THE INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »

REASONS FOR THE STUDY

The thesis aims to provide insight into, and so help solve some of, the problems of the 21st century by helping to overcome the tension between global and local knowledge, as aptly described by Nanzhao (2001) in a report of the Sixth UNESCO-ACEID International Conference on Education entitled, “Information Technologies in Educational Innovation for Development: Interfacing Global and Indigenous Knowledge”.
According to Nanzhao (2001), “The tension between global and local knowledge is one of several tensions to be overcome in solving the problems of the 21st century.” The research will result in describing how developing countries and communities can become information and knowledge societies, through the interaction and exchange of data, information, and knowledge between their local knowledge systems and the global knowledge system, and thus overcome the tensions between them by recognising that local and global knowledge is unique and different. At the SAP SA’s SAPILA conference banquet held in September 2002 at Sun City, the president of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki, stated that, “[E]ntire communities need to be exposed to the benefits of ICT and positive attitudes created towards the cultivation of awareness and everyday access and use of technology so as to bring all our people into the information age.” These words acknowledge the importance of SA being an active participant in the information and knowledge society.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In order to gather the relevant information, the method of investigation conducted in this research will be a non-empirical qualitative research method, namely a literature review. Van Maanen (1979:520) describes qualitative research as follows: “It is at best an umbrella term covering an array of interpretative techniques which seek to describe, decode, translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena in the social world.” A comprehensive non-empirical literature survey (Mouton, 2001:86) has been completed in preparation for the completion of this thesis, so as to ensure the complete demarcation and focus of the work.
This literature survey will be extended and elaborated on, as “a comprehensive and well-integrated literature review is essential to any study” (Mouton, 2001:180). The author consulted, amongst other bibliographic databases, citation indexes, journal articles, textbooks, and, of course, the internet to complete this comprehensive literature review focussing on ICT for development, local (indigenous) knowledge systems, global knowledge systems, globalisation, and the information and knowledge society.
This review was conducted to contextualise the subject of the study in a theoretical framework, and provide an overview of scholarship through an analysis of trends and debates. The review of the literature is based upon inductive reasoning, as the author needed to come to a proper understanding of the domain of scholarship (Mouton, 2001:180). The comprehensive well- integrated literature review undertaken, provided the author with the necessary understanding of the issues and debates in the area of information for development, and the study field surrounding the information and knowledge society. As a literature review alone cannot produce new, empirical insights (Mouton, 2001), the author combined this research method with empirical data obtained from authoritative secondary sources, such as the World Bank and United Nations, to obtain the necessary information for the completion of this thesis. Furthermore, to determine and evaluate some important statistical information, the author did use quantitative methods, for example, to determine the number of internet users in a particular country, to determine the personal computer penetration within a country, to determine the distribution of accessible roads within the country, etc.
The analysis mode of this research is mainly based upon a hermeneutical investigation where the literature is analysed within a particular social and cultural setting of people, in order to understand the meaning of the selected literature. However, aspects of “open coding” as an analysis method concerned with the grounded theory research approach, is also evident in this thesis. The basic idea of the grounded theory approach is to read (and re- read) a textual database, and to “discover” or label variables, or categories, concepts, and properties, as well as their interrelationships. Open coding is the part of the analysis concerned with identifying, naming, categorising and describing phenomena found in the text. In this thesis, the author identified various criteria of the information and knowledge society, as well as the components that these criteria comprise of, together with the underlying relationships between the stated criteria and components.
A very important facet of qualitative research is to determine the reliability of the information and the researcher, as well as the validity of the research undertaken. According to Gorman and Clayton (2005), the data can be found to be reliable if the researcher’s subjective role is outlined, the researcher has fully and carefully explained the data-gathering procedures used, kept thorough notes, and used multiple sources of data to verify the observations. The author has complied with all this criteria, and therefore the information in this thesis can be regarded as reliable. Validity refers to the extent to which something actually measures what it is intended to measure (Gorman & Clayton, 2005). The following steps (as outlined by these authors) was undertaken to ensure the validity of the data contained in this thesis: • Triangulation, where the collection of data from several sources was used; • The full documentation of data, so that appropriate reference can be made to particular documents and other data sources in the event that they are challenged; • Logical connections between what is examined and the conclusions drawn from this data; • Self-reflection on the part of the author of this thesis, when she attempted to allow for her own perceived prejudices and bias; and • An awareness of the limitations in both data obtained and the generalisability of the study.

Table of Contents :

• CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 Introductory orientation to the study
  • 1.2 Problem statement and objectives of the study
  • 1.2.1 Problem statement
  • 1.2.2 Objectives of the study
  • 1.3 Limitations of this study
  • 1.4 Reasons for the study
  • 1.5 Research methodology
  • 1.6 Relevance to information science and contribution of this study
  • 1.7 Outline of this thesis
  • 1.8 Current research
  • 1.9 Limitation of current research
  • 1.10 Chapter allocation of the study
  • 1.11 Explanation of key terms and abbreviations
    • 1.11.1 Key terms
    • 1.11.2 Abbreviations

