The concept of "information society" is included in the world scientific and socio-political terminology system. Now there are numerous definitions of the phenomenon “information society”: it is called industrial, postmodernism, knowledge society, scientific, telematic, post-oil. Modifications of the concept of “information society” in different countries demonstrate socio-political, public, scientific prospects for its development: “national information infrastructure” (NIIA), “information society” (Council of Europe), “information highway” (Canada, Great Britain). Considering the importance of creating and developing the information society, on March 27, 2006, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/60/252), which proclaimed May 17 as the International Day of the Information Society.

Information society is an information-based society (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, 1997).

In the global socio-political space, attempts have also been made to determine its essence, in particular: the information society is a complex concept in which economics, science and culture are complementary factors, and the main success is associated with the synergy of all components.

The most important resource for the development of society is people, their intellectual, creative, and spiritual abilities. Today, the most limited and expensive resource is knowledge and competence. The task of society is to create conditions for the realization of the potential of every person with the help of information, knowledge, information and communication technologies.

Often the information society is identified with one of its elements, for example, informatization (as in the Presidential decree) or offshore programming. But this is a very narrow approach. The information society has many components, and each country can implement its own strategy based on its own culture, history, capabilities and resources.

(Interview with the President of the Information Society of Ukraine Foundation A. Kolodyuk of the Expert magazine

The information superhighway is more than the Internet. It is a series of components that includes the totality of public and personal, high-speed, limited and deployed networks that exist today and will appear tomorrow.

(“The First Information Superhighway,” National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council. NMAC Report, 1996)

The concept of “information society” was updated in the United States by Senator A. Gore during the presidential campaign of 1991-1992 pp. In Europe, it was enshrined in the European Commission's Information Society Action Plan and finally entered the international lexicon at the 1995 Global Information Sustainment Summit.

The first four principles, which became fundamental in the creation of a global information infrastructure, were formulated by A. Gore at a meeting in Buenos Aires in 1994:

o personal investment and healthy competition are the best ways to ensure development;

o regulation must be flexible, such that it rejects what is outdated and at the same time remains faithful to the main ideals of technical and applied sciences;

o access must be open;

o universal communication must be guaranteed.

These provisions were reflected in the documents of the European Commission, and the terminology was slightly changed. The European Commission preferred the deadlines "information infrastructure" and the "information superhighway" as opposed to the concept of "information society".

A thorough approach to the theory of the information society was proposed by the Japanese scientist Yneji Masuda. According to his theory, society emerges based on computer technology. The role of the human factor is either replaced or significantly enhanced by intellectual work. Telecommunications technologies should become the leading sector of the economy. The greatest value in society will be time, unlike an industrial society in which preference is given to the consumption of goods.

I. Masuda presented the disagreements between the information, industrial and agricultural societies in the form of a table.

Social processes, institutions, structures	Agrarian society		Industrial society	Information society
Structure production values	Production is based on subsistence farming		Production of capital goods	Production information (computers)
Character production values	Efficient reproduction of subsistence farming, extensive farming		Material production, efficient use of natural phenomena and resources	Production of knowledge, systematization of various natural science and social functions
Basis of production	Increase in agricultural production and manual labor		Production of material assets, goods, energy, vehicles	Replacement of intellectual labor, production of information, communications, knowledge
Social structure	Man is tied to the earth		Dependence on means of production	Human dependence on society
Production and social interactions	Forced labor		Wage labor	Contract job
Peculiarities social structures	Closed rural community, stable, traditional, patriarchal economy	Over-urbanized, dynamic society built on free competition, supporting public well-being		Network balanced society and conditions created for the development of human creative abilities
Normative values	Laws of nature, human dependence on nature, satisfaction of basic (life) needs	Satisfying material, sensory and emotional needs		Creation of knowledge, satisfaction of various social needs
Spiritual values	Theological Society	Human-oriented materialistic society		Socially oriented society with the development of high technologies Managed democracy, fulfilling its mission is a priority value, a society of trust
Ethical values	The Spiritual Advantage and the Law of God	The will of democracy, respect for human rights and private property rights

From the table above, the following conclusions can be drawn:

o information does not disappear during its consumption or transmission;

o it is impossible to convey only part of the information without changing its essence;

o information has the ability to accumulate; when it increases, a qualitative leap in knowledge occurs;

o computer technologies increase the possibilities of self-propagation and self-dissemination of information.

Information in the information and communication society becomes the main resource for the following reasons:

o if information can be concentrated, then with the help of technology it can be more easily processed;

o if information can be dispersed, then it does not need to be stored in one place and can only be used for the purposes for which it was originally acquired;

o circulation of information means that more people can work with it at the same time;

o “feedback” technology increases the “citation index” of information, allowing it to be processed from the inside in order to extract new valuable characteristics and create giant databases that are inaccessible without the use of these same technologies (principles highlighted by I. Masuda).

In the information and communication society, the concept of man is changing. The following components are of particular value:

o effective personality (a person who is armed with knowledge of information technology);

o highly productive team (that uses computer technology in its activities);

o integrated enterprise (a corporation that owns a complete internal information structure);

o extended enterprise (intercorporate computer networks linking several different organizations);

o business activity in the internetwork environment (parameters determined by D. Tapscott).

On the one hand, all of the listed features of the information and communication community and its members imply greater efficiency of the information process and all aspects of the development of society, on the other hand, these same features determine previously unprecedented possibilities for manipulative influence on the individual.

1. An unprecedented opportunity to control each individual has emerged. And if this control falls into the hands of groups with destructive intentions, total control over society becomes possible.

2. The Internet does not just expand civil society, it creates a new quality for it, fundamentally changes the nature of the relationship between citizens and the government, depriving the government of one of its main resources - the monopoly on information. Every citizen on the Internet has the opportunity not only to consume information, but also to distribute IT. Thus, the hierarchical models of social organization that were characteristic of the information revolution are changing.

3. The problem of regulating e-democracy arises. Of course, the issue of regulation is perceived in a negative way. But the fact is that a real alternative to controllability and regulation of processes in the field of information technology can only be chaos. And this chaos in transnational Internet networks can have various negative consequences.

4. The Internet opens up the possibility of absentee participation in politics, when a person becomes a member of a kind of “couch party”: while remaining in the comfort of home, in real time he willingly delves into and emotionally reacts to the news feed, but cannot do almost anything practically important using the keyboard .

5. Thanks to the Internet, a significant amount of materials is distributed, the consumption of which leads to the devaluation of spiritual values ​​and a decrease in the moral and creative potential of the population.

