Society, Market and Technology Nexus as Contexts of ICT Policies and Applications: Some Issues and Reflections

Due to the information revolution, societies have been transforming, particularly advanced societies. Contextual analysis of its processes, mechanisms, and effects are needed to understand factors that influence them. Technology – market – society nexus constitutes a context of ICT (Information Communication and Technologies) policies and applications. How could society make ICTs serve social and human goals? Various actors and stakeholders promote ICTs research, applications, and use. They use different means to act and also have different values and interests. Diversity is a typical characteristic of societies. ICTs generation, their multi-sided and multidimensional applications, and their effects depend on cultural abilities of societies to pursue information change. Human development goals, as realized by ICTs, should be analyzed at three levels: global, rational, and individual.