Practice
Exercise 1.1
Read the article “Russia Needs Electronic Democracy” (http://experttalks.ru/book/export/html/325).
Please formulate your attitude towards Internet democracy and the idea of electronic voting.
Exercise 1.2
Watch the video "Electronic services: verified by yourself" (http://rutube.ru/tracks/4693692.html).
How do you assess the situation the journalist is in?
Do you have experience in receiving e-services? Positive or not so good?
With the development of mankind, the role of information in the life of society and the individual has constantly increased. The most important human achievements in informatization- it:
- the emergence of writing (about $ 3000 $ BC, Egypt);
- the invention of printing ($ X $ century - China, $ XV $ century - Europe);
- means of communication (telegraph, telephone, radio, television; end of $ XIX $ - beginning of $ XX $ century).
Now it is believed that we are gradually moving from an industrial society to a post-industrial (informational) one.
Definition 1
Information society- this is a stage in the development of civilization at which information and knowledge become the main products of production.
Definition 2
The transition to the information society is often referred to as informatization.
Japan, the USA and some European countries (for example, Germany) have already approached the information society. This can be judged by the following features:
- the introduction of computers and information technology in all spheres of life;
- development of means of communication (communications);
- computer literacy training for any person;
- freedom of access to any information;
- development of distance education using the Internet;
- changing the economic structure in terms of informatization;
- changing the way of life of people (communication via the Internet, social networks, online stores, e-commerce ...).
Remark 1
As a result of industrialization, machines have replaced humans, and as a result of informatization, computers begin to independently collect and process information, replacing the mental work of people.
On the one hand, the transition to an information society makes life easier for people, because all routine work is performed by a computer. On the other hand, there are also negative consequences:
- strengthening the influence of the media (through mass information, a group of people can influence the human masses, which leads to tourist acts);
- as a result of the availability of information, the privacy of people and entire organizations is destroyed;
- the gigantic flow of information does not make it possible to determine its reliability;
- personal communication is increasingly being replaced by communication on the Internet (social networks, chats, blogs ...);
- older people cannot adapt to changing conditions.
As a result of informatization, information accumulates in libraries, banks and databases, which are called information resources country and the world as a whole. Nowadays, information resources have become a commodity. Many companies provide information services:
- search and selection of information;
- staff recruitment;
- education;
- advertising;
- consulting;
- creation of automated information systems and websites.
One of the hallmarks of the information society- widespread introduction of information technologies in all spheres of life.
Definition 3
New information technologies- These are technologies associated with the use of computer technology for storing, protecting, processing and transmitting information.
Information technology includes:
- preparation of documents;
- search for information;
- telecommunications (computer networks; Internet, e-mail);
- automation of control systems (creation and application of ACS);
- CAD (implementation of computer-aided design systems);
- geographic information systems (implementation of systems based on maps and satellite imagery);
- training (computer simulators, distance learning; electronic textbooks, multimedia development).
The growing role of information in modern society requires from each person a certain culture of handling information and information technologies, i.e. information culture.
Information culture of society Is the ability of society:
- effectively use information resources and means of information exchange;
- apply achievements and advanced information technologies.
Human information culture Is his ability to use modern technologies to solve his problems related to the search and processing of information. A modern person should be able to:
- formulate your need for information;
- find the information you need using various sources;
- select and analyze information;
- process information;
- use the information to make a decision.
The success of a person depends on his ability to competently work with information.
Concept "Information culture" includes ethics of information use.
Unethical:
- suppress the statements of others;
- threaten someone;
- distribute statements, images, photographs, personal files, opinions of others without their consent;
- preserve authorship;
- "Hack" sites, mailboxes, personal pages on social networks, blogs;
- Create malware to steal information.
All of the above is a criminal offense and is punishable by imprisonment for up to $ 5 years (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, article $ 272).
In Russia, there are several stages of informatization of society.
At the first stage ($ 1991-1994) formed the foundations in the field of informatization. Second stage ($ 1994-1998) led to the development of the information policy of the state. Third stage, which continues to this day, is a stage in the formation of policy in the field of building the information society. In the $ 2008 $ year was adopted Information Society Development Strategy up to $ 2020 $ g. The expected final result of the Strategy will be the availability of a wide range of opportunities for using information technologies for industrial, scientific, educational and social purposes. These opportunities will be available to any citizen, regardless of his age, health status, region of residence and any other characteristics. Opportunities for the use of information technology are ensured through the creation of an appropriate infrastructure, the provision of digital content and the training of users.
The informatization of society is entirely dependent on computerization and the introduction of new means of communication. Information society- a society in which the majority of workers are engaged in the production, storage, processing and sale of information, especially its highest form - knowledge.
Remark 2
On the one hand, the development of computer technology and communication technologies provides ample opportunities and seeming complete freedom. On the other hand, in the information society, all the norms of law and morality that mankind has developed throughout history continue to operate.
1. The concept, prerequisites for the emergence and theory of the information society
2. Features of the information society and its contradictions.
Since the mid-60s, Western sociologists and social philosophers (D. Bell, D. Riesman, O. Toffler, A. Touraine and others) have been actively discussing the issue of the entry of the most developed countries into a qualitatively different stage of social development, characterized by them. as a “post-industrial” or “information” society. A number of factors contributed to these conversations.
First, everyone was then impressed by the rapid development of science and technology, as mentioned above.
Secondly, in the mid-70s, there was a global energy crisis. Oil-producing countries did not want to sell the contents of their bowels to the West for next to nothing and inflated prices. As a result, Western industry faced the need to urgently implement energy efficient solutions in manufacturing and construction, as well as to increase the profitability of products. Having overcome this crisis, Western countries entered a new technological stage.