The vector of research in the information and communication society has shifted from the analysis of society to the analysis of the anthropocentric factor. Scientists find a number of explanations for this:

o in the information society, new forms of communication began to emerge more often, rather than methods of processing and storing information, as a result of which a new information and communication order emerged and Western values ​​began to be implanted throughout the world (A. Belinskaya)

o a mosaic culture begins to emerge in society (snatched from a certain historical or cultural context) and a mosaic identity appears (sometimes consisting of opposing identities that contradict each other), which is spreading thanks to new forms of communications, including media (S. Turkle)

o The Internet is beginning to play an increasingly important role in these processes. Gradually, a transformation of communicative experience occurs, the main characteristic of which is the constant need to complete, construct a communicative situation - the image of a partner or partners in communication (A. Goroshko)

o the role of “cold” media is increasingly increasing (M. McLuhan)

o there is a problem of trust in information transmitted via a computer. Therefore, communication, and not information, becomes the sensory core of the information society (A. Goroshko).

Less than a century ago, a person received about 15 thousand per week. Now we receive about ten thousand messages every hour. And among all this information flow it is very difficult to find the necessary message, but doing nothing is just one of the negative characteristics of the modern information society.

Characteristics

So, what is the information society? This is a society in which the bulk of workers are engaged in the production, storage or processing of information. At this stage of development, the information society has a number of distinctive characteristics:

• Information, knowledge and technology are of great importance in the life of society.
• Every year the number of people engaged in the production of information products, communications or information technologies increases.
• The informatization of society is increasing, with the use of telephones, television, the Internet, and the media.
• A global information space is being created that ensures effective interaction between individuals. People gain access to global information resources. Within the created information space, each participant satisfies his or her needs for information products or services.
• Electronic democracy, the information state and government are developing rapidly, and digital markets for social and economic networks are emerging.

Terminology

The first to define what the information society is were scientists from Japan. In the Land of the Rising Sun, this term began to be used in the 60s of the last century. Almost simultaneously with them, the term “information society” began to be used by scientists from the United States. Authors such as M. Porat, I. Masuda, R. Karz and others made a great contribution to the development of this theory. This theory received support from those researchers who studied the formation of a technogenic or technological society, as well as from those who studied changes in society, which is influenced by the increased role of knowledge.

Already at the end of the twentieth century, the term “information society” firmly took its place in the vocabulary of infosphere specialists, politicians, scientists, economists and teachers. Most often it was associated with the development of information technology and other means that would help humanity make a new leap in evolutionary development.

Today there are two opinions regarding what the information society is:

1. This is a society where the production and consumption of information is considered the main activity, and information is the most significant resource.
2. This is a society that has replaced the post-industrial one, the main product here is information and knowledge, and the information economy is actively developing.

It is also believed that the concept of the information society is nothing more than a variation of the theory of post-industrial society. Consequently, it can be considered as a sociological and futurological concept, where the main factor in social development is the production and use of scientific and technical information.

Come to a consensus

Considering how much information technology has infiltrated everyday life, these consequences are often called the information or computer revolution. Western teachings are paying more and more attention to this phenomenon, as evidenced by the vast number of relevant publications. However, it is worth noting that the concept of “information society” is placed in the place where the theory of post-industrial society was in the 70s.

Some scientists believe that post-industrial and information societies are completely different stages of development, so a clear line must be drawn between them. Despite the fact that the concept of the information society was called upon to replace the theory of a post-industrial society, its proponents are still developing important provisions of technocracy and futurology.

D. Bell, who formulated the theory of post-industrial society, considers the concept of the information society to be a new stage in the development of post-industrial society. Simply put, the scientist insists that the information society is the second level of post-industrial development, so these concepts should not be confused or replaced.

James Martin. Information Society Criteria

The writer believes that the information society must meet several criteria:

1. Technological. Information technologies are used in various spheres of human activity.
2. Social. Information is an important stimulator for changing the quality of life. A concept such as “information consciousness” appears, since knowledge is widely available.
3. Economic. Information becomes the main resource in economic relations.
4. Political. Freedom of information, which leads to the political process.
5. Cultural. Information is considered cultural property.

The development of the information society brings with it a number of changes. Thus, structural changes in the economy can be observed, especially when it comes to the distribution of labor. People are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of information and technology. Many are beginning to realize that for a full-fledged existence it is necessary to eliminate their own computer illiteracy, since information technologies are present in almost all spheres of life. The government strongly supports the development of information and technology, but along with it, malware and computer viruses develop.

Martin believes that in the information society, the quality of life directly depends on information and how a person uses it. In such a society, all spheres of human life are influenced by advances in knowledge and information.

Good and bad

Scientists believe that the development of information technology in society makes it possible to manage large complexes of organizations, produce systems and coordinate the work of thousands of people. New scientific directions related to the problems of organizational sets continue to develop.

And yet, the process of informatization of society has its drawbacks. Society is losing its stability. Small groups of people can have a direct influence on the information society agenda. For example, hackers can hack into banking systems and transfer large sums of money into their accounts. Or the media may cover the problems of terrorism, which have a destructive impact on the formation of public consciousness.

Information revolutions

1. Spread of language.
2. The emergence of writing.
3. Mass printing of books.
4. Applications of various types of electrical communications.
5. Use of computer technologies.

A. Rakitov emphasizes that the role of the information society in the near future will be to influence civilizational and cultural processes. Knowledge will become the most significant stake in the global competition for power.

Peculiarities

• Individuals can use the information resources of society from anywhere in the country. That is, from anywhere they can access the information they need for their life.
• Information technologies are available to everyone.
• There are infrastructures in society that ensure the creation of the necessary information resources.
• In all industries there is a process of acceleration and automation of work.
• Social structures are changing, and as a result, the scope of information activities and services is expanding.

The information society differs from the industrial society in the rapid growth of new jobs. The economic development segment is dominated by the information industry.

Two questions

The dynamism of technological modernization poses two main questions for society:

• Do people adapt to change?
• Will new technologies create differentiation in society?

During the transition of society to an information society, people may face a significant problem. They will be divided into those who can use new knowledge and technologies, and those who do not have such skills. As a result, information technologies will remain in the hands of a small social group, which will lead to inevitable stratification of society and a struggle for power.

But despite this danger, new technologies can empower citizens by giving them instant access to the information they need. They will provide the opportunity to create, and not just consume, new knowledge and allow you to maintain the anonymity of personal messages. Although, on the other hand, the penetration of information technology into private life poses a threat to the inviolability of personal data. No matter how you look at the information society, the main trends in its development will always cause both a sea of ​​delight and a storm of indignation. As, indeed, in any other area.

Information society: development strategy

When it was recognized that society had moved to a new stage of development, appropriate steps were required. The authorities of many countries have begun to develop a plan for the development of the information society. For example, in Russia, researchers identify several stages of development:

1. First, the foundations were formed in the field of informatization (1991-1994).
2. Later, there was a change in priorities from informatization to the creation of an information policy (1994-1998)
3. The third stage is the formation of policies in the field of creating an information society (year 2002 - our time).

