Towards a Sustainable Information Society : People, Business and Public Administration Perspectives [1 ed.] 9781443887908, 9781443886888

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Towards a Sustainable Information Society: People, Business and Public Administration Perspectives

Towards a Sustainable Information Society: People, Business and Public Administration Perspectives Edited by

Ewa Ziemba

Towards a Sustainable Information Society: People, Business and Public Administration Perspectives Edited by Ewa Ziemba Scientific reviewer of this research monograph: Professor Witold Chmielarz, University of Warsaw, Poland This book first published 2016 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2016 by Ewa Ziemba and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-8688-2 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-8688-8 This study has been supported by a grant “Designing a system approach to the sustainable development of the information society – by the example of Poland” founded by the National Science Centre in Poland, 2011/01/B/HS4/00974.

I dedicate this book to my main source of inspiration, my sons Szymon and Adam

TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents of Chapters ................................................................................ viii List of Figures............................................................................................ xii List of Tables ............................................................................................ xiv Acknowledgments .................................................................................... xvi Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Chapter One ................................................................................................. 8 Concept and Challenges of the Sustainable Information Society Ewa Ziemba Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 73 People in the Sustainable Information Society Ewa Ziemba, Monika Eisenbardt, and Tomasz Eisenbardt Chapter Three .......................................................................................... 134 Business in the Sustainable Information Society Ewa Ziemba and Janusz Wielki Chapter Four ............................................................................................ 202 Public Administration in the Sustainable Information Society Tomasz Papaj and Danuta Descours Chapter Five ............................................................................................ 272 Measuring the Sustainable Information Society Rafaá ĩelazny, Ewa Ziemba, and Tomasz Papaj Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 321 General Deliberations and Reflections on the Sustainable Information Society Ewa Ziemba References ............................................................................................... 333

CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS

Chapter One Concept and Challenges of the Sustainable Information Society 1.1 The Birth and New Challenges of the Information Society ................... 8 1.2 Sustainability as a New Dimension of the Information Society .......... 14 1.3 The Conceptual Framework of the Sustainable Information Society .. 21 1.3.1 Imperatives for a Sustainable Information Society ........................ 21 1.3.2 Assumptions and Components of the Sustainable Information Society ................................................................................................. 26 1.3.3 Definition and Features of the Sustainable Information Society ... 40 1.4 ICTs as a Vital Nexus of the Sustainable Information Society............ 47 1.4.1 Key Attributes of ICTs .................................................................. 47 1.4.2 ICTs as Enablers of Ecological Sustainability ............................... 48 1.4.3 ICTs as Enablers of Economic Sustainability ................................ 51 1.4.4 ICTs as Enablers of Socio-Cultural Sustainability......................... 54 1.4.5 ICTs as Enablers of Political Sustainability ................................... 55 1.4.6 ICT Competence of Sustainable Information Society Stakeholders ......................................................................................... 56 1.5 Conceptual Framework of Factors for the Successful Sustainable Information Society ............................................................................. 59 1.5.1 Value of the Concept of Critical Success Factors .......................... 59 1.5.2 Methodology of Critical Success Factors for the Sustainable Information Society ............................................................................. 62 1.5.3 Categories of Critical Success Factors for the Sustainable Information Society ............................................................................. 70 Chapter Two People in the Sustainable Information Society 2.1 The Net Generation ............................................................................. 73 2.1.1 The Digital Divide ......................................................................... 73 2.1.2 Generationality .............................................................................. 77 2.2 New Models of Consumption, Work, and Education .......................... 81 2.2.1 New Models of Consumption ........................................................ 81 2.2.2 New Models of Work .................................................................... 86

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2.2.3 New Models of Education ............................................................. 91 2.3 Methodology of Research on Critical Success Factors for and Level of ICT Adoption by People .................................................................. 96 2.3.1 Research Questions and Steps of Research Methodology ............. 96 2.3.2 Details of the Final Sample .......................................................... 101 2.4 Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by People ....................... 102 2.4.1 Reliability and Validity Tests ...................................................... 102 2.4.2 Framework of Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by People ........................................................................................... 104 2.4.3 Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by People in Poland .... 112 2.5 Measuring ICT Adoption by People in Poland .................................. 116 2.5.1 The Economic Dimension of ICT Adoption by People ............... 116 2.5.2 The Technological Dimension of ICT Adoption by People ........ 119 2.5.3 The Socio-Cultural Dimension of ICT Adoption by People ........ 127 2.5.4 The Organisational Dimension of ICT Adoption by People ........ 128 2.6 Implications for the Adoption of ICTs by People .............................. 130 Chapter Three Business in the Sustainable Information Society 3.1 Trends in Business Transformation ................................................... 134 3.2 New Concepts and Models of Business............................................. 145 3.2.1 Forms of Enterprise Activities ..................................................... 145 3.2.2 New Business Models Based on Utilisation of the Internet ......... 147 3.2.3 Enterprise Relationships with Stakeholders ................................. 150 3.2.4 Enterprise Management ............................................................... 158 3.3 Methodology of Research on Critical Success Factors for and Level of ICT Adoption by Business ............................................................ 165 3.3.1 Research Questions and Steps of Research Methodology ........... 165 3.3.2 Details of the Final Sample .......................................................... 170 3.4 Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by Enterprises ................ 171 3.4.1 Reliability and Validity Tests ...................................................... 171 3.4.2 Framework of Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by Enterprises .................................................................................... 173 3.4.3 Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by Enterprises in Poland ............................................................................................ 182 3.5 Measuring ICT Adoption by Enterprises in Poland ........................... 186 3.5.1 The Economic Dimension of ICT Adoption by Enterprises ........ 186 3.5.2 The Technological Dimension of ICT Adoption by Enterprises .... 189 3.5.3 The Socio-Cultural Dimension of ICT Adoption by Enterprises.... 194 3.5.4 The Organisational Dimension of ICT Adoption by Enterprises.... 196 3.6 Implications for Adopting ICTs by Enterprises ................................. 198

