SMIT – Studies on Media, Information and Telecommunication Pleinlaan 2 – 1050 Brussels – Belgium – T – F – Information, Knowledge and Innovation Cornerstones of the Information Society? SMIT – IBBT Leo Van Audenhove STIMULATE 5-6 October 2004 Brussels

Four Fallacies of the Information Society

Information Society Discourse IS Discourse often based on growth of Internet  Enormous explosion of Internet since 1990s  New medium with enormous potentials Decentralized: No (or little) central control Participatory: Every Receiver is also a Sender Non-commercial: At least at early stages carried by scientific community

Every new media: discourse of emancipation  Internet walhalla of free information  High hopes for educational and social use  eEurope hope that Internet leads to social cohesion Hope that Internet new motor of ec. growth  Closing digital divide=closing knowledge divide

Access to internet in developing countries  lowers the barriers for access to information contributing to enhanced performance in all sectors contributing to individual empowerment  new opportunities for development (catching up=leapfrog) supported by examples of promising applications e.g. farmers know prices at the market e.g. doctors in London help doctors in Lusaka very powerful images because some truth in them question whether can be implemented on large scale

The four fallacies Guided discussion on four fallacies of the IS  assumptions underlying much of the discourse of Internet and developmental impact  which can be questioned from the point of view of developmental countries Information is available Information is for free Information is knowledge Knowledge is social change

Discussion On each point group discussion  Start with an open discussion  Would like you to reflect on basis of what you have seen in the course your own experiences in the field

Information is available Assumption: The Internet is a sea of information where individuals and institutions have access to information for empowerment and development. What information is available, what information not?  Western Bias in information production and provision e.g. production of scientific material about DC Internet changes the possibilities of access Internet does not change the fact that production largely Western  The hidden web More and more information hidden in databases Until last year info in Dialog bigger than whole web Not seen by search engines Not accessible for many

 Contextual factors inhibiting access? Language remains predominantly English Valuable information is localized and contextualized E.g. information on HIV Overload: Availability might become a problem in itself Selection becomes more important Costs time and money

Information is free Assumption: The Internet and the enormous amount of information available will drive the cost of information down. Two tendencies in information provision  Increasing amount of information free Eldis: scientific/policy material on different policy areas for DC  Increasing commodification of information Educational and scientific world Information from public service institutions E.g. BBC as public service versus commercial service  Question is what information is for free and what information is not for free? Impression that strategic information and selection becoming expensive Contextualization of information remains expensive

Information is Knowledge Assumption: Access to the information on the internet leads to knowledge generation  Knowledge= organised information Embedded in a social context Ability to make sense of information, how to relate it to one’s own life  Difficult to acquire Explicit knowledge: conscious, encodable, transferrable Tacit knowledge: unconscious, not encodable, has to be learned  Wisdom= Capacity to know what body of knowledge to use to solve a significant problems Knowing what questions to ask about knowledge

Knowledge is social change Assumption: Knowledge is sufficient for social change.  Arrogant position  A lot of people know what their situation is and know what the solution is  Other more structural barriers can hamper them from acting Resources needed to put knowledge into practice Power relations at different levels local, national and international

Information Society Theory & Developing Countries

Information Society Theory Webster five types of theories  technology, economy, occupation, culture, spatial  in recent years most common theories start from technology, i.e. from developments in ICTs new possibilities in transmission and storage of information lead to new possibilities in all sectors of society often very positive about influence on society

Two critique from the left  Negation: Rejection of IS as something new Webster, Robins and Webster, Garnham, etc.  Evolution: technological change as the starting point of critique IS seen as new phase in capitalism Melody, Mansell, Freeman, Soete, Castells, Antonelli, etc.