The state is also interested in developing this process. In 2008, the Russian government adopted a strategy for the development of the information society, which is valid until 2020. The government has set itself the following tasks:

• Creation of information and telecommunications infrastructure to provide high-quality services for access to information on its basis.
• Based on the development of technology, improve the quality of education, medical care and social protection.
• Improving the system of state guarantees of human rights in the information sphere.
• Using information and improve the economy.
• Increase the efficiency of public administration.
• Develop science, technology and engineering to train qualified personnel in the field of information technology.
• Preserve culture, strengthen moral and patriotic principles in the public consciousness, develop a system of cultural and humanitarian education.
• Counteract the use of information technology advances as a threat to the country’s national interests.

To solve such problems, the state apparatus is developing special measures for the development of a new society. Determine benchmark indicators of dynamics and improve policies in the field of use of information technologies. Create favorable conditions for the development of science, technology and equal access of citizens to information.

conclusions

So, what is the information society? This is a theoretical model that is used to describe a new stage of social development that began with the beginning of the information and computer revolution. The technological basis in this society is not industrial, but information and telecommunication technologies.

This is a society where information is the main economic resource, and due to the pace of development, this sector comes out on top in terms of number of employees, share of GDP and capital investment. A developed infrastructure can be traced that ensures the creation of information resources. This primarily includes education and science. In such a society, intellectual property is the main form of property.

Information is turning into a product of mass consumption. Everyone living in society has access to any type of information; this is guaranteed not only by law, but also by technical capabilities. In addition, new criteria for assessing the level of development of society are emerging. For example, an important criterion is the number of computers, Internet connections, mobile and home phones. By merging telecommunications, computer-electronic and audiovisual technology, a single integrated information system is created in society.

Today, the information society can be regarded as a kind of global phenomenon, which includes: the global information economy, space, infrastructure and legal system. Here, business activity becomes an information and communication environment, the virtual economy and financial system are spreading more and more widely. The information society gives many opportunities, but it did not arise out of nowhere - it is the result of centuries of activity of all mankind.

Over the long history of its development, our society has gone through several successive stages of evolutionary formation. The agrarian (pre-industrial) phase, where the agricultural sector dominated the economy and land was the limiting factor, was replaced by the industrial (capitalist) formation, in which capital and the industrial sector of the economy were transformed into the dominant factors of development. In the post-industrial phase, the service sector became the main sector in the economy, and information turned into a key value and driving force of social progress, making information owners the dominant social force.

Thus, modern society has entered a new information era. The concept of “information society” has received the greatest scientific popularity for determining the current stage of development of our civilization.

The information society is considered to be the most developed phase of modern civilization, coming as a result of the information and computer revolution, when information technologies, “intelligent” systems, automation and robotization of all spheres and sectors of the economy and management began to be used, the creation of a single, state-of-the-art integrated communication system that provides every person any information and knowledge, causes radical changes in the entire system of social relations, thereby ensuring the greatest progress and freedom of the individual, the possibility of its self-realization.

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. The American economist K. Clark was the first to predict the inevitability of the emergence of information civilization 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 widespread spread of information technologies.

The basic provisions of this theory boil down to the following:

• - self-expansion of capital is being replaced by self-expansion of information, the joint use of which leads to the development of new social relations in which the main thing is the right of use, not ownership;
• - 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 worldviews, values, and social structures.

The key concept in the system of defining the emerging information society in the early stages was the concept of “informatization”.

• - mediatization - the process of improving the means of collecting, storing and distributing information;
• - computerization - the process of improving means of searching and processing information;
• - intellectualization - the process of developing the ability to perceive and generate information, i.e. increasing the intellectual potential of society, including the use of artificial intelligence.

We introduced two basic concepts of the original concept of the information society, its two key components - free and reliable information - as the main democratic and qualitative value of the new stage of social development - and information and communication technologies (ICT) as the most progressive means of its creation, storage, processing and distribution.

The primary role in the processes of accumulation and dissemination of information in a global context belongs at this stage to the World Wide Web. The end of the 1980s was marked by a new statement, published in the Green Paper of the European Commission3, according to which telecommunications networks were proclaimed as the “nervous system” of modern economic and social life. The development of the world information infrastructure, which later received the name of the global information infrastructure, thus marked the beginning of the processes of globalization of the world community.

Hence the most important conclusions about the formative role of information and communication technologies in the process of development of information technology, made by the Okinawa Charter of the Global Information Society:

• 1. ICT represents the most important factor in shaping the society of the 21st century;
• 2. The revolutionary impact of ICT is changing the way people live, introducing new features into their education and work, and also modifying the nature of interaction between government and civil society, strengthening trust in the institutions of democracy;
• 3. Finally, information and communication technologies are quickly becoming a vital stimulus for the development of global and national economies, opening up for participants in the public space new opportunities for an open, effective and creative approach to solving pressing economic and social problems, as well as ensuring processes of sustainable economic growth.

ICTs are becoming today a key element in the restructuring of the main areas of the socio-economic structure, such as:

• - Carrying out economic reforms to create an environment of openness, efficiency and objective market competition through the maximum use of technological innovations;
• - Development of a system of rational management of the macroeconomy due to the advantages of new technological solutions in global networks of interaction between business and consumers;
• - Development of human resources capable of meeting the requirements of the information age.

The significance of the above factors for society and its positive modernization is scientifically described by two main theoretical and methodological approaches to the informatization of society:

• - technocratic, when information technologies are considered a means of increasing labor productivity and their use is limited mainly to the areas of production and management;
• - and humanitarian, when information technology is considered as an important part of human life, important not only for production, but also for the social sphere.

In the most general sense, we were able to talk about the information society when three important components took shape in the communication and technological space of the modern world:

• 1. The amount of information in the world doubles every three years;
• 2. The growing productivity of microchips makes it possible to analyze increasingly large volumes of information in real time;
• 3. The development of the Internet and mobile communication networks makes this information increasingly accessible.

However, it is important to understand that ICTs in themselves do not yet represent the information society.

On the one hand, they represent a driving factor in the development of IO. On the other hand, the availability of access to information technologies and the level of their development can serve as qualitative indicators for measuring the information society (which we will show later in this chapter). But the information society, as a stage of civilizational development, is far from only a set of technological equipment (information terminals, telecommunication lines, databases, etc.). Information technology is primarily an information environment in which information can be exchanged between countries, companies, and citizens of the world community. At the present stage, the concept of a global information society (GIS) has become relevant, which was the next round of development of the post-industrial public space and was determined by the evolution of a new generation of ICTs, which opened up revolutionary opportunities for already familiar computer, mobile and network technologies.

