A C T A U N I V E R S I T A T I S L O D Z I E N S I S
FOLIA OECONOMICA 182, 2004
W itold K asperkiew icz*
T H E C O N C E P T O F AN IN F O R M A T IO N S O C IE T Y IN T H E E U R O P E A N U N IO N
1. T h e essen ce o f an in form ation society
The concepts o f the so-called inform ation society and post-industrial society have developed in the econom ic writings o f econom ically advanced countries since the 1970’s. At the heart o f these concepts lies the analysis o f the influence which the increasing role o f inform ation and inform ation technologies exert on the social and econom ic changes within the societies o f the T riplet countries (W estern Europe, USA and Canada, Japan). T here develops a model o f the ‘society o f the fu tu re’ which is rich in information and in w hich this inform ation is available (to a certain extent) on request and is suited to the needs o f the citizens. A ccording to A m erican sociologist D. B ell, know ledge and inform ation lay a foundation for a post-industrial society in that they provide the source o f strategies and transform ations in societies, in which case they are roughly equivalent to capital and work in an industrial society (Bell 1973).
It was the Japanese economist T. Umesao who first formulated the concept o f an ‘information society’. In his analysis conducted in 1960’s U m esao emphasised the growing importance o f information and modem technologies in the socio economic developm ent in Japan (Dordick, W ang 1995). On the turn o f the 20th century the concept o f an ‘information society’ achieved full status in various programmes which defined3 the strategy o f a civilisation developm ent in the best developed countries o f the world. Amazingly fast progress in the field of inform ation-com m unications technologies has given rise to technologies which in an alm ost revolutionary way modify the social system o f com m unication as well as its structures and also exert a significant influence upon the econom ic and political processes. The rapid developm ent of an inform ation theory caused the inform ation-com m unications net (as well as the system o f accum ulation,
transform ation, emission and distribution of information related to it) to become the main source o f effectiveness and power (Doktorowicz (ed.) 2002, pp. 73-74).
M. C astells, the renow n sociologist o f Berkeley U niversity and the author o f the groundbreaking book “The Inform ation Age” , claim s on the basis o f long standing research in over thirty countries o f the world that a new kind o f society com es into being - the so-called ‘network society’ (C astells 1996). In such a society a typical hierarchy is replaced by a horizontal netw ork o f dynam ic connection w hich operate within global range. Large m odern com panies (corporations) do not occupy particular prem ises but are, to a larger and larger extent, rather a com plex network o f connections. T he sam e is true about the financial capital w hich can be quickly transferred from one place to another all over the world.
L. Soete w ho is a European Union expert on social policy is o f the opinion that inform ation society is characterised by an unlim ited public access o f its citizens to the technologies o f accum ulation and transm ission o f inform ation on the one hand, and by the low costs of these technologies on the other. The w idespread use o f inform ation is, according to Soete, accom panied by organisational, legal, social and econom ic changes which profoundly transform everyday life, w ork and society (D oktorow icz (ed.) 2002, p. 75). A rem arkable developm ent in inform ation-com m unications technologies forces us to seek a proper balance betw een the dem ands o f an econom ic grow th and social as well as ecological values, betw een econom ic globalisation and ethical values, betw een short-term benefits and long-term econom ic, social stabilisation. The accom plishm ent o f these goals requires a change in the attitude to the traditional E uropean standards o f affluent countries, to public sector and to a w idespread access to inform ation and com m unication sources.
2. T he grou n d w ork for an inform ation society w ithin E u rop ean U nion
The harbinger o f the future project for setting up the U n io n’s inform ation society was the 1978 publication o f the Strategy for U nion ’s Enlargem ent. O f equal im portance was the fact that the largest European consortia (Philips, ICL, AEG, Siem ens, O livetti, Thom son) were invited by the E uropean C om m ission to enter into a discussion about the political and econom ic conceptions which centred at the m odernisation o f the European industry and technology. T he result o f these discussions w ere many research & developm ent program m es whose prim ary goal was the active participation o f W estern E urope in the m ainstream o f a m icro-electric revolution. Among these program m es three are particularly worth m entioning: i.e. FA ST, ESPRIT, RACE.