Thirdly, just in the early 70s, the old financial system collapsed (it was called Bretton Woods). As a result of the introduction of floating rates, the dollar began to prevail in all international transactions and began to play the role of world money. Thus, the West received almost limitless opportunities for expansion. And for any expansion that combines economic and political aspects, an appropriate ideological accompaniment is needed.
And fourthly, by this time the USSR had lost such an impulse to development that no opposition was foreseen on its part.
Information society is a term used to designate the current state of industrially developed countries, associated with the new role of information in all aspects of their life, a qualitatively new level (scope) of production, processing and dissemination of information.
Information society - a society in which the majority of workers are engaged in the production, storage, processing and sale of information, especially its highest form - knowledge
There are two approaches that interpret the historical place of the information society differently. The first approach, expressed by Jurgen Habermas, E. Giddens, considers the information society as a phase of an industrial society.
The second approach, voiced by D. Bell and Alvin Toffler, fixes the information society as a completely new stage following the industrial society (the second wave, according to Toffler).
Preconditions for the formation of the information society:
Traits of the Information Society:
Intellectual and creative labor supplants the labor of an individual who is directly involved in the production process;
Development of the service sector;
The main thing is labor aimed at obtaining, processing, storing, transforming and using information.
Creativity takes on a primary role in the motivation of labor activity;
Creation of new needs and values, new sectors of the economy and market segments.
Change in employment of the population;
The problem of the information crisis has been resolved, i.e. resolved the contradiction between information avalanche and information hunger;
Priority of information over other resources is ensured;
The information economy will become the main form of development;
The society will be based on automated generation, storage, processing and use of knowledge using the latest information technology and technology;
Information technology will acquire a global character, covering all spheres of human social activity;
The informational unity of all human civilization is being formed;
With the help of informatics, every person has free access to information resources of the entire civilization;
The humanistic principles of social management and environmental impact have been implemented.
In addition to positive aspects, dangerous trends are predicted:
- the increasing influence of the media on society;
- information technology can destroy the privacy of individuals and organizations;
- there is a problem of selection of high-quality and reliable information;
- many people will find it difficult to adapt to the environment of the information society. There is a danger of a gap between the "information elite" (people involved in the development of information technology) and consumers.
Information Society Theories:
Jurgen Habermas German philosopher and sociologist
According to Professor W. Martin, the information society is understood as a "developed post-industrial society" that arose primarily in the West. In his opinion, it is not accidental that the information society is being established primarily in those countries - Japan, the USA and Western Europe - in which a post-industrial society was formed in the 60s - 70s.
William Martin made an attempt to identify and formulate the main characteristics of the information society according to the following criteria.
- Technological: the key factor is information technology, which is widely used in production, institutions, the education system and in everyday life.
- Social: information acts as an important stimulator of changes in the quality of life, the "information consciousness" is formed and approved with wide access to information.
- Economic: information is a key factor in the economy as a resource, service, commodity, value added and employment.
- Political: freedom of information leading to a political process characterized by growing participation and consensus between different classes and social strata of the population.
- Cultural: recognizing the cultural value of information by promoting the establishment of information values for the development of the individual and society as a whole.
In doing so, Martin emphasizes the idea that communication is "a key element of the information society."
D. Bell: Defines the information society through the changes taking place in the present society
A new social order based on telecommunications
The revolution in the organization and processing of information and knowledge, in which the computer plays a central role, is unfolding simultaneously with the formation of a post-industrial society.
Three aspects of the post-industrial society are especially important for understanding the telecommunications revolution:
1) the transition from an industrial to a service society;
2) the critical importance of codified theoretical knowledge for the implementation of technological innovation;
3) transformation of the new “intelligent technology” into a key tool for systems analysis and decision-making theory ”.
Alwyn Toffler "The Third Wave" is an American sociologist and futurologist, he studied in detail the response of society to this phenomenon and the changes taking place in society.
According to Toffler, the development of science and technology is carried out in jerks, more precisely, in waves. from the mid-50s, industrial production began to acquire new features. In many areas of technology, more and more a variety of types of technology, samples of goods, types of services are found. The specialization of labor is getting more and more fragmented. Organizational forms of management are expanding. The volume of publications is growing. According to the scientist, all this led to an extreme fragmentation of economic indicators, which led to the emergence of informatics.
Studying the working information age, Toffler notes that he is more independent, more inventive, that he is no longer an appendage of the machine. However, unemployment is also inherent in the information age, and the problem of unemployment is becoming not so much a quantitative problem as a qualitative one. It's not just how many jobs there are, but what type of jobs they are, where, when and who can fill them. Today's economy is extremely dynamic, with depressed industries coexisting alongside prosperous ones, making it difficult to tackle unemployment. And unemployment itself is now more diverse in its origin.
In his main works, the thesis is carried out that humanity is moving to a new technological revolution, that is, the first wave (agrarian civilization) and the second (industrial civilization) are replaced by a new one, leading to the creation of a super-industrial civilization.
Third Wave brings with it a truly new way of life based on diversified, renewable energy sources; manufacturing methods that make most factory assembly lines obsolete; on some new (“non-nuclear”) family; at a new institute that could be called an “electronic cottage”; on the radically transformed schools and corporations of the future. The emerging civilization carries with it a new code of conduct and takes us beyond the concentration of energy, money and power ”
T. Stonier WEALTH OF INFORMATION: PROFILE OF THE POST-INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY
There are three main ways a country can increase its national wealth: 1) constant capital accumulation, 2) military conquests and territorial augmentation, 3) the use of new technology that converts “non-resources” into resources. Due to the high level of technology development in the post-industrial economy, the transfer of non-resources into resources has become the main principle of creating new wealth. information exchange leads to cooperation. Information is thus a resource that can be shared without regret.