The existence of a global information society was conditioned by the existence of a global economy and the development of a global financial system. GIO today appears to be a collection of information societies of individual countries and infocommunication lines connecting them.

When determining the degree of compliance of a society with the information phase of its development, it is certainly necessary to take into account many different factors. Today, the question remains open as to whether modern society can be considered information society in the full sense of the word, or whether it would be more correct to classify only a number of the most developed world powers as information technology. They do not deny the legitimacy of the opinion that not a single country at the present stage of its development has reached the level of information and economic evolution that could be called an information society to the fullest extent, which was put into the concept of GMO by the ideologists of the concept. Thus, along with the World Economy, the global information society is a very heterogeneous structure.

Such heterogeneity is caused, first of all, by the complexity of the concept of AI and the many factors necessary to measure it.

The most obvious criterion for measuring the information society, as we noted, is today considered to be the level of access to ICT. But even using calculated indicators (the number of telephones, the number of Internet hosts, the volume of transmitted information, etc.), it is almost impossible to determine the boundary between an information or non-information society. It is already critical that there are no established standards for defining AI. Let's try, for example, to measure the amount of transmitted information in bytes. Obviously, this volume will change more often than every second. Already in this simple example all the complexity and insufficient adequacy of the described process is visible.

Of course, there are other criteria. According to one of them, the transition to each new phase of social development is determined accordingly by the degree of employment of the population in a particular socio-economic sector. Thus, when more than 50% of the population was employed in the service sector, we decided that the post-industrial stage of society's development had arrived. If in a society more than 50% of the population is employed in the field of information services, such a society becomes information.

A number of publications note that the United States entered the post-industrial period of its development in 1956 (the state of California crossed this milestone back in 1910), and the United States became an information society in 1974.

However, it is obvious that this parameter alone is not at all sufficient to determine such a complex phenomenon as the information society.

It would be logical to assume, you might say, that if ICT itself is considered only as a driving factor in the development of information technology, and its formation is based on information doctrine, then it is the quality and level of access to information that must be considered as the primary criterion for the development of the information society. It is impossible to deny the legitimacy of such an approach, just as it is impossible to draw up an objective scale of indicators for its implementation. It is necessary to try to measure the degree of informatization of a particular society, but it is not possible to conduct a comparative analysis of global information flows, assessing the level of “information democracy” at this stage.

The rapid development of the information society and its concept makes the newest scientific approaches to its definition and measurement quickly become obsolete. In the totality of possible methods for assessing the level of development of GMOs as a whole at this stage, a number of the most characteristic indicators are identified, due to revolutionary changes in the field of ICT in the second half of the last century.

Among these key factors, reflecting the most important communication and technological achievements of our time, the following signs of the global information society are especially noteworthy:

• - Availability of a personal computer and Internet connection in every home;
• - The disappearance of geographical and geopolitical borders while preserving the national identity of original cultures;
• - Possibility of total and constant access to information of any type and purpose from any state and anywhere in the geographical space. Possibility of unhindered consumption and dissemination of information;
• - The ability to communicate in real time with every member of society and with any organization;
• - A qualitative change in the methods of collecting and disseminating information, which should be open to everyone, free, of high quality and reliable, and in constant access;
• - The emergence of new media, completely focused on the needs of the audience and operating in an interactive format with its active participation;
• - The emergence of new forms of activity related to the functioning of the Internet and other technologies and means of communication.

Let us pay attention to one more factor that complicates the process of assessing the degree of compliance of a particular society with an information society. Not a single country in the world wants to strive for the title of “non-information society”, and, first of all, precisely for the reasons that there are no objective criteria for measuring information society. In this sense, the most popular concept is one that presupposes the presence of a certain level of information society in each country of the world, distinguishing between different degrees of its development. A comparative description of various “information societies”, based mainly on the level of access to ICTs in general and the Internet, first of all, formed the basis for defining the problem of “digital inequality”, which we will talk about later in this chapter.

In any case, today we can assert that the process of formation of the information society is proceeding at a dynamic pace and is in a constantly progressive development. This development, to varying degrees, is typical for most countries of the world, which ultimately allows us to draw conclusions about the gradual formation of a global information society.

Summarizing existing approaches to the interpretation of the concept of GMO, we can say that it currently means:

• - a new type of society, emerging as a result of a global social revolution generated by the explosive development and convergence of information and communication technologies;
• - a society based on knowledge, in which the main condition for the well-being of every person and state is knowledge obtained through unhindered access to information and the ability to work with it. Moreover, in the consumption structure of a significant part of the socially active population, new knowledge and information should play no less a role than traditional consumer goods. This stable, dynamically expanding consumer demand is determined by the high educational and cultural level of the population and, in turn, ensures the development of the information sector. The value of education as such increases;
• - a global society in which the exchange of information will have no temporal, spatial, or political boundaries; which, on the one hand, promotes the interpenetration of cultures, and on the other hand, opens up new opportunities for self-identification for each community;
• - a society where the acquisition, processing, storage, transmission, distribution, and use of knowledge and information play a decisive role, including through interactive interaction, ensuring its constantly improving technical capabilities. From an economic point of view, in this society, about a third of GNP is created in industries that directly produce information goods and services, as well as equipment for transmitting and processing information.

The development of information technology has significantly changed our entire way of life, having an impact on various spheres of social order. Thanks to new technological conditions, the generation, processing and transmission of information have become fundamental sources of productivity and power. In the information society, social and technological forms of organization permeate all spheres of activity, from the dominant ones (in the economic system) to the objects and customs of everyday life.

In an information society, every person - and not just those who consciously create information - constantly generates information, which is increasingly recorded (in this context, the question of whether this is good or bad is not considered). A person leaves his “traces” by using a discount card, presenting his license to a traffic police inspector and performing other similar everyday actions. In other words, human life becomes more and more transparent; by his actions he paints his own information portrait. And knowledge about his actions can and should be used in order, based on his experience, to help other people better cope with emerging problems. This raises the problem of depersonalization: in order for information to be used, it must first be depersonalized. This problem has legal and technological aspects to be resolved.

Today, the tools of labor have changed and “intellectualized” and acquired functions that were previously unique to humans. There have been significant transformations in the system of economic institutions, which were caused by the development of electronic commerce mechanisms, the emergence of new payment systems and the globalization of the financial system as a whole.

Thus, the information society declared the principle of international cooperation at the broadest level to be the basis of its development and became possible due to the ability to use new information and communication technologies to obtain knowledge. The free dissemination of information and the accumulation of ideas has led to an increase in the volume of knowledge and methods of its application.

1.2

Concept, features and advantages of the global information society

Modern achievements in the development of information and communication technologies contribute to the formation of completely new economic, social and cultural relations in people’s lives, which are described by the single concept of “global information society”.

We can speak with complete confidence about the emergence of an all-encompassing electronic environment for economic activity, which is called the “global network economy” and is defined as an environment where a company or individual located at any point in the economic system can contact any other company or individual at a lower cost. to work together, to trade, or to exchange ideas. The unfolding progress in the formation and expansion of the network economy is due, firstly, to the ongoing development and rapid spread of information and communication technologies, as well as the constant reduction in prices for their acquisition and use, which increases their availability. Secondly, there is a significant movement of various types of socio-economic activities into the electronic environment, which today represents thousands of types of businesses.It should be noted that here you can successfully compete even with generally recognized giants, since the computer economy provides unique opportunities to resist monopolies and large firms.

Significant changes due to the introduction of information and telecommunications technologies are occurring in the following three economic institutions: trade, finance and labor relations.

E-commerce today is a rapidly developing business sector. Almost 60 million Europeans made online purchases between November 2001 and April 2002, according to research firm GfK Group. About 58.5 million buyers are residents of Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. eMarketer estimates that e-commerce revenues in Europe alone will be about $180 billion by 2004. The total volume of online sales in the UK in May 2002 amounted to $776 million. This figure is 10% higher than in April, when the same sales volume was estimated at $674 million. Overall, between May 2001 and May 2002, volume growth online sales in the country amounted to 92.2%.This is due both to the interest of the population and to the interests of trading organizations.

On the one hand, the traditional list of services for the population is regularly updated with new electronic types of financial and entertainment services: online store, electronic auction, various real estate transactions via the Internet, banking and personal finance management, interactive television, video/music on demand , video games and more. The high demand for these services is ensured by faster and relatively easier access to them, as well as affordable costs.

According to the company comScore , in the second quarter of 2002, consumer spending on online purchases in the United States grew 41% year-over-year to $17.5 billion. Online travel spending increased 46% to $7.8 billion. Sales volumes of other groups of goods and services increased by 28% and reached $9.7 billion. Among the groups of goods not related to travel, sales of computer equipment have the highest rate - $2.3 billion. Second place in the world in terms of South Korea has risen in relative online shopping numbers, with about 30% of Korean Internet users purchasing goods and using services in this manner in the first quarter of this year. The most popular items among Korean Internet users were clothing, furniture, and cosmetics. Today Germany occupies third place after the USA and South Korea in terms of the number of online buyers, where books are the most popular product categories - 33%, CD - 24%, clothing - 21%, electronics - 19%, cinema and theater tickets - 14%.

On the other hand, the use of Internet technologies expands opportunities and improves the quality of coordination of business activities, allowing, with minimal financial costs and the absence of infrastructural barriers, to maximize the product sales network. Today, companies have the ability to conduct video conferences and virtual presentations that provide the greatest audience coverage; create your own “showcases” on the WWW, where potential buyers can not only obtain complete information about the company, the services and products it provides, but also express their opinion on this matter. This, in turn, allows companies to establish feedback with customers, identify the most popular services and products, and coordinate their activities accordingly. And, finally, reasonable costs for connecting to the Internet from almost anywhere made it possible to reduce the limiting geographical factors of joint business activities, which allowed, first of all, large international corporations to save significant money on moving employees between offices. The presence of various electronic payment systems has provided the opportunity to win on, perhaps, the most important thing in business - time.

Today, almost all the largest banks have their own Web -sites, and the number of banks conducting their activities mainly via the Internet is constantly growing. New programs in this area are being actively developed and implemented, allowing us to serve clients more quickly and efficiently. The latter, for example, can contact the bank by telephone or the Internet and clarify the status of their account, as well as use the services provided. The demand for such offers is steadily growing. For example, according to a report from the Canadian Bankers Association, the number of Canadians using online banking services has almost doubled over the past two years. About 16% of Canadians already prefer an online bank, and about 60% of Canadians hope to start using such services in the next 2-3 years. Agency research Wahlen showed that in Germany today 45% of Internet users maintain their bank accounts via the Internet.

The information society places an increased demand on many information-rich products and services, the transmission of which has become possible through electronic networks. The most important resource - intelligence - turned out to be extremely mobile in network conditions. This creates favorable conditions for the development of remote labor relations, otherwise known as telework or remote work. According to some data, in Europe in 1997 the number of teleworkers was more than 2 million people, and in the USA - about 11.1 million. There are estimates that already in 2003 about 20% of the workforce will use teleaccess.The main socio-economic advantages of the massive use of telework are expressed in the reduction of transport problems, general movements and associated environmental pollution; the ability to get a job in almost any area of ​​the world, which reduces the level of overall unemployment; expanding employment opportunities for people with health limitations, for example, those that prevent them from moving. With the help of the Internet, these people can fully work, study and communicate.

The development of information and communication technologies brings significant changes in the political life of society. Firstly, it becomes possible for a maximum number of people to quickly access the texts of bills at the stage of their preliminary development, as well as to a large volume of analytical information on this matter. Secondly, the fundamental innovation lies in the ability of every citizen, at a relatively minimal cost, to address an audience of unlimited composition and express his opinion on a particular issue.

A living example is the communication of the head of state V.V. Putin with Russian citizens live on the main Russian TV channels ORT, RTR and radio stations Mayak and Radio Rossii, which took place on December 24, 2001. The broadcast was organized in the form of a teleconference between the Kremlin studio and the Ostankino television center and mobile stations in regional centers of the country. Those wishing to ask pressing questions to the President on the air “live” only had to be near one of these television stations. According to the Presidential Press Service, by the beginning of V.V.’s speech. Putin received about 2 million questions live on air, and in the middle of the day the number of calls per second increased to 40.

Today, almost all government departments have their own “pages” on the Internet, which ultimately helps to improve democratic procedures, increase the political activity of the population, and establish a more effective dialogue between the state and the public.

Studying the issues of emerging global changes in order to develop appropriate recommendations and programs that would accelerate the formation of a global information society and smooth out the negative components of this process has a rich tradition in line with the concepts of post-industrialism. The concept of “information society” first appeared in the second half of the 1960s. The invention of the term “information society” is attributed to the professor of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yu. Hayashi. The main characteristics of a knowledge society have been identified in reports submitted to the Japanese government by a number of organizations: the Economic Planning Agency, the Computer Development Institute, and the Industrial Structure Council. The titles of the documents themselves are indicative: “Japanese Information Society: Themes and Approaches” (1969), “Policy Contours for Promoting Informatization of Japanese Society” (1969), “Plan for the Information Society” (1971).In these reports, a highly industrialized society was defined as one where the development of computerization will give people access to reliable sources of information and relieve them of routine work, ensuring a high level of automation of production. At the same time, significant changes will directly affect production itself, as a result of which its product will become more “information-intensive,” which will lead to a significant increase in the share of innovation, design and marketing in its value. The production of an information product, rather than a material product, according to the authors, will be the driving force of education and development of society.

Very quickly, post-industrial issues become one of the leading ones in Western political science. The main emphasis in research of this time is placed mainly on the need to improve the means of obtaining, processing and disseminating information and the results of their use in the economic sphere. This was due to the rapid development and convergence of information and telecommunication technologies, which entailed revolutionary changes in the global market. The humanitarian aspects of the formation of a new society, in particular social problems, began to be actively studied only as a result of the realization that the observed qualitative leap in the development of information technology gave rise to a new global social revolution, in no way inferior to the revolutions of the past in terms of the power of its impact on human society.

A significant impetus for the further development of the ideas of a global information society was the publication in 1973 of the book by the American sociologist D. Bell “The Coming Post-Industrial Society. Experience of social forecasting."In it, the author divides the history of human society into three main stages: agricultural, industrial and post-industrial. The scientist sought to outline the contours of a post-industrial society, largely based on the characteristics of the industrial stage. Like T. Veblen and other theorists of industrialism, he interprets industrial society as a society in which the main goal is the production of the maximum number of machines and things. An essential feature of the post-industrial stage is, according to D. Bell, the transition from the production of things to the development of the production of services related to education, healthcare, research and management.

The central role of theoretical knowledge becomes essential for decision-making and coordination of the direction of change. “Any modern society lives through innovation and social control of change,” writes D. Bell. - It tries to anticipate the future and plan. It is the change in awareness of the nature of innovation that makes theoretical knowledge decisive.”Movement in this direction will gain momentum through a kind of convergence of science, technology and economics. The American scientist considers knowledge and information not only an effective catalyst for the transformation of post-industrial society, but also its strategic resource.

This book caused a general resonance and interest in the issues raised in it. Since its publication, numerous works have appeared devoted to understanding the historical boundary at which humanity finds itself.

One of the most interesting and developed philosophical concepts of the information society belongs to the Japanese scientist I. Masuda. The basic principles and features of the future society are presented in his book “The Information Society as a Post-Industrial Society.”The foundation of the new society, according to the author, will be computer technology, the main function of which he sees as replacing or significantly enhancing human mental labor. The information technology revolution will quickly transform into a new productive force and will make possible the mass production of cognitive and systematized information, new technologies and knowledge. The “frontier of the known” will become a potential market; the possibility of solving pressing problems and developing cooperation will increase. The leading sector of the economy will be intellectual production, the products of which will be accumulated and distributed using new telecommunication technologies.

Paying special attention to the transformation of human values ​​in the global information society, I. Masuda suggests that it will be essentially classless and conflict-free, it will be a society of harmony with a small government and state apparatus. He writes that unlike an industrial society, whose characteristic value is the consumption of goods, the information society puts forward time as a characteristic value.

The famous English scientist T. Stoner argued that information, like capital, can be accumulated and stored for future use. In a post-industrial society, national information resources will become, as he believes, the largest potential source of wealth. In this regard, every effort should be made to develop, first of all, a new branch of the economy - information. Industry in the new society, in terms of overall employment indicators and its share in the national product, will give way to the service sector, which will primarily represent the collection, processing and various types of provision of the required information.

With the development of electronic media and information technology in scientific circles, there is an increasingly active discussion about the functions and role of information in the life of society, and trends in the formation of a global information society. Two names of particular interest here are Marshall McLuhan (Canada) and Alvin Toffler (USA). I would like to immediately note that the approaches they presented in their research received both very positive and far from flattering assessments from traditional science and the public in general.

A distinctive feature of M. McLuhan's views is the fact that he considers information technology as the main factor influencing the formation of the socio-economic basis of the new society. Telecommunications and computer networks will play the role of a kind of nervous system in the formation of a “global embrace”, where everything is so interconnected that the result is the formation of a “global village”.

Speaking about the prospects for the development of mass communications in the information society, McLuhan repeatedly emphasizes the tendency to strengthen the active role of the mass media. Mass communication as a structurally formed sphere of society's life is seen by him in the near future, on the one hand, as part of it, and on the other, as a mysterious force that has ever-increasing power over this society.

Another theorist of the information society, E. Toffler, offers his own scheme of the historical process. In his book “The Third Wave” he identified three waves in the history of civilization: the first wave – agrarian (before XVIII century), the second is industrial (until the 50s of the twentieth century) and the third is post-industrial (starting from the 50s). “The immediate historical frontier is as profound as the first wave of change set in motion ten thousand years ago by the introduction of agriculture,” he writes. The second wave of change was brought about by the Industrial Revolution. We are the children of the next transformation, the third wave.”The latter emerged as a result of the unfolding information revolution.

Post-industrial society, in his opinion, is characterized by such features as deconcentration of production and population, a sharp increase in information exchange, the prevalence of self-governing political systems, as well as further individualization of the individual while maintaining solidary relations between people and communities.

Toffler contrasts traditional cumbersome corporations with small economic forms, among which he especially highlights individual activity in the “electronic cottage.” The latter is presented by the author as follows: “Radical changes in the sphere of production will inevitably entail breathtaking social changes. Within the lifetime of our generation, the largest factories and institutions will be half empty and turned into warehouses or living quarters. When one day we get technology that allows us to equip every home with an inexpensive workplace equipped with a “smart” typewriter, and maybe also a copy machine or a computer console and a telecommunications device, then the possibilities of organizing work at home will increase dramatically.”

The turn of the 1980s/90s can be designated as the beginning of a new stage in the development of ideas of a global information society. First of all, this period is associated with the results of research by Peter Drucker and Manuel Castells. P. Drucker, a famous American economist, one of the creators of modern management theory, took an active part in discussions in the early 70s. However, he made his direct contribution to the formation of a new look for existing concepts of post-industrialism later, publishing the book “Post-capitalist Society”.The core of Drucker’s concept is the idea of ​​overcoming traditional capitalism, and the main signs of the ongoing shift are considered to be the transition from an industrial economy to an economic system based on knowledge and information, overcoming capitalist private property, the formation of a new value system of modern man and the transformation of the national state under the influence of economic globalization processes and society. The modern era, according to Drucker, is a time of radical restructuring, when, with the development of new information and telecommunication technologies, humanity has a real chance to transform capitalist society into a knowledge-based society.

M. Castells uses the global economy and international financial markets as the main features of the emerging new world order as the starting point for his reflections. His fundamental research, “The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture,” is devoted to a detailed analysis of modern trends leading to the formation of the foundations of a society that he called “networked.”Based on the fact that information by its nature is a resource that penetrates all kinds of barriers and borders more easily than others, the information era is considered by him as the era of globalization. At the same time, network structures become both a means and a result of the globalization of society. In his book, the author repeatedly draws the reader’s attention to the fundamentally important point that information and the exchange of information have accompanied the development of civilization throughout the history of mankind and have been of particular importance in all societies. At the same time, the emerging new society is being constructed in such a way that the collection, analysis and transmission of necessary information have become "fundamental sources of productivity and power."