FA ST (F orecasting and A ssessm ent in S cience and T echnology) is the com m unity’s program m e instituted in 1978 in order to develop a unified system of forecasting and technology as well as to evaluate the effects o f research and new technologies. T hree them atic fields: inform ation technology, biotechnology, transform ation o f jo b and em ploym ent were the subjects o f research within this program m e (Leonard 1997, p. 173).
ESPR IT (E uropean Strategic Program m e for Inform ation T echnology) was established to enhance the com petitiveness o f w estern-European com panies in the field o f inform ation technologies. This program m e entailed the follow ing domains: advanced m icro-electronics, program m ing techniques, advanced data processing, com puterisation o f offices and the techniques o f com puter-controlled production.
RACE (R esearch and D evelopm ent in A dvanced C om m unications Technologies for Europe) is a program m e designed to develop the technologies necessary for building a telecom m unication netw ork from optical fibres o f wide range. Such a netw ork could be used to transm it sound, im age and com puterised inform ation.
First Fram ew ork Program o f scientific research w hich was introduced in July 1983 had a decisive m eaning for the research & developm ent o f the U nion’s policy since it initiated cyclic general program m es w hich contained the projects of all m em ber countries. These program m es set the scientific as well as the technical aim s, research priorities and planned enterprises which are indispensable in their realisation, together with the financial m eans and their division into particular research tasks.
The next stage in the process o f encouraging a greater co-operation betw een the U nion’s countries in the field o f В + R was extending the Treaty (which established the E uropean Com munity via U niform E uropean A ct from July 1987) by adding a new part entitled “Research and technological developm ent” (Title VI- art. 130f-130q). These new rules defined both: the U n io n’s aim s in this field and the ways o f putting them into practice. They also granted the European C om m ission and the European U nion’s C ouncil authority in the sphere o f actions which would strengthen the scientific and technological basis o f the C om m unity’s industry and enhance its international com petitiveness (K aw ecka-W yrzykow ska, Synow iec 2001, p. 164).
European U nion’s reaction to the rapid developm ent o f m odern inform ation techniques during the last decade of the 20lh century was the W hite Paper entitled “G row th, C om petitiveness, Em ploym ent. T he C hallenge and W ay Forw ard into 21s1 C entury” which was published by the European Com m ission in 1993. T he book presented for the first tim e the E uropean vision o f an inform ation society with particular em phasis placed on the need to m ake the European econom y m ore liberal.
M ore factual form ulation o f the U nion’s policy which was aim ed at building an inform ation society was presented in M. B angem enn’s report “Europe and the Global Inform ation Society” in 1994 (D oktorow icz (ed.) 2002, pp. 78 -7 9 ). This report needs to be treated as the C om m unity’s reaction to A m erican program s for developm ent o f data inform ation services which com prise the “ National Inform ation Infrastructure” strategy form ulated by the president C linton’s adm inistration. M. B angem enn’s report spelled out dangers to the European U nion’s countries which arose from cutting the investm ent to build inform ation infrastructure. T he m ost serious o f these dangers are as follows:
> an increase in the balance-of-paym ents deficit with principal trading partners;
> the loss o f incom e and com petitiveness in com parison with the econom ies m aking use o f the m ost m odern inform ation-com m unications technologies; > the transfer o f m odern branches o f industry, know ledge, patents and
w orkplaces (i.e. the elem ents o f future natio ns’ w elfare) from W estern Europe to the USA and Asia;
> establishing dom ination over the world m arkets by setting standards in different countries and as a result depriving the European com panies of leadership in the world.
The threat o f losing com petition on the global inform ation m arket with the U nited States and the countries from the Pacific region forced the C om m unity to speed up the process o f establishing an inform ation society. In 1995 the European C om m ission set up tw o im portant advisory bodies: “Inform ation society” forum and a panel o f experts w hose aim was to analyse the social, econom ic and cultural aspects o f an inform ation society. The actions o f these team s are focused on issues such as: the influence o f inform ation- com m unications technologies on economy and em ploym ent, virtual societies, a change in public sphere, education, media and steady developm ent. The outcom es o f these team s’ actions include: the com pletion o f the 1997 Green Paper dealing with telecom m unication, m edia and inform ation technologies’ convergence and the form ulation o f the 1999 Green Paper devoted to m aking the E uropean sector m ore inform ation-oriented.
In D ecem ber 1999 an im portant event in the creation o f an inform ation society was the fact that R. Prodi announced the “e-E urope - an Inform ation Society for all” initiative. This initiative has becom e one o f the key elem ents of the E uropean C om m ission broader strategy, aim ed at m odernisation and strengthening o f the E uropean economy. T he originators o f the “e-E urope” initiative have accepted the assum ption that accelerating the actions for building an inform ation society will positively influence the em ploym ent levels, effectiveness and com petitiveness o f the E uropean com panies. T he main aim s of the analysed initiative are the follow ing (M arciński 2000, p. 47):
a) m aking the latest achievem ents in the field o f inform ation theory and telecom m unication more widespread am ong European societies (in all spheres of their activity);
b) m aking E urope m ore predisposed to put the achievem ents o f the tele- and info-revolution to use as well as to finance and develop the scientific research and innovations;
c) aim ing at m odernisation processes in econom y that include social criteria, w hich constitutes an indispensable elem ent in the creation o f the social capital (trust, social balance) in the countries o f the European Union.
The fulfilm ent o f such am bitious and long-term aims is connected with particular spheres o f activity on which efforts o f all m em ber countries should be concentrated. The European Com m ission has pointed to ten such spheres which are defined in the follow ing way (M arciński 2000, pp. 4 7 -4 8):
• providing young people with an access to the Internet and m ultim edia; adapting these sources to suit educational needs in accord with the standards set by the contem porary civilisation challenges;
• accelerating the developm ent o f an electronic econom y, w hich is parallel to the progress in im plem enting indispensable legal regulations, electronic procedures in public orders and special support for small and m edium -sized com panies;
• starting the fast Internet that would suit the needs o f researchers and students, w hich in turn dem ands creating fast Internet links as well as rendering them accessible;
• creating E uropean infrastructure for a broader usage o f electronic cards in m ultiple applications;
• increasing the supply o f risk capital for small and m edium -sized com panies in the field o f high technologies;
• acknow ledging the needs o f the disabled in the process o f the developm ent o f an inform ation society;
• the developm ent o f an “on-line” healthcare, which dem ands m aking both the net services and the electronic technologies m ore w idespread in healthcare, prom oting the m ost valuable experience o f operating the m edical net, running hospitals, laboratories and pharm acies as well as the standardisation in the field o f m edical inform ation theory;
• creating intelligent transport through a better utilisation o f m odern technology in this dom ain, providing optimal production planning and easy com m unication during journey time;
• w orking out a system o f “on-line” governm ent which will enable the citizens to gain access to public sector information.
During the H elsinki sum m it held in D ecem ber 1999 the “e-E urope” initiative received approval from all m em bers and was sent to the European C om m ission and to a team o f experts in order to arrive at detailed solutions. The
outcom e o f the discussions which lasted for many m onths were num erous remarks and suggestions concerning the specification o f key actions, identification o f priorities, ways o f achieving goals and the sources o f financing the “e-E urope” initiative.
3. L isbon - the n ex t step forw ard
The “e-E urope” initiative has transform ed into a m ature concept, which can be seen most clearly from the two docum ents: i.e. “e-Europe - an Inform ation Society for All Progress R eport” and “The Lisbon European C ouncil - an A genda o f Econom ic and Social Renewal for E urope.” T hese docum ents were presented by the European Com mission as a basis for the discussion during a special EU C ouncil’s session in Lisbon in M arch 2000 (Leonard 1997, p. 195).
The form er o f the two docum ents, i.e. the report about putting the “e-E urope” initiative into practice, contained the conclusion o f the discussions which w ere taking place in different European bodies and concerned the developm ent o f an inform ation society in the European U nion. T he capital m eaning o f the Internet for the developm ent o f m odern and com petitive econom y was given particular em phasis. A ccording to the authors o f the report, the creation o f a new model o f electronic econom y - “e-econom y” - is indispensable if the com petitiveness o f E urope’s econom y on the world m arkets is to be enhanced. It is the very introduction o f such a model that will result in a dynam ic developm ent o f capital market. T he num bers o f staff m aking effective use o f tele-inform ation techniques will rise and the innovative effectiveness of the com panies will im prove.
In com parison with the original docum ent presenting the “e-E urope” initiative Progress R eport contains a new chapter devoted to the problem s o f “e-econom y” . In this chapter a com parative analysis o f the com petitiveness of Europe and the U S A ’s econom ies has been carried out. T his analysis indicates that the main reason for the declining com petitiveness o f the EU is the delay in em ploying tele-inform ation techniques, in particular the Internet. T he m ajor boost in w ork efficiency o f the Am erican econom y in 1990’s is attributed to launching the “w orld w ide w eb” with parallel use o f the Internet as a m arket medium. In the USA 50 out o f 100 com panies which have the biggest capital are com panies specialising in the branch o f inform ation technology and telecom m unication w hereas this percentage is much low er for the EU (it does not exceed 35% - the m ajority o f which are telecom m unication operators). This points to the fact that A m erican com panies enjoy superiority in the sector o f inform ation technologies (M arciński 2000, p. 48).
The USA is also superior to the EU countries also in the field o f popularising the tele-inform ation technologies across the society and in the econom y. T he percentage o f citizens using the Internet in the U SA is 2 -3 times higher than in the EU society (with the exception o f Sw eden, F inland and Denm ark). T he USA has also reached a dom inant position in the electronic business-to-business trade, which results in a decrease in the prices o f goods, in a reduction o f the w arehouse stock o f goods and o f the transaction costs as well as in the broadening o f the com pany’s m arket scope. A m erican com panies are unquestionable leaders in w orking out their own Internet strategies, which considerably increases their m arket value.
From the above-m entioned crude com parisons it follow s that the EU countries are divided by a considerable technological distance from the U SA as far as the em ploym ent o f the achievem ents o f tele-inform ation revolution is concerned. T he need to live up to the dem ands o f m odem com petition (in which the A m erican econom y is the leader) has contributed to assigning the “e-E urope” initiative a prim ary role in the European strategy for building an econom y based on knowledge. It is expected that im plem enting the idea o f an inform ation society should result in an econom ic boom in E urope, in the expansion o f the m arket as well as in an increase in the productive potential and social welfare.
The second docum ent referred to as the so-called Lisbon Agenda (com patible with the requirem ents o f the “e-E urope” initiative) was considered to be one o f the six action directions w hose strategic aim is the transform ation o f the countries o f the “fifteen” into the most dynam ic and com petitive econom ic alliance in the w orld by 2010. Short-term goals o f carrying out the project focused on the creation o f an inform ation society w ere also stated. T hese goals were sum m arised as follows: a) the form ulation o f a definite plan for undertaking the “e-E urope” initiative, b) providing easier access to the Internet through the reduction o f costs (by the end o f 2000), c) finalising legislative m easures in the field o f electronic trade (by the end o f 2000) and d) accepting a new package o f regulatory directives on telecom m unication (by the end of 2001).
The participants o f a special sum m it held by the E uropean Union C ouncil in Lisbon form ulated m any postulates concerning the im plem entation o f an inform ation society model. In the final docum ent the E uropean U nion Council agreed on the follow ing settlem ents (M arciński 2000, p. 49).
F irst, the EU C ouncil recom m ended that the E uropean C om m ission should form ulate a detailed plan aimed at instituting the “e-E urope” initiative and present it at the EU C ouncil session in June 2000 in Feira;
S econd, the Council found it necessary for both the entrepreneurs and the citizens in the EU countries to gain access to a m odem tele-inform ation infrastructure. In addition, it is important for every citizen to have com puter qualifications;
T h ird , the C ouncil pointed out that inform ation technologies should be of great benefit to local and regional developm ent, to the protection o f natural environm ent and to the appreciation o f cultural differences;
Fourth, the C ouncil put the European Com m ission under an obligation to adopt as fast as possible (in 2000) full legislation indispensable for the developm ent o f electronic trade, property rights and electronic financial services. EC was also obliged to finish (by 2001) works on the new legal regulations in the telecom m unication branch as well as to fully liberalise the telecom m unication market;
F ifth, the council recom m ended that the European C om m ission and m em ber countries should step up effort to becom e more com petitive on local telecom m unication m arkets still before the end o f 2000, which would result in the reduction o f telephone connections and at the same tim e in the bigger Internet accessibility to citizens.
At the Europe C o u n cil’s session in Feira (Portugal) in June 2000 EU leaders endorsed the plan for the institution of the “e-E urope” initiative which is an important part o f the strategy worked out in Lisbon. M any decisions m ade by the U nion’s institutions as well as by the EU m em ber countries contain postulates w hich result from recom m endations concerning the im plem entation o f this plan. These recom m endations have been reflected in the Sixth G eneral R esearch Program m e which centres upon the realisation o f the “European R esearch Space” and upon plans to utilise Structural Funds.