A. Touraine: French sociologist
“... the concept of post-industrial society ... - here investments are made at a different level than in an industrial society, that is, in the production of means of production. The organization of labor affects only the relations of workers with each other, and therefore the level at which production operates. Postindustrial society acts more globally at the managerial level, that is, in the mechanism of production as a whole. This action takes two main forms. First, these are innovations, that is, the ability to produce new products, in particular, as a result of investments in science and technology; secondly, management itself, that is, the ability to use complex systems of information and communication.
It is important to recognize that a post-industrial society is one in which all elements of the economic system are affected by the actions of society on itself. These actions do not always take the form of a conscious will, embodied in an individual or even a group of people. That is why such a society should be called a programmable society, a designation that clearly indicates its ability to create models of management of production, organization, distribution and consumption; therefore, this kind of society appears at the operational level not as a result of natural laws or specific cultural characteristics, but rather as a result of production, thanks to the action of society on itself, its own systems of social action ”.
The information society is the most developed phase of modern civilization, which comes as a result of the information and computer revolution, when information technologies, "intelligent" systems, automation and robotization of all spheres and branches of the economy and management began to be used, the creation of a single newest integrated communication system that provides each person with any information and knowledge, causes radical changes in the entire system of social relations, due to which the greatest progress and freedom of the individual, the possibility of his self-realization are ensured.
The formation of the information society occurs simultaneously with the formation of the information and economic space, which in turn is a condition and factor for the transformation of information into a socially significant and accessible resource, as well as an environment for large-scale information interactions.
It is advisable to start considering the features of the formation of the information society in the Russian Federation with identifying the essence of the theory of the information society and its place in the concept of post-industrialism.
The first inevitability of the emergence of information civilization was predicted by the American economist K. Clark
in the 40s. XX century The term "information society" was proposed by F. Machlup and T. Umesao in the early 60s. The theory of the information society was based on an attempt to analyze and generalize the socio-economic transformations generated by the ubiquitous spread of information technologies.
The basic provisions of this theory are as follows:
In this context, a question needs to be asked about how self-employment is defined and how employment dependence is defined. The usual definitions are limited. What was intended to protect involuntary employees, such as in carriers, could lead to artists being classified as self-employed. In the worst case, this means that they can no longer be insured through the Social Security Fund and also lose orders as their clients cannot pay social security contributions for economic reasons.
- the self-growth of capital is being replaced by the self-growth of information, the joint use of which leads to the development of new social relations, in which the main thing is the right to use, not property;
- there is an increase in the speed and efficiency of information processing processes along with a decrease in their cost, which has far-reaching socio-economic consequences;
- information technology is becoming a determining factor in social change, changing worldview, values, social structures.
- information turns from a set of information into the main social and economic resource that qualitatively changes the services of labor and capital, the nature of socio-political activity;
- the variety of goods and services offered to the consumer is constantly growing, and the cost of the latter (primarily financial, professional and design, healthcare, education and social services) significantly exceeds the cost of goods;
- the cost of acquiring new information and communication technologies (computers, telecommunications equipment, software, etc.) is higher than for tangible assets.
A number of researchers (A. King, B. Schneider, Club of Rome) identify information and post-industrial
society. It cannot be argued that this approach contains any logical contradiction: D. Bell, considering the periodization of history within the framework of the concept of post-industrial society, noted that although certain periods can be distinguished, there can be no strict boundaries between them, since “. .. postindustrial tendencies do not replace previous social forms as "stages" of social evolution. They often coexist, deepening the complexity of society and the nature of the social structure. ” Accordingly, if we single out the information society as a certain historical stage, then we can talk about both its integration into the post-industrial society, and about its gradual build-up over it.
V.N. Kostyuk in his study "Theory of Evolution and Socio-Economic Processes" is of the opinion that the future being created today has a fundamentally uncertain character and is considered as a set of changing alternatives. Postindustrial (informational) society is just one such alternative. Thus, within the framework of the approach he illuminates, that the process of evolution is the transition of potential being into being actualized through the exchange of stability, he does not highlight the fundamental differences between the post-industrial and information society.
We agree with B.JI's position. Inozemtsev, who proposes to consider the theory of the information society as one of the directions of post-industrialism. One cannot but agree that today, within the framework of the theory of the information society, there are no works of D. Bell's scale, therefore it is too early to talk about the emergence of a new global
paradigms in sociology. Theoretical searches are carried out only in the direction of clarifying and detailing the theory of post-industrialism, one of such areas is the theory of the information society.
According to N.N. Moiseev, the information society is “... a society in which the Collective Intelligence (Collective Intelligence) plays ... a role similar to that played by the human mind in his body, that is, it contributes to the development of society and overcoming ever-increasing difficulties. .. and acts for the good of all mankind ... The Collective Intelligence objectively becomes a kind of instrument that controls the actions of people. "
These and other definitions emphasize the crucial role of information and knowledge in the process of the formation of a new society. The relative importance of information kAT is growing: a factor (resource) of production, there is a shift in aggregate demand towards an increase in information needs, potential output increases due to the constant updating of the technological base of production, the use of new information technologies.
The most important technological element of the formation of the information society is the national telecommunications infrastructure, for which it is extremely necessary to organize effective interaction on a global scale.
