Maritime University of Szczecin
Akademia Morska w Szczecinie
2011, 26(98) pp. 52–57 2011, 26(98) s. 52–57
Information society as a capital for West Pomeranian
Społeczeństwo informacyjne jako kapitał województwa
zachodniopomorskiego
Dominika Król-Směták, Karolina Zając
University of Szczecin, Faculty of Management and Economics of Services Uniwersytet Szczeciński, Wydział Zarządzania i Ekonomiki Usług
71-004 Szczecin, ul. Cukrowa 8, e-mail: dominika.krolsmetak@gmail.com, karolazajac@interia.pl
Key words: information, new technologies, information flow, advanced technologies Abstract
The main task of the paper is to present the current state of information society in West Pomeranian. Mainly were used researches conducted by the Central Statistical Office, analysis of literature and online resources according for such information as technology, information society and innovation. In addition, at each stage of labor is used logical analysis and comparison. The concept of an information society has emerged in the second half of the twentieth century, to describe a society that communicates using the rapid development of ICT. Through the mobiles and the Internet can be very fast communication, which becomes the greatest asset of any enterprise. Central Statistical Office conducts research on information society in Poland, but the work has focused on the West Pomeranian. As the research shows, the region continues to grow and enlarge their business IT support, which has the support of their activities on the local market.
Słowa kluczowe: informacje, nowe technologie, przepływ informacji, technologie zaawansowane Abstrakt
Głównym celem artykułu jest przedstawienie obecnego stanu zaawansowania społeczeństwa informacyjnego w województwie zachodniopomorskim. Posłużono się przede wszystkim badaniami przeprowadzonymi przez Główny Urząd Statystyczny oraz analizą literatury przedmiotu i zasobów internetowych, dotyczących m.in. technologii informacyjnych, społeczeństwa informacyjnego i innowacyjności. Dodatkowo na każdym etapie pracy stosowana jest analiza logiczna i porównawcza. Pojęcie społeczeństwa informacyjnego pojawiło się w II połowie XX wieku, w celu określenia społeczeństwa, które komunikuje się, wykorzystując szybki roz-wój technologii teleinformatycznych. Dzięki użyciu telefonii komórkowej i internetu możliwa jest bardzo szybka komunikacja, która staje się największym kapitałem każdego przedsiębiorstwa. Główny Urząd Staty-styczny prowadzi badania nad społeczeństwem informacyjnym w całej Polsce, jednak w pracy skupiono się na województwie zachodniopomorskim. Jak wynika z badań, województwo nadal się rozwija, a przedsiębior-cy powiększają swoje zaplecze informatyczne, które ma wspomóc ich działania na rynku lokalnym.
Introduction
In the second half of the twentieth century the world entered the age, where the information became the most valuable asset. Fast development of information and communications technology, like a cellular network or the Internet, enable a very wide range of communication and cause that some factors, for example a distance, are of no signifi-cance for process of obtaining, sending and ana-lyzing information. It was observed a process of
formatting of the new type of society – called an information society, which due to complexity and dynamics of processes inside, has not been explicitly defined so far [1].
The home of information society is Japan – in this country in the nineteen sixties there was the fastest pace of microelectronics growth, the base of digital electronics. For the first time the term “jo-hoka shakai” (information society – IS), means a society which communicates by computers, had been used by Tadao Umesao in an article about
evolutionary theory of information society. The direct consequence of Tadao Umesao’s theory was a commencement of construction Japan’s research centre – Tsukuba city [1].
Information society as the new stage of society development
According to the report of the First Congress of Polish Information Technology in 1994, an infor-mation society was defined as: “a society which is characterized by qualifications and ability to use an information systems and it uses telecommunica-tions services to send and remote process informa-tion” [1].
Tomasz Goban-Klas and Piotr Sienkiewicz pro-posed a short and precise definition: “an informa-tion society is the society having not only deve-loped means of processing and communication, but also these means are base of creating national income and supply livelihood for majority of people” [1].
A developed information society is defined as the society which use a common information space and public administration’s on-line services, invest in research and development activity and is on a high level of innovativeness. Also an important index is implementation of information and com-munications technologies raising the standard of living, which enable to introduce new health or social services. The statistics of information society has become an unchanged element of European Statistical System and it is an instrument for creat-ing politics and planncreat-ing development. The accu-mulated data are base of realization assumptions of „Information Society Development Strategy to 2013” and Regional Operational Programs, also for “Regional Operational Programme for the West Pomeranian 2007–2013” [2].
Thanks to the development of information and communications technology, the ability of sourcing, collecting and using information is the one of important factors which stimulate economic and social growth. Also it is important that information and communications technologies, according to research, are liable for approximately 40% growth of productivity and 1/4 Gross Domestic Product growth rate in European Union. Based on prerequi-site above, Polish Government prepared “Strategy of information society development in Poland until 2013”, which is consistent with the documents spe-cifying strategic directions of Poland development: “National Development Strategy 2007–2015”, “Na-tional Strategic Reference Framework 2007–2013”, “Strategic Plan for Governance” and it takes into account the priorities of European policy of
infor-mation society arising from assumptions of the Lisbon Strategy and initiatives: “eEurope – an in-formation society for all” and “i2010 – a European Information Society for Growth and Employment” [3].
Information system and Information Technology system
When it speaks about computers, it has to deal with Information Technology, this is the reason for erroneously using terms: “Information System” and “Information Technology System”. “Information System is an ordered system of relevant elements, which are connected by identified relations (…). The basic task of Information System is delivering information to users, which enable them to make and implement decisions, which regulate function-ing of the economic object [4]”. The most impor-tant function of Information System is data pro-cessing. There are many ways to realize it, for example using simple tools or using different information technologies as a spreadsheet.
Fig. 1. Information system and IT system (source: own work based on [4] p. 36)
Rys. 1. System informacyjny a informatyczny (źródło: opra-cowanie własne na podstawie [4] s. 36)
Computerization of households and enterprises
Bearing in mind the fact, that the importance of information as the factor conditioning economic development is still increasing, the process of creat-ing the information society is a priority of deve-lopment strategies for voivodships in Poland. In region of West Pomeranian there are delays of creating information society and spatial diversity in this subject. According to the research of e-Government Poland in 2004, which was conducted at the request of Ministry of Science and Informa-tion, the accessibility of West Pomeranian public administration’s websites was 93% (average for Poland – 95%). The dynamics of electronic services
DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM
INFORMATION SYSTEM OF ORGANIZATION
development in West Pomeranian was only 5% (average for Poland – 11%). The reasons for the state of affairs above are: 75% polish offices allo-cated less than 1% of budget expenditure for the computerization, only approximately 1/3 polish offices have got IT unit in the organizational struc-ture, only 14% office workers are trained in infor-mation and communications technology. In connec-tion with the above, there are new ways of activity in “Regional Operational Programme for the West Pomeranian 2007–2013” and “Strategy for Building the Information Society in the West Pomeranian for 2006–2015” like: to level out the ground of access and use an information infrastructure, to use tech-nology at work (especially in local offices), to develop e-services for people and business and also to launch Public Internet Access Points (PIAP). In West Pomeranian Voivodeship nearly 74% communes have got any PIAP [5].
The development of information society is slowed down by organizational and financial obstacles. An example can be the problem with electronic identity cards and Electronic Platform of Public Administration Services, which since 01.07.2011 should have enabled for example: to make a registration in medical facility without papers, to make a report or order office papers without leaving home. Unfortunately, these plans are postponed because of unprepared medical facility and lack of funds. Some local governments have prepared their own platforms which is also a problem, because it has made a mess of e-admini-stration [6].
The role of a computer in information society
It usually associates computers with the Infor-mation Technology. Most people do not imagine their private and professional life without the com-puter. However, nobody reflects on computer’s beginnings and development. It is said that Euclid, Persian math’s teacher, is the father of computers. Between 400 and 300 AD he invited the rule of greatest common divisor (GCD) for two positive numbers. The next step was the Euclidean algo-rithm, which enabled to introduce the decimal numeral system and the positional notation num-bers system in India. These systems came to Europe and displaced the numeral system of ancient Rome. Next stage was an abstract model of computer which was used for algorithms in the twenty thir-ties. It is so-called the Turing machine, which is used to prove complicated problems. “The modern computer is a practical realization of Turing’s work. Turing machines are used in many areas. In the information technology, because it was proved
that usual computers are equivalent to Turing machines” [4]. This machine is composed of three elements: tape, head and control system. In the history of computers there is an interesting com-puter called Mark I, which was made in the years 1939–1944. It was operated by encoded on perfo-rated tape program and weighed 50 tons. The com-puter Mark I was multiplying two numbers during 10 seconds. The next turning point was in the years 1943–1946, when the first electronic computer was created. The electronic computer was able to do 5 thousands adds or 300 multiplications per one second. In 1951 was made the first electronic com-puter in common practice. The first minicomcom-puter was made at the end of nineteen fifties. After this IBM computers appeared on the market. The ad-vantage of the IBM computers was that they were made of publicly available parts. The consequence was that companies started to project their comput-ers in IBM image instead of buying licence. Then there were made many improvements, as Windows. According to the research conducted by the Cen-tral Statistical Office in years 2006–2010, we can assess in statistic way the level of information so-ciety development in West Pomeranian Voivode-ship. Papers of the Central Statistical Office shows that in West Pomeranian there are almost 98.5% companies using computers. West Pomeranian Voivodeship was placed third of polish voivode-ships (the first – Opole Voivodeship 99%, the last – Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship 94%) [2]. A realiza-tion of the informarealiza-tion society rules is possible thank to the Internet, which enable to create, distri-bute and use information. In 2010 West Pomera-nian was placed second according to rate of enter-prises with Internet access, with a score of 99% of the total enterprises in the region. Important is the fact that these rates are higher than rates in 2009 [2].