In this session we focus on the second category  authors starting from technology change embedding it in broader economic and social processes  from a critical view (neo-marxian and neo-schumpeterian) Marx: economy central determinant in social structuring Schumpeter: technological innovation central for increasing productivity (and thus for growth of economies and competition between economies)

Why focus?  a more correct interpretation of what is really happening  sheds more realistic light on possibilities of developing countries to leap-frog (to jump stages of development)

Problem of theories Rather complex, dense and confusing  see ICTs as all-pervasive, changing all sectors  do not distinguish between changes in specific sectors, at economic levels or at level of social institutions and structures Goal of this session (and article)  rephrase theories according to level of argumentation  look at implications for developing countries all too often theories of the information society are seen as universally valid critical authors much more cautious

Levels of analysis and conceptualization The information industry The micro-economic level The meso-economic level The macro-economic level The social level Division is somewhat artificial  Most authors combine different levels  BUT: can be very useful as a tool to better understand theory

The Information Industry Mix of factors has fundamentally changed the industry  technological: convergence through digitalization convergence of telecommunications, media and computing into one sector  political: new international regulatory frameworks liberalization of markets as result of GATS negotiations especially in finance, services, telecommunications and electronics  economical: globalization of financial and other markets

Why information industry of utmost importance?  Information industry one of few growing sectors in West in many traditional sectors delocalization of production hope that employment in information industry (services) will balance the loss  Information industry the underlying industry of information society produce the technology, services and information products, used and consumed in IS countries (or blocks) want to harbor new industrial champions IPR (commodification of information) important

What is the position of the developing countries Technologically two options  try to become part of information industry enormous investment and capacity needed road might be long and many losers  import technologies to support economies in other areas paradox imports risk to remain high: ICTs and renewal remain expensive exports risk to remain low: higher production in already overcrowded markets import barriers in the West so far remain intact

Culturally  risk of being swamped with Western content and services  interactivity of new technologies potentially provides a channel back (e.g. Internet)  structural imbalance will remain high

The Micro-economic level Level of individual firm  knowledge most important factor in production R&D driving force of innovation Marketing driving force of distribution ICTs the underlying infrastructure e.g. Cellphone and Medicine  also more and more the case in services knowledge driven production makes innovation cyclus very fast Cellphones: huge, sexy, color, tunes, MMS, gaming

What does that mean for policy?  Knowledge Society in the West supported by complex web of public and private institutions that support education, research and innovation  life long learning  flexibilization of employment What does it mean for developing countries  information society is a knowledge society  not only question of access to information  question of education, research, connection between research and education, industrial development, etc.

The Meso-economic level Focus on the level of interaction between firms  classical theories of economy: market place new theories of economy: network economy  firms work in close networks rely on each others R&D and knowledge are strongly interdependent e.g. car production (doors Sidmar-VW) two consequences  high performance ICT networks important for communication  geographic proximity highly important

What does that mean for policy?  in West stimulation of technology valleys Silicon Valley, Munich Area, Paris Area, etc. invest in high performance ICT and transport infrastructure What does that mean for developing countries?  very difficult to become part of the industrial network  invest in ICT infrastructure and skilled labour Malaysia: MultiMediaCorridor South Africa: plans to develop Jo’burg-Pretoria ax  make investment attractive through tax-exemptions, etc. contradictory

The Macro-economic level Focus on economic structures of countries Globalization of central economic activity  liberalization of most markets (since 1980s)  ICTs makes it possible to integrate segments of markets worldwide

Shift in balance between states and capital (firms)  powerless states states have to compete against each other for companies and economic activity DHL, Ford Motors Genk  creation of a global network economy only those places interesting for the global network economy are connected large parts of the developing countries and disadvantaged regions in the West disconnected Where does it leave Africa?

What is the role of policy in the powerless state?  Create an enabling environment for investment High skilled (low wage) workers Good educational system Pleasant environment to live High quality infrastructures ICTs and telecommunications Transport Low-taxes both on employment and companies What does it mean for developing countries  Exactly the same

The Social level Globally two types of labour  self-programmable labour: highly educated and flexible workers flexible in terms of learning and relearning allowed to move globally e.g. Indian Engineers and Informatics specialists  generic labour: non skilled workers easily replaceble by either technology or delocalization of production not allowed to move globally e.g. economic asylum seekers in the West

What does it mean for society  rebalancing of wages - growing inequality  together with pressure on taxes to keep economic activity within countries in the West pressure on the Welfare state

Don’t want to end negative Is this a gloomy picture on the future?  Yes it is. Is there hope?  Yes there is.  Counter-reaction Developing countries starting to question global economic structures (Cancun) South Africa, Brazil, Egypt, India leading countries In the West movement for an alternative globalisation