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Contents of Chapters

Chapter Four Public Administration in the Sustainable Information Society 4.1 Trends Influencing Public Administration ........................................ 202 4.1.1 Context of Public Administration Functioning ............................ 202 4.1.2 Functions and Tasks of Public Administration ............................ 204 4.1.3 Evolution of Public Administration ............................................. 206 4.1.4 From Bureaucracy to Public Management in Public Administration ................................................................................... 207 4.1.5 Overview of the Public Administration Structure in Poland........ 212 4.2 E-Government as a New Concept for Public Administration ............ 214 4.2.1 Nature of E-Government ............................................................. 214 4.2.2 E-Administration ......................................................................... 218 4.2.3 E-Government Services ............................................................... 219 4.2.4 E-Democracy ............................................................................... 224 4.2.5 E-Governance .............................................................................. 226 4.2.6 E-Government in Poland ............................................................. 227 4.3 Methodology of Research on Critical Success Factors for and Level of E-government Adoption ............................................... 229 4.3.1 Research Questions and Steps of Research Methodology ........... 229 4.3.2 Details of the Final Sample .......................................................... 236 4.4 Critical Success Factors for E-Government Adoption ....................... 238 4.4.1 Reliability and Validity Tests ...................................................... 238 4.4.2 Framework of Critical Success Factors for E-Government Adoption by Public Administration ................................................... 239 4.4.3 Critical Success Factors for E-Government Adoption in Poland .... 248 4.5 Measuring E-government Adoption in Poland .................................. 251 4.5.1 The Economic Dimensions of E-Government Adoption by Public Administration ................................................................... 252 4.5.2 The Technological Dimensions of E-Government Adoption by Public Administration ................................................................... 254 4.5.3 The Socio-Cultural Dimensions of E-Government Adoption by Public Administration ................................................................... 260 4.5.4 The Organisational Dimensions of E-Government Adoption by Public Administration ................................................................... 262 4.6 Implications for Adopting E-Government by Public Administration ... 268

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Chapter Five Measuring the Sustainable Information Society 5.1 Theoretical Foundation for the Measurement of the Sustainable Information Society ........................................................................... 272 5.2 Selected Approaches to the Measurement of the Information Society ............................................................................................... 277 5.3 Model of Sustainable Information Society Measurement.................. 286 5.3.1 Imperatives for a Sustainable Information Society Index ............ 286 5.3.2 Methodology of Building the Sustainable Information Society Index .................................................................................................. 289 5.4 Measuring the Sustainable Information Society in Poland ................ 294 5.5 Framework of Survey for the Sustainable Information Society Index .................................................................................................. 303 Chapter Six General Deliberations and Reflections on the Sustainable Information Society 6.1 Research Findings on the Sustainable Information Society............... 321 6.2 Theoretical Background of the Sustainable Information Society ...... 323 6.3 Critical Success Factors for the Sustainable Information Society ..... 324 6.4 Critical Success Factors for the Sustainable Information Society in Poland ............................................................................................ 327 6.5 Measurement of the Sustainable Information Society ....................... 329 6.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 330

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. The conceptual framework of the SIS ..................................................41 Figure 1.2. Levels of competences and roles with ICTs. ........................................57 Figure 1.3. The research methodology for examining CSFs of the SIS..................63 Figure 1.4. The proposed conceptual framework of CSFs for the SIS ...................71 Figure 2.1. The change in the number of internet users per 100 inhabitants in the selected countries of the world between 1990 and 2013. ........................76 Figure 2.2. Cronbach’s alpha for each construct ..................................................104 Figure 2.3. Level of people’s wealth ....................................................................116 Figure 2.4. People’s financial capabilities for adopting ICTs...............................117 Figure 2.5. Expenditure incurred by people in adopting ICTs..............................118 Figure 2.6. Economic benefits for people arising from ICT adoption ..................118 Figure 2.7. Technological constraints of ICT adoption by people ........................119 Figure 2.8. Speed of internet connection used by people .....................................120 Figure 2.9. Usage of e-signature...........................................................................120 Figure 2.10. ICT usage by people in relations with enterprises and public administration .................................................................................................121 Figure 2.11. Purpose of ICT usage by people in relations with enterprises ...........122 Figure 2.12. Purposes of ICT usage by people in relations with public administration .................................................................................................123 Figure 2.13. Maturity levels of e-services used by people ....................................124 Figure 2.14. ICT security vs. other quality attributes of ICTs ...............................125 Figure 2.15. Usage of open source software licences by people ...........................125 Figure 2.16. Constraints of ICT adoption by people caused by the lack of ICT competences ....................................................................................................126 Figure 2.17. ICT competences of people ...............................................................126 Figure 2.18. Mentors of ICTs ................................................................................127 Figure 2.19. People’s awareness of the need to adopt ICTs ..................................127 Figure 2.20. Significance of ICT adoption in making everyday personal and professional life easier .............................................................................128 Figure 2.21. Facilitation of everyday professional and personal life arising from ICT adoption ..........................................................................................129 Figure 2.22. People’s satisfaction with e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration ..............................................................130 Figure 3.1. Basic trends and phenomena influencing the business sphere. ...........146 Figure 3.2. Cronbach’s alpha for each construct ..................................................172 Figure 3.3. Level of enterprises’ profit .................................................................187 Figure 3.4. Enterprises’ financial capabilities for adopting ICTs .........................188 Figure 3.5. Analysis of ICT prices and quality, and coopetition between enterprises .......................................................................................................188 Figure 3.6. Improvement of financial situation and management arising from ICT adoption ..........................................................................................189

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Figure 3.7. Quality of front- and back-office information systems .....................190 Figure 3.8. Security of information in enterprises ................................................191 Figure 3.9. ERP systems used in enterprises ........................................................192 Figure 3.10. Functional area information systems used in enterprises ..................193 Figure 3.11. ICT competences of employees ........................................................193 Figure 3.12. Employees’ training needs associated with ICTs and business .........194 Figure 3.13. Management personnel awareness of the need to adopt ICTs ...........195 Figure 3.14. Participation of management personnel in ICT training....................196 Figure 3.15. Formalised business strategy with records regarding ICT adoption ..197 Figure 3.16. ICT project team responsible for ICT adoption in enterprises ..........197 Figure 3.17. Customer satisfaction with e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises ..................................................................................................198 Figure 4.1. Cronbach’s alpha for each construct ..................................................238 Figure 4.2. Financial capabilities of ICT purchase, implementation, and maintenance by government units ...................................................................253 Figure 4.3. Share of sources in ICT infrastructure funding in government units ..254 Figure 4.4. Implementation of ERP systems in government units ........................255 Figure 4.5. Types of information system integration in government units ...........255 Figure 4.6. Implementation of EZD systems in government units .......................256 Figure 4.7. Quality of e-government services in government units ......................257 Figure 4.8. The security of information in government units ...............................257 Figure 4.9. ICT competences of government employees .....................................258 Figure 4.10. Employee training associated with ICTs ...........................................259 Figure 4.11. Employees’ awareness of the need to adopt ICTs to improve the functioning of government units ...............................................................259 Figure 4.12. Employee participation in organisational change creation ................260 Figure 4.13. Employee participation in development and improvement of e-government services ................................................................................261 Figure 4.14. Management concepts and models used in government units ...........262 Figure 4.15 BI systems used in government units .................................................262 Figure 4.16. Need to work out state standardisation of e-government services .....263 Figure 4.17. Management personnel awareness of the need to adopt ICTs ...........264 Figure 4.18. Formalised information society strategy in government units...........264 Figure 4.19. Support of management personnel for ICT projects in government units ................................................................................................................265 Figure 4.20. Coordination of ICT projects at different levels of public administration – contracts for joint ICT projects.............................................265 Figure 4.21. ICT project coordination – ICT project team responsible for ICT adoption in government unit ...........................................................................266 Figure 4.22. Management personnel competences in ICT utilisation in government units.........................................................................................266 Figure 4.23. Management personnel participation in ICT training ........................267 Figure 4.24. Interoperability level of information systems in government units ...267 Figure 4.25. Utilisation of electronic inbox (ESP) in G2G communications.........268 Figure 6.1. Critical success factors for the SIS in Poland .....................................328

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1. Basic categories, dominant features, and metaphors of the SIS..............43 Table 2.1. Dominant features of recent generations ................................................79 Table 2.2. Former and contemporary education associations ..................................93 Table 2.3. Demographic analysis of the data sample.............................................102 Table 2.4. Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension and stage ...................................103 Table 2.5. Economic success factors for ICT adoption by people .........................105 Table 2.6. Technological success factors for ICT adoption by people ..................107 Table 2.7. Socio-cultural success factors for ICT adoption by people ..................110 Table 2.8. Organisational success factors for ICT adoption by people..................111 Table 2.9. CSFs for ICT adoption by people .........................................................112 Table 2.10. Categories of CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people .....................115 Table 3.1. Analysis of enterprise profiles ..............................................................171 Table 3.2. Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension and stage ...................................173 Table 3.3. Economic success factors for ICT adoption by enterprises ..................174 Table 3.4. Technological success factors for ICT adoption by enterprises............176 Table 3.5. Socio-cultural success factors for ICT adoption by enterprises ............178 Table 3.6. Organisational success factors for ICT adoption by enterprises ...........179 Table 3.7. CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises ..................................................182 Table 3.8. Categories of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises ............................185 Table 4.1. The Delphi study experts ......................................................................232 Table 4.2. Details about the research respondents .................................................237 Table 4.3. Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension and stage ...................................239 Table 4.4. Economic success factors for e-government adoption..........................240 Table 4.5. Technological success factors for e-government adoption ...................242 Table 4.6. Socio-cultural success factors for e-government adoption ...................244 Table 4.7. Organisational success factors for e-government adoption .................245 Table 4.8. CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration ..................248 Table 4.9. Categories of CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration .................................................................................................251 Table 5.1. The core list of ICT indicators 2014 according to Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development ....................................................................281 Table 5.2. Main components of sustainable information society index .................290 Table 5.3. Calculation of ICT adoption by people sub-index – pICTs ..................297 Table 5.4. Calculation of ICT adoption by business sub-index – bICTs ...............299 Table 5.5. Calculation of ICT adoption by public administration sub-index – gICTs ..............................................................................................................301 Table 5.6. Description of indicators and suggested survey questions for measuring pICTs sub-index ......................................................................304