Summarizing the existing approaches to the interpretation of the concept of "information society", we can say that at present it is understood as:
- a society of a new type, emerging as a result of the global social revolution generated by the explosive development and convergence of information and communication technologies;
- a knowledge society in which the main condition for the well-being of every person and state becomes
knowledge gained through unhindered access to information and the ability to work with it; - a global society in which the exchange of information will have no time, space or political boundaries; which, on the one hand, promotes the interpenetration of cultures, and on the other hand, opens up new opportunities for each community for self-identification;
- a society where the acquisition, processing, storage, transfer, dissemination, use of knowledge and information, including through interactive interaction, which ensure its constantly improving technical capabilities, play a decisive role.
The information society means a new post-industrial socio-economic organization of society with highly developed information infrastructures that create the possibility of objective use of intellectual resources to ensure sustainable development of civilization.
This interpretation of this concept seems to be more meaningful than definitions that come down to considering the purely technological side of the process of informatization of society. The creation and use of new information and telecommunication technologies is not an end in itself. The transition to an information society presupposes a significant change in the entire economic system of the state, the formation of an information and economic space, fundamentally new social motivations and technological capabilities, widespread practical use of innovations and knowledge to intensively increase labor productivity and, on this basis, improve the quality of life.
The hallmarks of the information society include:
This applies to visual artists who receive a monthly down payment from their gallery for future sales. There is also the question of how to qualify the workforce. If normal labor relations decline, it follows that the further qualification of the company reaches only a part of the workforce, and it is this part, which must be qualified for a new job, must be additionally qualified on its own initiative.
According to the Enquete Commission “The future of media in business and society - Germany's path to the information society”, the need for further training is one of the basic requirements in the information society. According to the Club of Rome or the Commission for the Future Freedoms of Bavaria and Saxony, some authors also believe that the relationship of work with civil society, that is, non-profit activities in non-profit organizations, will increasingly prevail. It is this activity that needs to happen instead of meaningful work.
- increasing the role of information and knowledge in the life of society;
- an increase in the share of information products and services in GDP;
- creation of a global information space, providing effective information interaction of people, access to world information resources and meeting their needs for information products and services. "
The ever wider use of information as the main socioeconomic resource, leading to the formation of the information society, gives rise to two opposite tendencies: the movement towards openness, and towards
covered. Therefore, we can talk about an open, closed and mixed information society that combines the features of openness and closedness.
An ideal theoretical model is the model of an open information society, which can be characterized as "... a society of freely acting, not united in large groups with the same standard of behavior of individuals, using a rapidly growing volume of relevant information." It is a society with a plastic social, economic and political structure, in which each individual has access to information and other resources necessary for free decision-making. As the openness of society grows, the control over the movement and use of information on the part of the state and certain influential groups is weakening. All relevant information is gradually becoming publicly available. It becomes possible for each individual to have unlimited access to any socially significant information (if this does not violate the rights of other individuals). There is an effect of transparency in the social environment, which allows each citizen to make independent and effective decisions, to avoid excessive influence on him by external (including group) forces. The construction of social classes is blurring, and social groups, all of whose members behave in the same way under the same conditions, are becoming smaller and smaller. The growing openness of society and the increase in the degree of individual freedom are not an absolute blessing. By giving rise to freedom of information and freedom of activity, the openness of society also contributes to the growth of illegal business, corruption of officials, prostitution, drug addiction, banditry and terrorism. The closer an open society is to a primitive one, the stronger the negative aspects of its openness manifest themselves as one of the sources of the opposite tendency towards a closed society, limiting the individual freedom of citizens. Another source of this trend is the desire of individuals and social groups to monopolize relevant information and its carriers, turning their ownership into a source of non-competitive income.
A fully open society does not exist today, and the prospects for its emergence in the future are vague. In any open society, there is a rather strong tendency towards an increase in closeness. This is due to the fact that the advantages of individual freedom and openness become such only at a certain level of welfare and culture of citizens. The elimination of the negative aspects of openness occurs gradually, as social wealth grows and most people fear its possible loss. The presence of such fears creates the basis for the emergence of a state in which free behavior that does not violate laws and accepted social values is more beneficial than violating them, and openness is more beneficial than closedness.
World experience shows that each country is moving towards the information society in its own way, determined by the prevailing political, socio-economic and cultural conditions. In developed countries, there has long been an efficiently functioning market economy that ensures a constant growth of information needs and effective demand for information products and services; there is a powerful middle class, which is the main consumer of information services. The economies of these countries have free funds to invest in the development of information and communication infrastructure. Most of them have a well-developed infrastructure
production and provision of information products and services to the population, a computer education system has developed and the sphere of information and telecommunication services is rapidly expanding. Finally, these countries have government policies and programs for building the Information Society.
The path of Russia's transition to an information society is determined by its current socio-economic and cultural characteristics, which include:
Thus, the market and non-profit sectors, which are still considered separately, are interrelated. The FFU authors assume that “civil servants” receive a citizen's livelihood allowance and are not considered unemployed. They don't get any benefit from labor management.
Art and culture in future work. As can be seen from the above quote, the Commissioner for Future Affairs of Freistat-Bavaria and Saxony attaches central importance to the development of art and culture for the development of a knowledge society. Art and culture are integral parts of the information society. However, offering art and culture alone is not enough. Particular attention should be paid to cultural education in particular. The final report of the Accreditation Commission “The future of media in business and society - Germany's road to the information society” repeatedly pointed out that lifelong learning is the key to successfully transforming the information society and therefore the link to employment.
