Analysis of disparities in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the EU countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-345
Author(s):  
Viktorija Aleksejeva ◽  
Olga Lavrinenko ◽  
Alina Betlej ◽  
Alina Danileviča
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Toader ◽  
Bogdan Firtescu ◽  
Angela Roman ◽  
Sorin Anton

The accelerated development of information and communication technology (ICT) over the past two decades has encouraged an increasing number of researchers to examine and measure the impact of this technology on economic growth. Our study aims to identify and evaluate the effect of using ICT infrastructure on economic growth in European Union (EU) countries for a period of 18 years (2000–2017). Using panel-data estimation techniques, we investigate empirically how various indicators of ICT infrastructure affect economic growth, proxied in our study by GDP per capita. Within the estimates, we have included some macroeconomic control variables. Our results indicate a positive and strongly effect of using ICT infrastructure on economic growth in the EU member states, but the magnitude of the effect differs depending on the type of technology examined. Regarding the impact of macroeconomic factors, our estimates indicate that inflation rate, unemployment rate, the degree of trade openness, government expenditures, and foreign direct investments would significantly affect GDP per capita at EU level. The findings are broadly similar to the theoretical predictions, but also to the findings of some relevant empirical studies. Our research reveals that ICT infrastructure, along with other macroeconomic factors, is an important driver of economic growth in EU countries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitja Dečman

With the increasing role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the society, ICT’s role is gaining importance in the aspect of provision and use of the public sector services for the citizens. Especially in the European Union different activities have been conducted through the years to promote ICT use in the society. It has been mainly based on the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE), which underlines the key role of ICT in the efforts to achieve its strategic objectives. Slovenia as an EU member state follows these directions but positions itself among less successful states in the EU. The well-known European Digital Economy and Society Index ranks Slovenia to the lower half of member states indicating possibilities for improvement. Although much can be said and done about the service-providers side this paper focuses on the users’ side and especially on their digital inequality. The lack of studies in the area of digital inequality and online government services adoption and use is the main motivation for this research. The research uses the data provided by Slovenian annual survey Use of Information and Communication Technology in Households and by Individuals of the last four years. The analysis of this data, presented in the paper, exhibits that changes for the better are detected in Slovenian society, but the situation in public-sector services is not optima. The results demonstrate the existence of digital inequality considering the income level of households and education level of individual users. The synthesis of the data demonstrates that the Slovenian government and its ministries should consider adding tangible actions to the already set strategies if the country wants to catch up with the leading countries of the EU and achieve goals, set by the DAE.


Author(s):  
Joanna Stefaniak ◽  
Adam A. Ambroziak

Abstract The position of information and communication technology (ICT) services is growing in the European Union (EU) trade, however to different extend in different EU countries. The article aims to identify trade positions of the EU Member States in intra-EU trade and extra-EU trade in ICT services and to assess changes that have taken place in the years 2013–2018. The importance of the EU Member States in trade in ICT services is assessed, followed by the analysis of their trade positions in terms of selected indices. We discovered that countries of the highest importance for the intra-EU and extra-EU trade in ICT services are not holding the best positions in trade in this area, except for Ireland. Additionally, leaders in ICT services trade do better in extra-EU trade rankings than in the EU Internal Market, since the distance does not matter to business operations consequent to the digitalization of economic activities.


2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Boronowsky ◽  
Otthein Herzog ◽  
Michael Lawo

SummaryThe terms “Ubiquitous Computing”, “Wearable Computing”, and “Ambient Intelligence” are discussed and it is shown that the methodology of Living Labs will be crucial to the success of Wearable Computing. Research problems such as energy supply and power management, wearable user interfaces, context detection, and user acceptance and usability are described and illustrated by examples taken from the EU Integrated Project wearIT@work showing how Living Labs are used introducing the technology in practice.


10.26458/1823 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurentiu A. ASIMOPOLOS ◽  
Adrian-Aristide ASIMOPOLOS ◽  
Natalia-Silvia ASIMOPOLOS

In the general context, the phenomenon of globalization causes an increase in risks to critical infrastructures. In order to order this set, the criteria of dependence and interdependence were imposed. Thus, was proposed a model with seven levels, the first being sector analysis and the second one the study of interdependencies.The first level is organized in critical sectors and dependencies between them. This division, which engendered the public-private partnership, is show on the EU and NATO documents. The second level of the interdependence study aims to determine the vital elements and essential components of a system. In this paper we show some considerations on the dimensionality of interdependencies between critical infrastructures, interdependence between critical infrastructures from the energy sector and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). After a breakdown of SCADA systems, we presented at the end of the paper few examples of cybernetic attack against energy infrastructures


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxana Radu

Civic online participation garnered much interest during the last decade relative to the transformation of the concept of democracy in a move from representative to participatory. In the European Union (EU), both the types and the number of online opportunities for citizen empowerment have diversified tremendously with the advancement of information and communication technology (ICT). The present study undertakes an in-depth research of Debate Europe, an online deliberation mechanism initiated in 2008 by the European Commission. A quantitative and qualitative content analysis was carried out in order to examine thoroughly the contributions received from posters for the two most popular discussion threads on the English-language portal in the 2009 EP electoral year. The empirical evidence allowed for the identification of participation dynamics based on two dimensions: interactivity and rationality. Findings suggest that such moderated discussions advanced high interactivity and rationality that could provide valuable input at the EU level. While the prerequisites for a transition from micro-public spheres to transnational civic engagement exist, this is done only partially due to the lack of an adequate infrastructure to feedback opinions into institutional decision-making mechanisms in the EU.


2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 222-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Hansen ◽  
Tom Postmes ◽  
Nikita van der Vinne ◽  
Wendy van Thiel

This paper studies whether and how information and communication technology (ICT) changes self-construal and cultural values in a developing country. Ethiopian children were given laptops in the context of an ICT for development scheme. We compared children who used laptops (n = 69) with a control group without laptops (n = 76) and a second control group of children whose laptop had broken down (n = 24). Results confirmed that after 1 year of laptop usage, the children’s self-concept had become more independent and children endorsed individualist values more strongly. Interestingly, the impact of laptop usage on cultural values was mediated by self-construal (moderated mediation). Importantly, modernization did not “crowd out” traditional culture: ICT usage was not associated with a reduction in traditional expressions (interdependent self-construal, collectivist values). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


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