4. A ssessm en t o f the im p lem en tation o f the “e-E u r o p e ” in itia tiv e
T he assessm ent o f the im plem entation o f the U nion ’s project to create an inform ation society should include objective m acroeconom ic conditions which have altered the successful course o f this process. In M arch 2000 when the EU authorities accepted the Lisbon strategy, the European econom y was in good condition, investors were optim istic, large profits (resulting from m aking the latest inform ation and telecom m unication technologies more w idespread) were expected and on the stock exchange the stock prices o f partnerships which represented the so-called ‘new econom y’ reached record levels.
H ow ever, one year later the rate o f the econom ic grow th in the E U countries slow ed dow n; this rate indicator was in 2000 barely 0.9% , the unem ploym ent rate was on the increase and the Germ an econom y which was the m ajor pow er fostering the developm ent o f the U nion’s econom y was on the brink o f recession. Such deterioration in the favourable econom ic situation over the last tw o years as well as the political divides within the E U connected with the war
in Iraq resulted in the delay in the im plem entation o f the Lisbon strategy. D espite num erous obstacles to the process o f im plem enting the creation o f an inform ation society, European Union has considerable achievem ents in this matter.
F irst, there has been a substantial im provem ent in the access to the Internet am ong European households; the percentage o f an access to the Internet increased from 18% o f households in 2000 to 43% at the beginning o f 2003; and 90% o f schools are connected to the Net (Leonard 1997, p. 195). W ide-band access is enjoying greater and greater popularity.
S econd, a new net and a new .eu address have been created. T his move has enabled to create the com m on European name for hom epage addresses and mail boxes. The E U dom ain is a supplem ent to the existing netw ork o f national dom ains and also to the general type-dom ains such as .com or .org. C om panies which are active across Europe can make use o f this dom ain. B eforehand the W ebPages o f the EU institutions had the dom ain .int w hich cam e from Los A ngeles and is reserved for international bodies such as O N Z or NATO.
T h ird , the conception o f the com m unity patent has been worked out, which is o f significance for the liberalisation o f the technical thought m arket. In accordance with this conception an inventor gains right to legal protection in all EU m em ber-countries and the theft accusation put forw ard by the European Patent O ffice is valid in any EU country.
In the past years many deficiencies in the process o f the realisation o f the Lisbon strategy concerning the “e-E urope” project has been brought to light. These deficiencies can be sum m arised as follows:
- an inadequate degree to which the Internet is used in trade; barely 1% o f trade transactions in the EU countries are carried out via. the Net.
- insufficient investm ent o f the European com panies in inform ation technologies; for this reason the EU loses on average 0,3 - 0,5 percentage point o f the annual G D P grow th in relation to the USA (Leonard 1997, p. 192);
- lack o f progress in bridging the technological gap betw een the European Union and the USA; in Lisbon it was agreed that the expenditure o f the EU countries for the research and developm ent activity would increase from current
1,9% G D P to 3% in 2010, w hich would enable to catch up with the USA.
T he accession o f ten new countries presents a serious ch alleng e to the E uropean U nion since these countries are characterised by a low er degree o f econom ic inn ovatio n in com parison with the “ fiftee n ” as w ell as by an insufficient degree o f putting the m odern inform ation tech no lo gies to use. T hat is why afte r E U enlargem ent the technological gap betw een European countries and the U SA w hich will have to be bridged will be g reater than it is now adays.
R eferences
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w kierunku sp o łeczeń stw a inform acyjnego, „W spólnoty Europejskie”, nr 4.
Witold Kasperkiewicz
K O N C E P C J A S PO Ł E C Z E Ń S T W A IN F O R M A C Y J N E G O W UNII EUROPEJSKIE J
Przedmiotem artykułu jest analiza głów nych założeń koncepcji społeczeństw a informacyjnego w U nii Europejskiej, a także ocena przebiegu jej realizacji. Uzupełnieniem tej analizy jest charakterystyka Strategii Lizbońskiej, w ramach której zaplanowano działania przyspieszające realizację budowy europejskiego społeczeństw a inform acyjnego („e-E urope”).