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Table 5.7. Description of indicators and suggested survey questions for measuring bICTs sub-index ..............................................................................................307 Table 5.8. Description of indicators and suggested survey questions for measuring gICTs sub-index ..............................................................................................312

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study has been supported by a grant entitled “Designing a system approach to the sustainable development of the information society – by the example of Poland” from the National Science Centre in Poland, 2011/01/B/HS4/00974, 2011–2015. There are many I would like to thank for contributing to this book. As editor and leader of this project, my first thanks go to the members of the project team and the authors of the book chapters, all of whom have worked with me on the sustainable information society. I would specifically like to thank: Maria Jadamus-Hacura from the University of Economics in Katowice for helping with statistical analyses; Beata Wanic from the Silesian Centre of Information Society in Katowice for practical wisdom concerning the adoption of the information society in Poland; and Eugeniusz RomaĔski and àukasz SzczĊsny from the Silesian Centre of Information Society in Katowice for providing a forum for researchers and practitioners in the field to meet and network. Others who helped me with this book include Andrzej TrzĊsiara, Marek ĝliwiĔski and Rafaá PoĨdzik from the Ministry of Administration and Digitisation in Poland, as well as Dagmir Dáugosz and Marta KuzawiĔska from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland, and Aleksandra Wanat and Marta Gąsior from the Regional Chamber of Commerce. Thanks to them, the biggest group of respondents for the survey studies was reached, giving the study its representative research results. I am deeply grateful to each and every one of the respondents who participated in the survey studies for their painstaking efforts, time, and willingness to share details of their practice in adopting ICTs. Many thanks for Ewa JĊdryka from the University of Economics in Katowice for reading the proofs. Many thanks also to Joe Nankivell for final copyediting and proofreading, and Amanda Millar for typesetting this book. I wish to thank Witold Chmielarz, professor of the University of Warsaw in Poland, for devoting many hours to a rigorous review of the content, which improved the depth of the topics addressed.

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I would also like to acknowledge my family, who have put up with “not another book” for so long. I would like to dedicate this book especially to my mother, Wanda, for always encouraging me to pursue my education, and my two sons, Szymon and Adam, who always make me feel special. Heartfelt thanks to my sisters Alicja and Krystyna for encouraging me to pursue scientific work. Finally, I am indebted to my husband Krzysztof for his patience as I examined the sustainable information society. I hope readers will appreciate the novelty and value of this book and join me in my various travelogues of the sustainable information society. Because writing a book is always an odyssey of discovery and no information society book is ever complete, future revisions are inevitable. After having gone through this material, dear readers are invited to share their experiences, ideas, or thoughts. Feel free to email the editor at [email protected]. Ewa Ziemba University of Economics Katowice, Poland

INTRODUCTION

We live in a world that changes by the minute. Change moves enterprises and impacts on people, as well as influencing public administration. For change to be effective, enterprises, people, and public administration must themselves change. The key to achieving the benefits that result from change is learning, innovating, and adopting emerging trends. In the current study, change relates to the transformation of the information society, accounting for a sustainable imperative.

Why This Book The pace of the advancement of society has become relentless in recent years. It has been enhanced by the substantial contribution of technological development and the speed at which information circulates. Countries with established information societies – that is, societies that are good at employing information and communication technologies (ICTs) to create, disseminate, and utilise information effectively – can gain social and economic advantages, reach the cutting edge of competitive markets, and pioneer new avenues for welfare creation for their citizens. The establishment of an information society has therefore become a priority for many countries and regions (EC 2010; OECD 2012; MAC 2012; WSIS 2012, 2013, 2014). Simultaneously, researchers have been developing and refining the concept of the information society over the past fifty years in a variety of contexts: economic, political, technological, and social (Castells 1996, 1997, 1998; GoliĔski 2011; Hassan 2009; Karvalics 2008; Mansel 2009; Raban et al. 2011; Webster 2002). As mentioned above, the information society is at the core of human growth, progress, and well-being, and is also central to sustainable development (Hilty and Hercheui 2010; Houghton 2010; Johnston 2006; Servaes and Carpentier 2006). It has revolutionised business, public administration, and everyday life. It plays an important role in bridging the economic and social divide and helping raise the necessary commitment to achieve economic and social development. The potential of the information society for social and economic development is enormous, but regrettably it can also be a source of threats and dangers. Many people’s lives are hardly touched by these innovations.

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Introduction

Those unable to acquire the capabilities for using ICTs will be increasingly disadvantaged or excluded from participating in the information society (Mansel 1999). Many scholars emphasise the importance of the societal problems posed by these new technologies, relating to the isolation of individuals, threats to cultural and linguistic diversity, and the widening of the gap between industrialised and developing countries (Lynch 1997). New social problems arise, such as information and digital exclusion, social divisions and social stratification, economic diversification, invasion of privacy, information and computer crimes, and data smog (Echeverri and Abels 2008; Ferro, Dwivedi, GilGarcia and Williams 2010; Mansel and When 1998). Due to the above causes and because such societal and technological changes are enduring, the alignment of ICTs with societies’ objectives must not only be understood, but constantly renewed and adjusted. Since 2000 ICTs and sustainable development have been explored by academics around the world (Berleur et al. 2010; Fuchs 2008; Hilly 2008, 2009; Hilty and Aebischer 2015). Overall, these discourses signify a shift towards the view that not just any information society is needed, but one that is actively shaped by adopting ICTs in such a way as to gain desirable collective and individual benefits, efficiently and effectively, in all dimensions, whether economic, social, political, cultural, personal, or occupational. It is very important to explore a valuable source of the role ICTs are playing on the road to a forward-looking society which is based on the increasing use of ICTs on the one hand, while at the same time meeting the fundamental sustainability criteria for human, social, economic, and ecological comparability on the other. The concept of the sustainable information society (SIS) derives from these discourses (Fuchs 2009, 2009a; Schauer 2003; Servaes and Carpentier 2006; Ziemba 2013a). The SIS entails a new phase of information society development in which ICTs are becoming key enablers of sustainability. However, at this point the SIS is still a theoretical concept rather than a reality. Various researchers and organisations have explored the areas where the information society, sustainable development, and ICTs come together, and the relations between them. But these current discourses are also fragmented, and lack a theoretical and practical foundation that offers concise definitions of the SIS, showing its various issues to be mainly related to ICTs as enablers of sustainability. Moreover, there is a lack of research on the SIS in developing countries, and also in the transition economies of central and eastern Europe.

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There is therefore a need for scientific studies and debates on various concepts, models, and methodological assumptions, to create a foundation to formulate theories of the SIS. Moreover, a more holistic and systemic methodological approach to the development of the SIS, covering all dimensions of the information society and sustainable development, has become more important. The burning research question that demands an adequate response is how the SIS stakeholders – people, enterprises, and public administration – can adopt ICTs in order to contribute best to sustainable development.

What This Book Is About In the light of challenges, some of which were discussed above, this book provides a new comprehensive and forward-looking approach to the SIS. This approach is based on the usage of ICTs by SIS stakeholders in order to build the welfare of present and future generations, ensure economic growth, increase participation in social life, and build the wisdom of society. The primary purposes of this book are to: x immerse the reader in the SIS orientation and outlook, and provide a feel for the issues involved in delineating the scope of the field (Chapter One); x trace the evolutionary trends in the information society that culminate in the SIS (Chapter One); x propose a new comprehensive and forward-looking framework of the SIS, based on four imperatives: sustainability, many-sidedness, holism, and systems thinking (Chapter One); x tease out theoretical and practical issues relating to the SIS, with a special focus on ICTs as enablers of sustainability (Chapter One); x provide a conceptual framework of factors for the successful adoption of the SIS, with a special focus on ICT adoption by SIS stakeholders (Chapter One); x delineate and broadly outline the challenges and tasks of the SIS stakeholders, with a special focus on ICT adoption by them (Chapters Two, Three, and Four); x describe methodologies of research on critical success factors and the level of ICT adoption by SIS stakeholders (Chapters Two, Three, and Four); x propose a comprehensive framework of factors for the successful adoption of the SIS, with a special focus on successful ICT adoption by SIS stakeholders (Chapters Two, Three, and Four);

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Introduction

x identify and describe critical factors influencing successful ICT adoption by SIS stakeholders in Poland (Chapters Two, Three, and Four); x evaluate levels of ICT adoption by SIS stakeholders in Poland (Chapters Two, Three, and Four); x describe theoretical and practical issues of measuring the SIS, with a special focus on ICT adoption by SIS stakeholders (Chapter Five); x provide a methodology of building a sustainable information society index (SISI) for measuring SIS adoption, with a special focus on successful ICT adoption by SIS stakeholders (Chapter Five); x apply the methodology for measuring SIS adoption to assess the level of SIS adoption in Poland (Chapter Five); and x propose a new survey framework for measuring SIS adoption on the basis of the SISI (Chapter Five).

How This Book Is Organised Generally, the intent of the studies presented in this book is to explore the edges of our learning while offering a theoretical and practical view of the concepts, frameworks, tools, and methods that support new ways of thinking about the SIS. The chapters are laid out in such a way as to guide readers one step at a time through the landscape of change and emerging ICTs, taking in the processes, behaviours, practices, methods, and tools that support the success of people, businesses, and public administration in the SIS. Here is a quick overview of this book. Chapter One provides the context for the considerations in the chapters that follow. It looks at the sustainable information society and its concepts and challenges. Section 1.1 describes the birth and the new challenges of the information society. Section 1.2 presents the four kinds of theoretical approach to the SIS (reductionistic, protectionistic, dualistic, and dialectical), and explores the sustainability dimensions in the information society (ecological, social, economic, and cultural). Section 1.3 teases out the imperatives for the SIS, taking in sustainability, many-sidedness, holism, and systems thinking, and identifies and describes the fundamental assumptions and components of the SIS. This section then introduces the definition of the SIS and proposes its conceptual framework. At the end of the section, basic categories and dominant features and metaphors describing the SIS are identified. Section 1.4 takes a broad look at ICTs as a vital nexus of the SIS, exploring them as enablers of ecological,