- On the one side:
- the presence of negative economic trends characteristic of the transitional economy of Russia:
- predominance of the share of the commodity sector in the national
- insufficient level of development of high-tech
- insignificant share of high technology products in GDP
- low absolute size of GDP (14th place in the world) and size of GDP per capita (104th place in the world);
- low level of investment attraction
- limited domestic demand, etc .;
- insufficiently developed information and communication infrastructure;
- lack of sufficient effective demand for information products and services;
- the absence of a large middle class - the main consumer of information products;
- on the other side:
- the growth of information needs of the entire population for socially significant political, economic and social information;
- the presence of a high scientific, educational and cultural potential created in the USSR and still preserved in Russia;
- a relatively cheap intellectual workforce capable of posing and solving complex scientific and technical problems;
- advanced formation of modern communication systems in relation to other sectors of the economy, comparable in terms of growth rates with developed countries;
- dynamic development of the Russian market of information and telecommunication technologies, products, services (14-19% per year).
The transition of any country to the information society requires large material costs for the formation and development of the information and economic space, the market for new information technologies, products and services, the formation of data banks of publicly available information resources. Today, US spending in the information technology sector reaches 10% of GDP, but from these investments, the US receives more than 25% of its GDP. Roughly the same volumes are typical for other developed countries.
This path is unacceptable for today's Russia, since significant investments will be required in a fairly short period of time: at least 8% of GDP over 7-10 years, which would allow reaching the average European level of informatization.
Consequently, it is necessary to look for a path focused on the socio-political, economic and cultural characteristics of Russian society and requiring a minimum of investment from the state, at least a minimum rate of economic growth, the rapid development of commercial structures, and an improvement in the quality of life of the population.
Under existing conditions, the direction of cash flows and the rate of economic growth are of particular importance. It is possible to develop exports and import-substituting products, attract investments for the development of the raw materials sector and, due to these measures, maintain the current level of development, but it is impossible to catch up with developed countries. Due to its low economic level, Russia cannot catch up with the developed countries in terms of the application and renewal of new information technologies, but, in principle, it can overtake, creating something fundamentally new.
For Russia, with its high educational level and not yet wasted intellectual potential, the chance of revival is seen in the use of education and science as a long-term competitive advantage. In conditions of rapid evolution, this makes it possible to locally overtake, without catching up.
To implement the described direction, it is necessary to bring an appropriate financial base of both state and non-state financing under the Russian scientific and technical potential, for which it is necessary: "
Cultural education is a prerequisite for continuing education in general. Cultural literacy includes required reading literacy as well as media competence. It is also important that the images can be deciphered. In modern communication media, images and signs have become essential, to decipher and interpret these signs is part of the competence of the media. Cultural education encounters something out of the ordinary and opens up performance, but it also makes fun.
And this is undoubtedly one of the best prerequisites for successful educational processes. In order for art and culture to play an important role, the writers of the Future Affairs Commission ask them to promote art as well as art beyond great events. And among them are various cultural institutions in their entire range from music schools through libraries to theaters and museums. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that art and culture is not only a government-funded sector. Also included are the cultural and media industries.
- improve the investment climate in the country;
- to stimulate the development of small and medium-sized businesses, allowing newly created enterprises to compete with those who form the foundations of the "old economy";
- create an infrastructure for supporting fundamental knowledge, consisting of the following links: state support for fundamental science and research and development; availability of an accessible education system; the domination of imperfect competition, which ensures super-profits from innovations; the functioning of a significant part of private capital to finance discoveries and inventions on a market basis.
- Informatization of the entire system of general and special education: from kindergarten to graduation from higher education and subsequent forms of training and retraining of specialists; increasing the role of qualifications, professionalism and creativity as the most important characteristics of human potential. The informatization of the education system, focused on the formation of a new generation that meets the conditions of the information society in terms of the level of development and lifestyle, is the main promising task of transition to it. Its solution should help young people get a prestigious and higher-paying job, improve their cultural image, leisure and the world of entertainment, maximize their personal abilities, prepare themselves for life and work in the information world.
- The formation and development of the industry and the corresponding infrastructure of information and communication services, including home computerization, aimed at the mass consumer, is one of the main tasks of the development of the information environment of society. It is directly related to the interest of us
lesion, economic structures and public authorities in the use of information as a resource for social, economic and individual development and in increasing the efficiency of public administration. The development of the information environment is also associated with the personal, including financial, participation of citizens in the formation of the information society. Solving this problem will raise the level of information culture and computer literacy, ensure the development of the most dynamic sector of the market for information and communication tools, information products and services and support domestic producers, and will also contribute to the organization of new jobs (telework), home health care, leisure , e-commerce, information and cultural services, including people with disabilities, etc. - Providing fundamental Russian science with adequate state and non-state funding.
In Russia, over the past 7-10 years, the following factors of socio-economic and scientific-technical development have formed, which can be considered as economic prerequisites for the transition to an information society:
To develop this sector of the economy, a positive framework is needed, inter alia, in tax law or in copyright law. However, art and culture is not only a ferment of the information society. Arts and culture are a labor market, like many others, and therefore, like other segments, are affected by the change in the workforce described above.
In addition, art and culture in general will play an important role in addressing the crisis in the work of the information society. Here art and culture should be considered in all their complexity, as an alarming factor in society, as a segment of the market, as an object of education.
