Measuring Transformational Use of ICTs at Regional Level

Abstract

The experience of recent years has shown that take-up of ICT, for example within strategies to implement online public services, is a necessary but not sufficient condition for making progress towards regional development goals. What is of interest is not ICT use per se, but applications of technology which exert a transformational impact on users, that is which support people, firms, and the public sector by opening up new, more effective ways for achievement of goals rather than simply making existing structures and processes more efficient. This chapter focuses on use of ICT by individuals in their roles as citizens, workers, learners, patients, consumers, and so forth. We argue that here, the transformational potential of ICTs is rooted in its effect in terms of empowerment of users, that is, “the process of granting people the power to take responsible initiatives to shape their own life and that of their community or society in economic, social, and political terms.” The chapter presents a conceptual framework for analysing ICT-enabled empowerment. It also presents some results of an Internet user survey conducted in early 2008 in 12 selected regions in the EU.