• CHAPTER 2 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE INFORMATION SCIENCE DOMAIN & CONCEPT CLARIFICATION
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Brief historical perspective of the information science domain
  • 2.3 Clarifying concepts
  • 2.3.1 Data, information and knowledge
  • 2.3.2 Global / Scientific / Western Knowledge
  • 2.3.3 Indigenous / Local / Traditional Knowledge
  • 2.4 The relationship between the concepts
  • 2.4.1 The relationship between data, information, and knowledge
  • 2.4.2 The relationship between information and development
  • 2.5 Information life-cycle
  • 2.6 Conclusion
• CHAPTER 3 THE INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY
  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 Evolution of the concept information society
  • 3.3 Defining the concept information and knowledge society
  • 3.4 The information and knowledge society – a reality check
  • 3.4.1 Economic dimension
  • 3.4.2 Political dimension
  • 3.4.3 Cultural dimension
  • 3.5 Criteria for the information and knowledge society
    • 3.5.1 Economic criterion
    • 3.5.2 Spatial & Technological criteria
    • 3.5.3 Political criterion
    • 3.5.4 Social criterion
    • 3.5.5 Cultural criterion
    • 3.5.6 Physical infrastructure criterion
    • 3.5.7 Knowledge criterion
  • 3.6 Pros and cons of the modern information and knowledge society
  • 3.6.1 Possible advantages of becoming an Information and Knowledge Society
    • 3.6.1.1 Becoming partners in global digital world trade
    • 3.6.1.2 Access to affordable scientific knowledge and other forms of information needed for development
    • 3.6.1.3 Becoming exporters of local knowledge via ICT
    • 3.6.1.4 Job creation
    • 3.6.1.5 Leapfrogging into new information communication technologies, and gaining the benefits thereof
    • 3.6.1.6 Bringing information closer to the resource
    • 3.6.1.7 Providing better and more co-ordinated relevant services such as education and health care
    • 3.6.2 The disadvantages of becoming part of the global information and knowledge society
    • 3.6.2.1 Information Overload
    • 3.6.2.2 Organisation and observation
    • 3.6.2.3 The Digital Divide
  • 3.7 The impact of the global flow of information on various aspects of society
    • 3.7.1 Manufacturing industry
    • 3.7.2 Business and Finance
    • 3.7.3 Education and Training
    • 3.7.4 Medicine and Health
  • 3.8 Conclusion
• CHAPTER 4 CRITICAL EVALUATION OF NORWAY AND THE USA AS  INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES
  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 Setting the scene
  • 4.3 Concepts defined: developed countries or communities
  • 4.4 Globalisation
    • 4.4.1 Globalisation defined
    • 4.4.2 The process of Globalisation
    • 4.4.3 The dimensions and characteristics of globalisation
  • 4.5 Developed communities or countries inclusion in the information and knowledge society
    • 4.5.1 Economic criterion
    • 4.5.2 Spatial and Technological criteria
    • 4.5.3 Political criterion
    • 4.5.4 Social criterion
    • 4.5.5 Cultural criterion
    • 4.5.6 Physical infrastructure criterion
    • 4.5.7 Knowledge criterion
  • 4.6 Conclusion
• CHAPTER 5 CRITICAL EVALUATION OF NIGER AND SOUTH AFRICA AS INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 Concepts defined: developing and least developed
    • 5.2.1 Developing countries/communities
    • 5.2.2 Least developed countries/communities
  • 5.3 Globalisation – benefits to developing countries?
  • 5.4 The Digital divide
    • 5.4.1 Origin of the ‘digital divide’
    • 5.4.2 Defining the digital divide – the dimensions of the digital divide
  • 5.5 The deterrence of developing countries from becoming information and knowledge societies
    • 5.5.1 Economic criterion
    • 5.5.2 Spatial and technological criteria
    • 5.5.3 Political criterion
    • 5.5.4 Social criterion
    • 5.5.5 Cultural criterion
    • 5.5.6 Physical infrastructure criterion
    • 5.5.7 Knowledge criterion
  • 5.6 Barriers preventing the interaction and exchange of data, information and knowledge from the local knowledge system with the global knowledge system
    • 5.6.1 Economic barriers
    • 5.6.2 Spatial & technological barriers
    • 5.6.3 Political barrier
    • 5.6.4 Social barriers
    • 5.6.5 Cultural barriers
    • 5.6.6 Physical infrastructure barriers
    • 5.6.7 Knowledge barriers
  • 5.7 Conclusion
• CHAPTER 6 RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 6.1 Setting the scene
  • 6.2 Summary of developed and developing countries complying with criteria of information and knowledge society
  • 6.3 Diagrammatical representation of central problem statement
  • 6.4 Proposed solutions and recommendations to existing barriers prohibiting developing countries from becoming information and knowledge societies
    • 6.4.1 Overcoming the economic barrier
    • 6.4.2 Overcoming the spatial & technological barrier
    • 6.4.3 Overcoming the political barrier
    • 6.4.4 Overcoming the social barrier
    • 6.4.5 Overcoming the cultural barrier
    • 6.4.6 Overcoming the physical infrastructure barrier
    • 6.4.7 Overcoming the knowledge barrier
  • 6.5 Conclusion
• CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION AND TOPICS FOR FUTHER RESEARCH
  • 7.1 Conclusion
  • 7.2 Re-addressing the central problem statement
    • 7.2.1 Research objective
    • 7.2.2 Research objective
    • 7.2.3 Research objective
    • 7.2.4 Research objective
    • 7.2.5 Research objective
    • 7.2.6 Research objective
    • 7.2.7 Research objective
  • 7.3 Topics for further research
  • 7.3.1 Understanding the contribution that indigenous/local knowledge can make in becoming information and knowledge societies
  • 7.3.2 Identifying methods and guidelines through which local content creation for the social inclusion within the Information and Knowledge Society can be stimulated and improved
  • 7.3.3 Understanding the role that existing libraries, community centres, health clinics and other established facilities can play in the sustainability of telecentres in developing countries, such as South Africa
  • 7.3.4 Development of an information and knowledge society barrier index
  • 7.4 A personal final thought
  • 7.5 Bibliography

GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT