A “Grand Challenge”: Measuring Information Societies

Abstract

Even though there has been a proliferation of e-society measures in recent years, analyses of the metrics of the "information society" are still far from responsive to the needs of many stakeholders and continue to suffer from a number of serious limitations. Issues in eight critical areas are briefly presented. They include: definition of the universe to be measured; definition of the objects and phenomena to include in the universe; need to establish measurements based upon solid theories; units of measurements; data sources and collection; methods of analysis and construction of indicators; target audiences; and purpose and utilization of measurements. An organized collective effort, which could provide the impetus for the development of a coherent academic field of study, is called for to address this "grand challenge."

Analysis of multiplier effects of ICT sectors – a Croatian case

“…The latest research on ICT indicates that the dynamics of ICT has indeed become a major driving force for productivity, competitiveness, collaboration, and superposition of resources at both a national and international level [33], [41]. The influence of ICT on productivity, economic growth and overall development is evident in ICT investments and its utilization, contributing to an increase in human capital, higher efficiency, rapid technological progress in the production of ICT goods and services, including faster growth and development of the productive ICT sector [1,35,51].…”

Building Blocks of the i-Society Value Chain Assessment Model

“…Is it present state, or readiness, or potential, or outcomes, or impacts? Beyond the intentions and definitions, there is often not much difference in the various measurements and even less in their interpretation and utilization especially in policymaking [2] Information technologies are increasingly permeating our areas of living and working. Our society is forming anew as an "information society".…”

“…Even though there has been a proliferation of isociety measures in recent years, but analyses of the indicators of the "information society" are still far from responsive to the needs of many stakeholders and continue to suffer from a number of serious limitations [2] E-Readiness assessment models are one of the most important analytical tools to determine internal strength and weakness, environmental opportunities and threats. It helps us to recognize new markets, innovative opportunities and services, governmental potentials to make money and possible bottlenecks in the road of developing countries.…”

Measuring information societies: A critical study of the Infostate framework

“…Grigorovici et al [6] are particularly critical of the self-referential nature of many frameworks used by international organisations. Other critics argue that past approaches have been too fractured and specialised to provide a comprehensive framework for the measurement of the information society [3,11]. However, the call for broader theories is being heeded and some very diverse and original frameworks for improved measurement of the global information society have been developed [3,14,25].…”

“…Concern over the lack of a unified meta-theory in the measurement of the information society has been voiced for some time [6,9,10,11,24,25]. Grigorovici et al [6] are particularly critical of the self-referential nature of many frameworks used by international organisations.…”