- information becomes a public resource for development, the scale of its use can already be compared with traditional resources (energy, raw materials, etc.). Today the volume of sales in Russia only of computer technology and informatics (mainly computers and peripheral devices) reaches more than 1 million units per year and is estimated at about $ 1.5 billion. As world experience shows, the cost of selling a software product is usually equal to or slightly more than the cost of equipment, and the cost of personal communications, audio and video equipment is commensurate with the cost of computer technology. These minimum approximate estimates total $ 3.5 billion. This value of the total cost of information already has macroeconomic significance and characterizes the growth in the use of information resources;
- the share of new information products and services in GDP is increasing (in 2000 it was 0.3%, now it is 0.8%, in 2010, according to forecasts, it will reach 2%).
- In Russia, the domestic market for new information technologies, products and services has been formed and is successfully developing. The volume of funds circulating on it, according to various estimates, reaches 4-6.5 billion dollars. in year. According to preliminary forecasts of the Ministry of Economic Development, the implementation of the Federal Target Program "Electronic Russia" will lead to an increase in the market volume of new information technologies, products and services by 2005 by 2-3 times and by 2010 - by 5-6 times. The number of personal computers in the economy will grow 5 times, and home computers - 4 times. Every second computer will have Internet access. All higher education institutions are planned to be connected to the Network by 2005, all schools by 2010;
- In general, the development of telecommunication systems and means is proceeding at an accelerated pace in the country, the number of corporate information networks is increasing. New communication enterprises are actively developing. Enterprises that own 87% of traditional infrastructure generate 49% of industry revenue. New operators account for 13% of the market and 51% of revenues;
- the number of subscribers to the world's open networks is constantly growing. The number of regular Internet users in Russia increased in 2001 compared to 2000 by 39% and amounted to 4.3 million people. The total number of Internet users in the Russian Federation in 2001 was about 10 million;
- the national communication network using satellite channels is intensively expanding. The installation of telephones in the country is being successfully carried out and the market for mobile communications is growing rapidly;
- many sectors of the economy, banking and public administration and education have been largely computerized; -
- public opinion is gaining an understanding of the urgency of the task of transitioning to an information society from a political and economic point of view. This is evidenced by the wide public resonance of the Concept of State Information Policy, which can be viewed as a policy of ensuring the initial stage of Russia's transition to an information society;
- Russia today is part of the global political and economic community in a way that it has never been in the past. In the literal and figurative sense, it is connected to the rest of the world by cable and satellite communication channels, which are actively used by hundreds of thousands of cell and ordinary telephones, faxes, computers, etc.
- creation and development of the technological base of the information society;
- development and implementation of political, social, economic, legal, organizational and cultural solutions that ensure movement along the chosen path.
- development of the Concept of regulatory support for the transition process, which is the basis of state influence on this process, defining the main directions and tasks of improving the system of information legislation, including in the field of copyright and related rights and the protection of intellectual property;
- development of existing and creation of new network structures and technologies based on international experience and standards;
- organization and deployment of broad public and political advocacy support for the transition to the information society;
- selection of modern information and communication technologies that are adequate to educational technologies and educational processes (computer training programs, satellite and cable television, multimedia, etc.);
- creation of specialized publicly available information resources (databases and data banks, electronic libraries, etc.), including non-profit, focused on solving educational problems;
- organization of a network of specialized educational centers of regional and city subordination, as well as training and retraining centers for teachers and teachers, equipped with modern informatization means.
- development of cheap specialized devices for the network interaction of users with information systems, public terminals for information and reference and advisory systems for social purposes, as well as the development of systems for software and content and service support for home computerization;
- creation of economic conditions that facilitate the integration of state and non-state structures in the development and development of the market for information and communication services for the population.
- the development of cheap means of computerization of public libraries, museums, archives and other cultural institutions, the widespread introduction of electronic printing in the practice of book publishing and mass printing;
- formation of public databases and data banks in the field of humanities and social sciences;
- creation of a wide network of cultural, information and information and entertainment centers in the regions, cities and towns, including the neighboring countries, as well as the development of a powerful Russian-speaking sector on the Internet, technological support for the sites of cultural and information centers.
social society is one of the priority directions of the development of Russian society.
One of the conditions for Russia's transition to an information society is the formation of a developed information and economic space and its integration into the global information space, which should ensure stable economic growth, an increase in the quality of life of the population and the socio-political stability of society and the state.
And, of course, this also applies to changes that affect the cultural sector itself. New information and communication technologies are also strongly influencing the production, use and mediation of culture. The culture of the workplace is in turmoil.
Thus, the boundaries between the various sectors have been canceled. Artists, scientists and technicians work together to develop new technical forms. Very complex methods require the cooperation of people with different abilities and training. This is one of the possibilities of the information society, it helps to break the established division of disciplines. For example, the last year with open eyes and eyes about the Frankfurt Book Fair has not only heard the loud whispers of concentration processes in the publishing industry.
The author of the term "information society" is considered to be the American economist F. Machlup, who first used it in his work "Production and Application of Knowledge in the United States." Independently of him, this definition was also proposed by the Japanese scientist T. Umesao. In philosophical and sociological studies, the concept of "information society" was used to denote a qualitatively new type of society, in which activities related to the production, consumption, transmission and storage of information prevail. The information society was considered as one of the stages of post-industrial or as an independent stage of social development following it. In the early 1990s, these definitions were used synonymously.
In 1962, Marshall McLuhan introduced the concept of "electronic society" as a special stage in the development of modern society, within which electronic communications begin to play a leading role. Communication technologies are considered by the Canadian researcher as a key factor determining the emergence of socio-economic systems. In the famous work "Gutenberg's Galaxy" M. McLuhan points out the relationship between the creation of the print press, which resulted in the emergence of a new type of communication strategies, which irreversibly influenced the development and formation of the political, economic, social structure of industrial society and its institutions. Since it was precisely in the conditions of the massive spread of the printed word that opportunities appeared for the development of entrepreneurship (based on private property) and the democratization of society on the basis of suffrage.
McLuhan's attention was focused on audiovisual media, primarily television, for
the second was the representative of the entire global electronic reality. Television, according to McLuhan, is gradually destroying print culture, thus suppressing prior cultural forms. As an essential element of the global information network, television actually turns the world into a “global village”. McLuhan formulated two fundamental characteristics of television. The first of them is associated with a mosaic, fragmented structure of a television information product, which is a set of visual and auditory messages devoid of strict internal logical connections. Thus, events of different content, scale, discourse, time and place of action are combined in a short news program. The second characteristic reflects the cumulative effect, the mutual reinforcement of disparate messages in the perceiving consciousness of the recipient, which combines individual signals into a kind of semantic unity.
In the foreign literature of the late 70s-80s of the twentieth century, the problems of the information society were actively discussed. T. Stonier argued that information is a special kind of resource, similar to capital: it can be accumulated, transmitted, stored for subsequent implementation. Within the framework of a post-industrial society, national information resources represent the largest potential source of wealth.
Parallel to research by American authors, Japanese scientists presented their concepts. Among them is the work of I. Masuda "Information society as a post-industrial society", in which he described the basic principles and characteristics of the advancing society. Its foundation will be, according to Masuda, computer technology designed to replace or significantly enhance the mental work of a person. The information technology revolution will act as a new productive force, the consequences of which will be expressed in the form of mass production of high-quality cognitive information and new technologies. The most important branch of the economy in the new society will be intellectual production, and the new ones
telecommunication technologies will ensure the proper storage and distribution of new products.
In the global information society, from the point of view of I. Masuda, a serious transformation of values will take place: classes will disappear, conflicts will be reduced to a minimum. As a result, there will be a society of consent with a small government, which will not need a bloated state apparatus. In contrast to the industrial society aimed at the production and consumption of goods, according to Masuda, time will become the main value of the information society.
The famous futurist Alvin Toffler made his contribution to the development of the ideas of post-industrialism and the information society. The author of the “wave” concept of social development, described in the book “The Third Wave”, offers his own scheme for the evolution of forms of social structure, highlighting three “waves” in the history of civilization: agrarian (until the 18th century), industrial (until the 1950s) and post - or super-industrial (starting from the second half of the twentieth century). Toffler describes the process of the withering away of industrial civilization in terms of the "technosphere", "sociosphere", "information" and "power spheres", pointing to the cardinal changes that are currently being experienced by all spheres. As an information society, Toffler considers the society of the third wave, where information becomes the main type of property, while earlier it was land (agrarian wave) and means of production (industrial). The move to information property is a revolutionary explosion, as it is the first property that is intangible, intangible and potentially infinite.
The social-class basis of the information society, according to
O. Toffler, will make up the "cognariat", which is a social group that actively uses knowledge, and not physical labor. The development of computer technology and communication means, according to Toffler, will lead to a change in the structure of employment, and in combination with the increasing intellectualization of labor - to the emergence of so-called "electronic cottages", which will make it possible to transfer work from the office to the employee's home. In addition to saving time and reducing transport costs, the cost of providing centralized jobs, the introduction of "electronic cottages" will
contribute, according to Toffler, to the strengthening of the family and will strengthen the trend towards the revival of the attractiveness of small towns and village life.
Within the framework of the stage approach, which presupposes the sequential movement of society from one phase to another, theorists of the information society distinguish one or another stage of social development, using the dominant sector of the economy as a basic criterion. Thus, in an agrarian society, the economy was based on agriculture, economic activity was directed to the production of food, the main resource was land. Industry became the dominant economic sector of industrial society, production activities were associated with the production of goods, capital was considered the most significant resource. The information society is based on the production and use of information for the development and effective existence of other forms of production; knowledge acts as a resource.
In the concept of Professor J. Martin, the information society is understood, first of all, as a "developed post-industrial society" that has arisen in the West. The researcher made an attempt to identify and formulate the main characteristics of the information society according to several criteria. The technological criterion assumes that information technology, which is widely used in all social spheres, structures, organizations, in the business environment and in everyday life, becomes a key factor in the development of society. The social criterion is related to the fact that new standards for the production and consumption of information provoke changes in the quality of life, lead to the formation of the so-called "information consciousness", the existence of which is possible only if there is free and wide access to information. The economic criterion reflects the most important role of information in a modern economy. Information becomes a resource, product, service, increases employment and produces added value for products and services. The political criterion indicates the specifics of the political process, which in the information society ha
It is characterized by the ever-increasing participation of citizens in the processes of government, since information technologies facilitate the possibility of communication with representatives of the authorities and public control over their activities. Martin believes that in the information society, the emergence of consensus between social groups and classes is largely ensured. Finally, based on the cultural criterion, Martin characterizes the information society as a society that recognizes the cultural value of information, contributing to the formation of information values that ensure the further development of both society in general and the individual in particular.
J. Martin notes that speaking about the information society, it should not be taken literally, but considered as a guideline, a trend of changes in modern Western society. From his point of view, in general, this model is oriented towards the future, but in the developed capitalist countries already now it is possible to name a number of changes caused by information technology, which to a certain extent confirm the concept of the information society.
Among these changes Martin names such as: structural changes in the economy, especially in the sphere of labor force distribution; increased awareness of the importance of information; growing awareness of the need for computer literacy; widespread dissemination of information technology; government support for the development of computer microelectronic technology and telecommunications.