Over the past decade, the topic of the global information society has been repeatedly addressed by domestic scientists, who have developed their own definitions of the new society. So, A.I. Rakitov wrote in his works of the late 80s that the transition to an information society involves the transformation of the production and use of services and knowledge into the most important product of social activity, and the share of knowledge will constantly increase. The main goal of the information society is to provide legal and social guarantees that every citizen of society, located anywhere and at any time, will be able to obtain all the information necessary to solve pressing problems. In his opinion, the main criteria of the information society can be the quantity and quality of information available for processing, as well as its effective transmission and processing. An additional criterion is the availability of information for every person, which is achieved by reducing its cost as a result of the development and timely implementation of new telecommunication technologies. The key to the successful functioning of the economy of a post-industrial society will be its information sector, which will take first place in terms of the number of workers employed in it.Taking this into account, the development, first of all, of this sector will significantly accelerate the integration of a single country into the global information society.

G.L. Smolyan and D.S. Chereshkin in the approach they developed includes the following as the main features of the new society: the formation of a single information space and the deepening of the processes of information and economic integration of countries and peoples; the formation and further dominance in the economies of countries that have advanced most far towards the information society of new technological structures based on the massive use of network information technologies, promising computer technology and telecommunications; increasing the level of education by expanding the capabilities of information exchange systems at the international, national and regional levels and, accordingly, increasing the role of qualifications, professionalism and creativity as the main characteristics of labor services.At the same time, the concept pays special attention to the issues of information security of the individual, society and the state in the emerging society and the creation of an effective system for ensuring the rights of citizens and social institutions to freely receive, distribute and use information.

The famous scientist Nikita Moiseev believed that without free access of all people to information, it makes no sense at all to talk about building an information society - “a society of collective intelligence on a planetary scale.” However, this most difficult socio-political problem, in his opinion, can hardly be solved within the framework of modern “appropriating” civilizations, in which most people are not always ready to share knowledge, although this is vitally important for everyone else. A change in the scale of values ​​and mentality is necessary. “The information society is a stage in human history when collective intelligence becomes not only a support for development Homo sapiens , but also the object of targeted efforts to improve it.”

One of the fundamentally important characteristics of the turn of the 1980s/90s is that, starting from the first half of the 90s, most American and European researchers and specialists in this field began to focus on the role and significance not so much of the information itself in various fields life, how much knowledge and unprecedented acceleration of its growth. If in the 70s of the last century the volume of total knowledge of mankind doubled every 10 years, in the 80s - once every 5 years, then by the end of the 90s it doubled almost every year. This state of affairs gave rise to a number of new definitions of a highly industrial society, including such as “ Knowledge Society", "Knowledgeable Society", etc.

Summarizing existing approaches to the interpretation of the concept of “global information society”, we can say that currently it is understood as:

a new type of society, emerging as a result of a new global social revolution, the basis of which is the explosive development and convergence of information and telecommunication technologies;

a knowledge society in which the main condition for the well-being of every person and every state is knowledge obtained through unhindered access to information and the ability to work with it;

a global society in which the exchange of information will have no temporal, spatial or political boundaries; where, through scientific data processing and knowledge support, smarter and more informed decisions will be made to improve the quality of life in all its aspects;

a society that, on the one hand, promotes the interpenetration of cultures, and on the other, opens up new opportunities for self-realization for each community.

Global information society. GMO infrastructure.

Spindrift clouds take on a variety of forms in the form of parallel tangled or fan-shaped stripes, feathers, and curls. The appearance of a small amount of clouds, especially if they gradually dissipate, should not cause concern. But if cirrus clouds, as if fanning out from one point on the horizon, come from the west and at the same time are replaced by denser ones - cirrostratus, then cirrocumulus, we can expect the approach of a cyclone. And the faster the clouds move and their shape changes, the more likely prolonged rains are.

Cirrocumulus, similar to scattered piles of cotton, ""curly"", can be of different shapes and are placed in a single mass or separately. Usually accompanied by cloudy weather without precipitation.

Cirrostratus Cloudy masses resembling a veil give the sky a whitish or milky hue. Around the sun or moon, which they do not cover, haloes form - circles - a sign of thickening or decreasing cloudiness. Often they foretell the approach of bad weather.

Altocumulus white or gray clouds in the form of wings, tufts or parallel stripes "mottled sky" may appear in small spherical or even round masses. The sun peeks through the upper layers. The appearance of altocumulus clouds on the horizon usually heralds the approach of a cold front with showers and squalls.

Altostratified clouds look like thin white or gray patches located throughout the sky or partially covering it; the sun shines through them, as if through fog. Light rain is predicted.

Nimbostratus The clouds are powerful dark gray masses. Low ragged clouds often appear below the main layer. Rain or snow should be expected.

Stratocumulus gray, whitish clouds, with darker individual areas, consist of patches, rounded masses, arranged in a checkerboard pattern. Occasionally accompanied by rain.

Layered- gray in color, similar to fog rising above the ground, envelop the sky with a gray veil or in the form of separate ridges and cover a large area. These clouds portend bad weather.

Cumulonimbus They are a heavy, dense, powerful mass. They can raise their top (in the form of a mountain or tower) so high that water droplets freeze, the dome becomes heavier and smoother, spreading symmetrically in the form of an anvil or stretching out in the wind like a huge feather. These clouds bring with them showers of thunderstorms and hail, and are sometimes accompanied by hurricanes.

Flat cumulus the clouds look like pieces of cotton wool scattered across the blue sky. If the clouds have not increased vertically by midday, the weather will be good. But if they begin to grow rapidly upward, taking on the appearance of vertical columns with tops resembling cauliflower, this means that flat cumulus clouds have grown into powerful cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds.

Cumulus– isolated low clouds, densely and clearly defined. They rise vertically in the form of a dome or tower. The tops are convex, sometimes shaped like cauliflower. With low humidity and weak vertical ascent of air masses, good weather is predicted. Otherwise, accumulating during the day can cause a thunderstorm.

When analyzing local signs, you need to remember the following:

You cannot make a forecast based on one sign;

The more signs indicate a change or stability in the weather, the more accurate the forecast:

A variety of signs is usually evidence of minor changes:

Usually the weather does not change immediately, but gradually. Based on this, we can conclude: if today the weather is the same as yesterday, then tomorrow the weather will be the same as today. However, an experienced observer will note the impending movement of air masses (non-periodic weather changes).