The Internet as the new way of communication
For years people tried to communicate – using mimic, gesture and sounds. Then they learnt writ-ing, reading and speaking. But people are ambi-tious, so they wanted distance communication. It has begun in 700 AD, Greeks started to tame carrier pigeons. With progress new communication tools were discovered. The first communication tool was the telegraphy made by William Cook and Charles Wheatstone. Samuel Morse started to encode every letter for short and long signals. Bell has invited the telephone – the machine for sending speech. The next step was the radio – Guglielmo Marconi was sending messages by radio waves. After this inven-tion the Internet was created. At the beginning the
Internet was an experimental network of computers at universities.
Thank to the Internet it can use an electronic mail (e-mail), take part in Internet platforms, send information and do shopping. Firstly, we should know what exactly the Internet is. “The Internet is a vast network of worldwide operations, is a col-lection of hundreds of thousands of local area net-works and personal computers using the com-munication protocol TCP / IP. Internet Standards are regulated by agencies of the Internet Engi-neering Task Force (IETF)” [4]. More common is access to the Internet via a radio network or so-called hot spot (hot spot) – a publicly accessible point, whereby it is possible to connect to the net-work via radio link. With this kind of solutions we can meet in shopping centers, at airports, railway stations, universities, and in other public places. Users can connect to laptops, palmtops, mobile phones and other devices of this type.
One of the Internet service is electronic mail, which is used to transfer text messages. E-mail was invented in 1965 and initially served to send the message from one user to another on the same computer, at that time e-mail address did not exist. E-mail address was created only in 1971 by Ray Tomilnson and he chose an “@” (at, in Polish commonly pronounced as “monkey”), as a sign to separate the username from the name of the ma-chine, with time Internet domain name. To the ad-vantages of the electronic mail we can include among others ability to send information in a con-venient time for the sender, independently how far is recipient does not pay for the sending massages, additionally it is possible to send the photos or other files.
Discussion group are currently very popular form of communication. Can be said that this ex-pansion of e-mail, because this group is composed of people interested in mutual exchange of electro-nic correspondence on the subject that interests them. This is a general name for all forms of online discussion, which recalls the exchange of electronic correspondence. For communication are also used chat rooms, which are kind of Internet chat. Usually has private character, where only two people can talk, or the public, accessible to all registered users. There are many instant messengers, which can in-clude, among others Polish Gadu-Gadu (in short gg), IRC, ICQ or Skype.
Social networking service
However, the most popular social networking sites are Nasza Klasa, Facebook, Flipper or Badoo. Research carried out by various international
insti-tutions indicate that the greatest popularity in the world has a Facebook. On this portal, users can share photos, messages, use the applications that belong to Facebook. Service passed many changes that not always have met with the approval of users, but now has many features that have also other por-tals. According to the figures, almost 70% of users come from the United States. “Statistical Facebook user has 130 friends and is a member of 13 groups. He spends his day on the portal for more than 55 minutes and writes monthly 25 comments, becomes a fan of 4 pages and is invited to 3 events” [7].
Shopping on Internet
Market analysts note that more and more pro-ducts we are buying by the Internet. Extremely popular are not only online auctions, but also shops offering a wide range of products. According to analysts, retail sales on the Web this year in United States will be 172.9 billion dollars [8]. The offer of products available on the Internet is very wide, from small gifts to very expensive assortment for example cars. Three out of four respondents pur-chased online products from the category of books and multimedia, including CD, video, etc. Nearly 60% declares that purchases an electronic products such as computers, laptops. Half of the respondents bought RTV items and photos (including cameras), and automobiles. Two in five respondents declared purchase baby products, AGD, sports and tourism. One in three chooses online the jewelry and watch-es, and articles for health and beauty. Only 2.3% purchases food on the Internet [9].
More often women make online shopping and people under 24 years old. Women buy clothes and shoes, personal care products and children’s items. Whereas men buy articles and materials RTV, AGD and automotive materials. Internet users un-der 25 year usually buy watches, perfume and jewe-lry. Currently, buyers have access to a very large range of assortment and opinion about it and about the store. Very often, the purchase does not occur immediately after finding the item, but after seeing it in other stores and reading many user reviews. Therefore, it created many websites, what automat-ically generate and compare the information about the selected product. It was found that 2/3 of con-sumers are looking for and compare special offers, and every other analyzed is looking for information about the reputation of the company, which intends to make a purchase. Nowadays, companies wishing to achieve high income and success are often forced to run a website dedicated to e-commerce, which allows you to reach customers around the globe and expanding brand awareness of products. In Poland
in 2009, the largest proportion of businesses placing orders over the Internet occurred among large companies most of the computer industry. This percentage was the highest in Mazowieckie and was about 22%, while in Western Pomerania – 14% [4].
Information Society at local level
Analyzing the 2009 and 2010 in terms of pos-session by the company access to broadband Inter-net, it should be noted that the background of Polish regions West province performs poorly – in 2010 about 65% of companies in the region had access to broadband Internet, and compared to 2009 in the province West reported the smallest com-pared to other Polish regions progress in access to broadband, only about 6 percentage points.
It is important to underline, that in Poland there is a large regional differences in terms of number of employees using a computer at work, due to dif-ferences in the level of development of particular areas of the country. Western Pomerania, compared to 2009, where the proportion of employees using a computer at work was about 30%, which put re-gion on third place since the end of the scale of the country improved its position in 2010, enjoying an increase of 5 percentage points and 4 positions in the ranking nationwide for the previous year. The situation worsen by the fact that the proportion of workers using a work computer with Internet access was even lower in 2010 amounted to less than 29% of the year [4].
At the turn of the last years, more and more companies are presented on their own website, which increases their chances of marketing and allows companies to be closer to the customer. Per-centage of enterprises having their own website in 2009 was 57% in the country. West Region was below the nationwide result, because in 2009 the percentage of enterprises in the region have their own website was about 53% [4].
Great importance for the development of infor-mation society have a study on the use of ICTs in households. For several years, studies have shown that most computers are equipped with a holding in the large cities, where children live (in 2010 the percentage was 91% of all households with children under the age of 16 years of age). The number of people using computers is at a different level de-pending on age, sex, education, professional activi-ty and residence. The highest percentage of around 98% was reported in 2010 among learners aged 16– 24 years [2].
The increasing prevalence of the Internet and better and cheaper possibility of its connection makes access to the Internet increases among households. On the other hand, the factors which are slowing down the rate of Internet taking-up certainly are too high costs of equipment and access, and not having the right skills. Like the equipment of households with computers, Internet access in households is diversified in terms of resi-dence and the fact of having children under 16 years of age. In 2010, approximately 83% of households with children under the age of 16 had access to the Internet, and the percentage of house-holds with Internet access in large cities was 69% [2].
Functioning in the European Union, information and communication technologies have a major im-pact on the growth of competitiveness of the mar-ket, the labor marmar-ket, anti-social inequalities, hu-man capital development and good governance. For this reason, they are reflected in the records of na-tional and regional development programs of the European Union Member States for example in the “National Cohesion Strategy 2007–2013” and “Re-gional Operational Programme for the West Region for 2007–2013”. It is also worth to note that the management at the regional level creates better, compared with other levels (commune, district, country), conditions for the implementation of new information technologies, mainly due to the ability of regional provinces to finance e-development programs of the Structural Funds. According to research done in 2009 by the Association “Cities on Internet” index of e-development potential for West Pomeranian amounted to 1.91 (in 2007 amounted to 1.76), which places the region at nine positions in the country. Within the region there are significant disparities. The best indicators (above the provin-cial average) have a city of Szczecin, the city of Koszalin, Kołobrzeg district, Kamień district and Świnoujście city. The lowest index value reaches the e-development in the county Pyrzyce – 0.84 [10].
Conclusions
In summary, it can say that the importance of technology understood as a factor in the develop-ment of human capital and the economy is conti-nually growing, primarily as a result of appearing of new technologies based on innovation. In a rela-tively short period, technology can perform a key role in improving the living standards and growth of economic efficiency of the region, country and
world. To achieve this, it is important to aspire to the study and implementation of innovative tech-nologies in various areas of social life.
Considering that the West Pomeranian is de-layed in terms of building the information society and a significant diverse developmentally in the spatial layout in this process of building. So that the information society is a priority in the regional pro-grams and strategies for regional development.
It is worth to note that, according to research conducted by the Central Statistical Office in 2010 West Pomeranian enjoyed a high proportion of businesses using computers, and companies with access to the Internet, which put region on third place among provinces in the country. Much worse West Pomeranian came out with terms of technolo-gy, because the percentage of enterprises having access to broadband Internet and companies with their own website province was ranked below the nationwide result. Therefore, it seems so important to implement the process of building the informa-tion society in the region, which is a great opportu-nity for the development of West Pomeranian.
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Recenzent: dr hab. inż. Zbigniew Matuszak, prof. AM Akademia Morska w Szczecinie