Ultimately, Martin offers the following understanding of the information society: it is a society, the most important indicators and prospects of which are directly related to the effective use of information. The standards of quality and standard of living, systems of production and consumption, education and leisure, social security, management and interaction of the main components of the social structure as a whole in a society of this type are closely dependent on the development of information and cognitive components.
In 1996, the first book from the trilogy by Manuel Castells "The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture" was published. In his truly large-scale work, the scientist analyzed in detail the processes of social development throughout the twentieth century and formulated the concept of information capitalism, revealing the main features of the modern information society (see the subsection "Information capitalism of Manuel Castells").
In 1999, Don Tapscott published the book "Digital Society: Pros and Cons of Networked Intelligence", in which he presented his attempt to comprehend the global nature of the changes taking place in humanity. Tapscott notes that education is currently the most modernized area. The traditional educational system no longer provides graduates with a long-term job security, since the rapid pace of knowledge renewal requires constant retraining. In the electronic society, the very idea of learning, the links between learning and work and everyday life is being revised: the information society is based on mental work, therefore, work is increasingly intertwined with learning, which turns into a lifelong occupation. Tapscott identifies the key features of a new society: knowledge orientation, digital representation of objects, virtualization of production, innovative nature, integration, convergence, elimination of intermediaries, transformation of manufacturer-consumer relations, dynamism, globalization and a number of others.
Domestic specialists began to actively address the problems of the post-industrial / information society only in the last decades of the twentieth century. From the standpoint of the formational approach, Soviet researchers criticized the concept of post-industrial society and did not have the opportunity to correlate Western developments with the realities of the life of the Soviet state. However, in the late 80s - early 90s of the last century, works by domestic authors began to appear, devoted to the problems of the formation of a global information society and the inclusion of Russia in this process.
Equally unmistakable were the opportunities for rationalization that emerged from the use of new technologies in the printing sector. The electronic media did not push the book to print. But they are radically changing it. In this case, everything can be electronically controlled from the order by extracting text from the digital library, printing, linking and finally delivery to the customer. People, few people, are needed only to control the production process.
However, they also make it clear that electronic media developers and providers have realized that they have nothing to sell without content. In the next few years, it will be shown whether “program books” are fashionable or if they can dominate the competitive book market.
A. I. Rakitov noted that the transition to a new information society becomes possible when social activity is aimed primarily at the production of services and knowledge. The main task of the information society is related to ensuring the right and opportunity of a citizen, regardless of the time and place of his location, to receive the information he needs.
Rakitov describes the information society in accordance with the following characteristics: whether any citizen, group of persons, or social organization has a realizable opportunity at any time and anywhere in the country to gain access to information necessary to solve individually or socially significant problems; production and functioning in the free access mode of modern information technologies, the use of which can be carried out by any individual, group or organization; the presence of a developed infrastructure that allows the creation and storage of national information resources, which, in turn, are effectively used to maintain an appropriate level of scientific, technical, technological and social progress in general; acceleration of automation and computerization of technological and production processes, the control system as a whole; transformation of basic social structures, as a result of which there is a development of the service sector, an expansion of the profiles of information activities.
Famous Russian experts on the problems of the information society G. L. Smolyan and D. S. Chereshkin, analyzing the essence and specifics of the new stage of social development, including in relation to Russian reality, have identified a number of signs of the information society. The researchers rank as the most important characteristics: the creation of a single information space, the intensification of information processes, as well as economic integration of states; the emergence and in the future the predominance of new technological structures in the economies of countries, the essence of which is to ensure mass production and use of network information, communication, computer technologies; raising the level of education through
use in educational processes of information exchange systems operating at various levels - from regional to international; increasing requirements for qualifications, professionalism and creativity of employees.
Among the many different approaches, concepts and theories describing the phenomenon of the information society, one can single out some universal characteristics that are somehow recognized by almost all researchers. So, the global information society is most often understood as a society of a new type, the foundation of which is the accelerated and inclusive development, dissemination and convergence of information and communication technologies. It is a knowledge society that presupposes a special role for the cognitive component, in which the main competitive advantage and the key to success are knowledge and skills that make it possible to obtain and use information in conditions of secure and guaranteed unhindered access to it. The new information society is global in nature, in which the exchange of information is not limited by temporal, spatial or political barriers. Finally - and in this scientists see the humanistic orientation of the information society - it contributes to the interpenetration of cultures, and also provides individuals, groups, communities with new opportunities for self-realization.
At the same time, it should be noted that not all the arguments of the supporters of the concepts of post-industrial and informational societies have met and are receiving indisputable approval. A skeptical attitude to the information society as a new social reality is contained in the studies of G. Schiller, M. Aliett, D. Harvey, E. Giddens, J. Habermas. Representatives of this group agree that information plays a key role in modern society, but its forms and functions are well known, obey established principles and do not lead to qualitative changes in social relations. A serious critical analysis of ideas, approaches and concepts describing a new type of society is
It will also prove the impact of this technology on the book printing and book trade. It is now clear that the growth of the labor market arising from the demand for content cannot compensate for the resulting job losses in production. This also applies to fairly traditional radio and television media. Here, of course, the expansion of this market also translates into increased profits. On the one hand, they are characterized by intermittent employment; on the other hand, the use of digital technology, which also means job loss.
was written by F. Webster, who outlined the conceptual and methodological shortcomings of the most recognized theories of the information society (see the subsection "Frank Webster: a critical analysis of theories of the information society").