Weather forecasting for the current day based on changes in natural signs:

If the sun goes behind the clouds after sunrise, it means it will rain.

If the fog clears quickly after sunrise, then we can say that there will be good weather in the near future.

The absence of dew on a quiet, bright night foreshadows bad weather; the heavier the dew, the hotter the next day will be.

A bright rainbow means bad weather; The greener the rainbow, the longer the rain will be. In the evening, a rainbow foretells good weather, in the morning - rainy; the appearance of two or three rainbows means that the rain will continue for a long time.

Fog spreads across the water - to good weather, rises from the water - to rain, disappears after sunrise without wind - to good weather.

If the Milky Way is full of stars and bright, it means good weather; if it is dim, it means bad weather.

If during the rain a rainbow appears and the blue color in it is not thick, but the yellow color is bright, then good weather will soon come.

The rainbow is directed from north to south - to rain, from east to west - to good weather.

A high and steep rainbow means wind, a steep and low rainbow means rain; the rainbow quickly disappears after the rain - good weather.

If a foggy circle (halo) is visible around the sun, then rain should be expected today or tomorrow.

Weather forecasting based on animal behavior:

The spider sits motionless in the middle of the web - in bad weather, and before the rain it hides in a corner.

Before good weather, flies wake up early and buzz animatedly; if bad weather approaches, the flies sit quietly.

Beetles are hiding in holes, and flies are getting into your face - expect rain.

Bad weather should be expected if there are many insects circling near the yellow acacia.

The black woodpecker screams in the summer, and sparrows bathe in dust - it means rain.

Ants are hiding in an anthill - there will be heavy rain soon.

Early in the morning you cannot hear the lark - it means rain, bad weather; Larks walking mean good weather, and sitting ruffled means a thunderstorm.

If fish jump out of the water and catch insects flying over the water, then this portends rain.

The daytime croaking of frogs jumping on the shore of a reservoir also foreshadows rain.

If bees fly away early in the morning to collect a bribe, it will be a good day.

A crow cries in the summer - it means rain.

Nutrition in survival conditions.

Hunger.

It is known that a person can go without food for quite a long time, maintaining high physical and mental activity. Lack of food is not as dangerous as lack of water.

Deprived of “fuel” coming from outside, the body, after appropriate restructuring, begins to consume its internal and tissue reserves. They are quite impressive. So a person weighing 70 kilograms has about 15 kg of fat fiber (141 thousand kcal), 150 g of muscle glycogen (600 kcal), 75 g of liver glycogen (300 kcal). Thus, the body has energy reserves of approximately 165,900 kcal. According to physiologists, 40–45% of these reserves can be used up before the death of the body occurs. If we take the daily energy consumption of the human body at rest as 1800 kcal, tissue reserves should be enough for 30 - 40 days of complete fasting. However, when making calculations, one more important factor should be taken into account - nitrogen loss. It is known that the brain must receive energy equivalent to 100 g of glucose daily. Fats provide only 16 g of glucose, and the rest is formed during the breakdown of muscle protein, which leads to a daily loss of 25 g of nitrogen. The adult human body contains approximately 1000 g of nitrogen. A reduction in this supply by 50% usually causes death. Therefore, fasting during autonomous existence is safe for an average of 14–16 days.

A person can manage for two or more weeks without harm to health on a diet whose energy value is only 500 kcal. Although it will cause a strong feeling of hunger at first, it will decrease significantly in the future. True, a person eating a low-calorie diet will get tired somewhat faster than usual during physical work, experience slight dizziness and shortness of breath during physical activity, but his physical and mental performance will remain for a long time at a fairly high level.

In the initial period, which usually lasts two to four days, a strong feeling of hunger occurs. Appetite increases sharply. In some cases, burning, pressure and even pain in the pancreas and nausea may be felt. Dizziness, headaches, and stomach cramps are possible. The sense of smell is noticeably enhanced. In the presence of water, salivation increases. A person constantly thinks about food. In the first four days, a person’s body weight decreases by an average of one kilogram daily, in areas with a hot climate - sometimes up to 1.5 kg. Then daily weight loss decreases.

Subsequently, the feeling of hunger weakens. The appetite disappears, sometimes the person even experiences some cheerfulness. The tongue is often covered with a whitish coating, and when inhaling, a faint smell of acetone may be felt in the mouth. Salivation does not increase even at the sight of food. Poor sleep, prolonged headaches, and increased irritability may occur. With prolonged fasting, a person falls into apathy, lethargy, and drowsiness.

Global information society. GMO infrastructure.

The information society is a society in which the majority of workers are engaged in the production, storage, processing and sale of information, especially its highest form - knowledge. This stage of development of society and economy is characterized by:

· increasing the role of information, knowledge and information technologies in the life of society

· an increase in the number of people employed in information technology, communications and the production of information products and services, an increase in their share in the gross domestic product

· growing informatization of society using telephony, radio, television, the Internet, as well as traditional and electronic media

· creation of a global information space that provides

v effective information interaction between people

v their access to global information resources

v meeting their needs for information products and services

· development of electronic democracy, information economy, electronic state, electronic government, digital markets, electronic social and economic networks

It should be noted that a number of Western and domestic political scientists and political economists are inclined to draw a sharp line separating the concept of the information society from post-industrialism. However, although the concept of the information society is intended to replace the theory of post-industrial society, its proponents repeat and further develop a number of the most important provisions of technocracy and traditional futurology.

Professor W. 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, “information consciousness” is formed and established with wide access to information.

· Economic: Information is a key factor in the economy as a resource, service, commodity, source of added value and employment.

· Political: freedom of information leading to a political process characterized by increasing participation and consensus among different classes and social strata of the population.

· Cultural: recognition of the cultural value of information by promoting the establishment of information values ​​in the interests of the development of the individual and society as a whole.

At the same time, Martin emphasizes the idea that communication is “a key element of the information society.”

Martin notes that when talking about the information society, it should not be taken in a literal sense, but rather considered as a guideline, a trend of change in modern Western society. According to him, in general this model is focused on the future, but in developed capitalist countries it is already possible to name a number of changes caused by information technology that confirm the concept of the information society.

Among these changes, Martin lists the following:

structural changes in the economy, especially in the distribution of labor; increased awareness of the importance of information and information technology;

growing awareness of the need for computer literacy;

widespread use of computers and information technology;

development of computerization and informatization of society and education;

government support for the development of computer microelectronic technology and telecommunications.

widespread - computer viruses and malware throughout the world.

In light of these changes, Martin argues, “the information society can be defined as a society in which the quality of life, as well as the prospects for social change and economic development, increasingly depend on information and its exploitation. In such a society, living standards, forms of work and leisure, the education system and the market are significantly influenced by advances in the field of information and knowledge.”