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economic, social, cultural, and political sustainability. In addition, it features the levels of ICT competence of SIS stakeholders that are required in order to use ICTs as enablers of sustainability, and classifies them as ICT Users, ICT Enablers, and ICT Creators. Section 1.5 examines how the concept of critical success factors (CSFs) could provide a good foundation for achieving success in the SIS, and offers a methodology for examining CSFs for the SIS. At the end of this section, the conceptual framework of CSFs for the SIS is proposed. Chapter Two takes a broad look at how people as the main stakeholders of the SIS are involved in its adoption. Section 2.1 considers how different generations (baby boomers and Generations X, Y, Z, and Alpha), as well as the digital divide, influence SIS adoption. Section 2.2 explores new models of consumption, work, and education determined by ICTs and generationality, such as prosumption, working in the knowledge economy, teleworking, flexicurity, lifelong learning, and e-learning. Section 2.3 explains the methodology for establishing the level of ICT adoption by individuals and identifying CSFs. Section 2.4 presents the framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by individuals, and examines how various economic, technological, socio-cultural, and organisational factors influence the success of this adoption in Poland. As a result, ten CSFs for ICT adoption by people in Poland are found. Section 2.5 probes how people in Poland adopt ICTs in the context of the identified CSFs. Section 2.6 concludes the chapter with a focus on the implications of people adopting ICTs. Chapter Three addresses the second main SIS stakeholder group, namely enterprises, and the adoption of ICTs by them. Section 3.1 brings up contemporary trends in business transformation. Section 3.2 deals with the new concepts and models of business, such as dot-coms, hybrid enterprises, brick-and-mortar enterprises, the virtual value chain, e-marketing, customer relationship management, customer knowledge management, supply chain management, enterprise resource planning, freelancing, management 2.0, and sustainable enterprises. Section 3.3 expounds on the methodology for identifying the level of ICT adoption by enterprises, and their CSFs. Section 3.4 proposes the framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises and examines how various economic, technological, socio-cultural, and organisational factors influence the success of this adoption in Poland. Ten CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises in Poland are recognised. Section 3.5 evaluates how enterprises in Poland adopt ICTs in the context of the identified CSFs. Section 3.6 concludes Chapter Three with a focus on the implications of the adoption of ICTs by enterprises.

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Introduction

Chapter Four deals with the third SIS stakeholder group, namely public administration, and the adoption of e-government in government units. Section 4.1 addresses contemporary trends in public administration transformation. Section 4.2 focuses on e-government as a solution for public administration, and broadly outlines its four components: e-administration, e-government services, e-democracy, and e-governance. Section 4.3 details the methodology for identifying the level of e-government adoption by public administration, and the associated CSFs. Section 4.4 proposes the framework of CSFs for e-government adoption and examines how various economic, technological, socio-cultural, and organisational factors influence success in e-government adoption in Poland. As a result, ten CSFs for e-government adoption in Poland are identified. Section 4.5 assesses how government units in Poland adopt egovernment in the context of the four identified CSFs. Section 4.6 concludes the text with a focus on the implications for adopting e-government. Chapter Five turns the spotlight on the measurement of the SIS. Section 5.1 provides the theoretical foundations for measuring the SIS. Section 5.2 broadly outlines sector, indicatory, and streaming approaches to the measurement of the information society. Section 5.3 goes beyond the approaches described in the previous section to showcase the sustainable information society index (SISI), comprising the sub-indices of ICT adoption by, respectively, individuals, businesses, and public administration. Additionally, indicators for each sub-index are shown on the basis of the CSFs described in the previous chapters. Section 5.4 pulls together the proposed SISI into the measurement of the SIS in Poland. Section 5.5 offers a survey framework for evaluating the SISI. For each indicator, its description is presented and the survey question is proposed. Chapter Six is a discussion on the research findings and the likely direction to be taken to help people, enterprises, and public administration succeed in the full adoption of the SIS.

Who This Book Is For This book is likely to appeal to researchers and practitioners interested in the development of the information society and its evolution into the SIS. For researchers this book shows significant areas and directions for the research on the SIS. For practitioners, including enterprises, government units, government authorities, and individuals, this research suggests important issues for programming, building, and adopting the sustainable

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information society. All readers may find answers to important contemporary questions, in particular the following: x What are the emerging trends that influence the sustainable information society? x Who are the main stakeholders or actors of the sustainable information society, and what challenges do they have to take up? x What are the goals and competences of the sustainable information society? x What patterns and principles of behaviour characterise the sustainable information society and lead to its development? x What are the critical success factors for the sustainable information society? x How can the sustainable information society be measured?

How to Use This Book The chapters of this book can be read alone or in the linear arrangement suggested by the book form. Chapter One, on the definition and evolution of the SIS, may be read separately to get the background on the SIS space. Chapters Two, Three, and Four, which deal, respectively, with individuals, enterprises, and public administration in the SIS, also stand alone and can be read with or without the other chapters or in any sequence. Chapter Two may be read in various combinations with Chapters Three and Four to make comparisons between the SIS stakeholders and their ICT adoption. Sections 5.1 and 5.2 in Chapter Five stand alone as a background to the measurement of the SIS. Sections 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5 do not stand alone, however; they are dependent on Chapters Two, Three, and Four. Additionally, these sections are dependent on all that has gone before and they should be read according to the linear arrangement.

CHAPTER ONE CONCEPT AND CHALLENGES OF THE SUSTAINABLE INFORMATION SOCIETY EWA ZIEMBA

1.1 The Birth and New Challenges of the Information Society The turning point for civilisation, initiated around the 1960s, is variously referred to as the post-industrial society (Bell 1973), the third wave (Toffler 1980), post-capitalism (Drucker 1993), and, finally, the information society (Mansel 2009; Porat and Rubin 1977; Webster 2002; Olszak and Ziemba 2010; Raban, Gordon, and Geifman 2011). An information society may be contrasted with societies in which the underpinnings of economic and social wealth are primarily industrial or agrarian. It does not solely rely on material and financial resources, but is also based on an intangible asset – information. The information society is the first in the history of civilisation in which information becomes a key to economic growth, business development, and the well-being of citizens. The meaning of the collocation “the information society” is conveyed by its two components. The component “society” can have a double meaning. In its broader perspective, society refers to the totality of human relationships. A narrow perspective of society shows it as “any human group that perpetuates itself, more or less linked to one specific geographical region, holding its own institutions and culture” (Pinter 2008, 21). In this sense, both tribes and nation states belong to this category; it also provides a good basis for the discussion in this book. “Information” simply refers to those attributes of society in which information plays a crucial role; access to good-quality information determines the creation and development of this society. In the information society, the creation, inventory, codification, distribution, and utilisation of information have become the most significant economic, cultural, technological, and organisational activities for people, businesses, and public administration.

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The information society is therefore characterised by a high level of information intensity in the daily life of most citizens and in the everyday activities of most business and public administration organisations. Additionally, the manipulation of large information resources requires the use of information communication technologies (ICTs). Accounting for the above changes, scholars and practitioners have developed and refined the concept of the information society over the past fifty years in a variety of contexts: economic, political, technological, and social. The term “information society” probably first emerged in Japanese social science, and was coined by Kurosawa and Umesao in the early 1960s. Umesao (1963) distinguished three sectors of the economy: endodermal (agriculture, fishing, and farming), mesodermal (transportation, heavy industry), and ectodermal (information, communication, culture, education). He suggested that ectodermal industries must increase with a society’s development, and he called this change johoka or informationisation (Ito 2012). According to Masuda (1980a, 1980b), the information society is a new type of society in which the possession of information, rather than material resources, is the driving force behind its development and transformation, and where human intellectual creativity thrives. US researchers contributed considerably to the research on the information society (Mansel 2009; Raban, Gordon, and Geifman 2011), and they in turn had a strong impact on Japanese researchers. Machlup (1962) introduced the concept of the “knowledge economy.” He enumerated the main information industries of the knowledge economy, such as education, law, media, and the computer industry, and estimated their impact on economic transformation and development. Japanese and US researchers then measured the percentage of the information industries against the gross national product, and noted that the percentage was increasing both in Japan and the USA (Ito 2012). These considerations were further developed by Porat and Rubin (1977). They undertook empirical studies aimed at assessing the importance of information activities in the US economy. In 1970, Garfield focused studies on the social aspects of the information society in which he described the difficulties people encountered in accessing information and stressed that access to information represents a social problem (Raban, Gordon, and Geifman 2011). Additional great contribution to research on the information society was made by Bell (1973). He is the key proponent of the theory of the “post-industrial society”: according to him, “the post-industrial society is an information society” (Bell 1973, 467). Bell explained his theory by

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identifying eleven major dimensions of the post-industrial society. They are as follows (Bell 1973; Waters 2002): 1) The creation of a service economy. The majority of the labour force is engaged in such services as trade, finance, transport, health, recreation, research, education, and public administration. 2) The pre-eminence of the professional and technical class. According to Bell (1973, 17) “the expansion of the service economy, with its emphasis on office work, education, and government, has naturally brought about a shift to white-collar occupation.” At the heart of the post-industrial society are scientists and engineers, and together they will become a knowledge class. 3) The primacy of theoretical knowledge. This is indicated as the axial principle of the post-industrial society: it is organised around knowledge that becomes the basis for innovation, social policy, political management, and decision-making. In Bell’s opinion, theoretical knowledge is the key strand to the society. This knowledge is encoded in an abstract symbolic system and can be used to illuminate a wide variety of areas of experience. 4) The rise of a new intellectual technology. Computers and software based on mathematical and economic principles are used to define rational actions and identify strategies to achieve the optimal solutions to economic and engineering, if not social, issues. 5) A change in the character of work. Work focuses on engagement in relations with other people. It is “primarily a ‘game between persons’ (between a bureaucrat and client, doctor and patient, teacher and students, or within research groups, office groups, service groups)” (Bell 1999, xcv). 6) The role of women. Work in the service sector provides employment opportunities for women and creates a secure base for their economic independence. 7) Science as the imago. Scientific institutions, and the relations between them, are the emergent and central feature of the postindustrial society. 8) Situses as political units. A situs means a vertical order of a society. Bell specified four functional situses – scientific, technological, administrative, and cultural – and five institutional situses – business, government, university and research, social welfare, and military. Situses are more important than horizontal units of society (i.e., classes or strata). The major conflicts of interest occur between situses rather than between classes.

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9) Meritocracy. A position in a society is based on education, skills, and ability rather than on class privilege or wealth. 10) The end of scarcity. In the post-industrial society, there is a scarcity of information and of time instead of a scarcity of goods. An individual is becoming “homo economicus in the disposition of his leisure time” (Bell 1999, xcvi). 11) The economics of information. By its nature information is not a private but a collective good. Therefore, a cooperative strategy is needed to increase the spread and usage of information and knowledge in society. The above dimensions illustrate very well the essence of the information society. Many of Bell’s predictions have come to pass, while some have yet to be seen. Several of them were later explored by a range of the world’s influential researchers. The theory of the information society was further developed by Toffler. In the 1980s he introduced the concept of the “third wave,” in which he showed civilisation as being shaped by three waves of technological innovation. The three waves defined by Toffler corresponded perfectly to the endodermal, mesodermal, and ectodermal sectors of the economy defined by Umesao. The third wave, which from the late 1950s onwards pushed the older society and culture aside, is the post-industrial society. This new society is based on information, and was called the information or knowledge age by Toffler. To Toffler’s mind, information, coupled with ICTs that form information superhighways and digital networks, gives rise to striking changes in a society (Toffler 1980). With information and ICTs, the new society radically changes business, modifies the face of consumption, creates a new code of behaviour, restructures schooling and education, redefines scientific research, develops “the electronic cottage,” shapes the business and social environment more intelligently, creates a new social memory for storing cumulative knowledge, and offers alternatives to the mass media. Toffler’s forecasts were in line with what Drucker (1993) suggested a dozen years later: in The Post-Capitalist Society he stated that capital, natural resources, and manpower are no longer basic economic resources. The new economy is led and empowered by people who have the capacity to manipulate information. Already in 1966, Drucker had coined the term “knowledge worker,” and later explored various issues concerning people who use their brains more than their backs in the workplace (Drucker 1967). The preferred terms varied – for example “symbolic analysts,” “knowledge experts,” “informational labour” – but one major

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characteristic of their work is that it involves creating and using information (Webster 2002). While discussing the concept of the information society, the contribution made by Castells (1996, 1997, 1998) should be stressed. His views on the information society are consonant with some issues shown by Bell, Toffler, and Drucker. In his trilogy he profoundly analyses the new information age. He proposes a conceptual model of a networked society, arguing that modern human existence has developed a new mode, namely the information society, in which the central role is played by the production, recording, processing, and retrieval of information in organised networks. Castells explores the key phenomena of the network society: (1) the network enterprise; (2) the cultural consequences of informational capitalism; (3) a space that allows distant, synchronous, real-time interaction; (4) timeless time, with the blurring of crisp boundaries between work and relaxation; (5) the power of identity; (6) new forms of stratification concerning better- and worse-educated informational labour; and (7) the demise of the working class and the birth of meritocracy. Castells (2001) also presented a comprehensive overview of the impact of the internet on global civil society, government regulation, and economic development. In addition, he pointed to the growing impact of ICTs on the transformation of society. In Poland, studies and empirical activities on the information society have developed since the mid-1990s. Researchers have explored the information society in various contexts, mainly economic, technological, social, and political (Babis and Czapiewski 2011; BliĨniuk and Nowak 2006; Cellary 2002; GoliĔski 2011; Hales 2013; Olszak and Ziemba 2010; PapiĔska-Kacperek 2008; Sienkiewicz and Nowak 2009; Szewczyk 2007). Because of its economic, social, and political significance the information society was very clearly referred to in a recent government strategic document, “The strategy for the development of the information society in Poland until 2013” (MSWiA 2008). In this document, the information society is defined as one in which information is processed with the use of ICTs, and constitutes an economic, social, and cultural value. In this respect, effective support of modern and friendly public administration is needed; the adoption of the information society therefore involves strategic activities, using ICTs to target the following three areas (MSWiA 2008): x Human. Acceleration of the growth of the intellectual and social capital of citizens.

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x Economy. Increasing the productivity, innovation, and competitiveness of enterprises in the global market. x State. Increasing the accessibility and effectiveness of public administration, reconstructing internal processes and delivering government services via the internet. An exponential increase in the significance of information and ICT implementation in the economy, public administration, and everyday life causes a transformation towards an information society. This trend is well reflected in Garfield’s concise definition of the information society, which is, according to him, one in which “we take for granted the role of information as it pervades and dominates the activities of government, business and everyday life” (1979, 377). In recent years, the vision of the information society has undergone intensive realisation, as evidenced by the ubiquity of the internet and mobile communication technologies (Hassan 2008). The pervasiveness of technology creates a society that is constantly connected, a society which is interdependent in terms of the flow of information and its influence on all walks of life: commerce, work, education, and so on (Raban et al. 2011). Overall, different approaches to defining and exploring an information society are shown in various studies. Researchers, scholars, and practitioners have delved into the economic, consumption, technological, social, political, and other issues of an information society. Some researchers take a multidimensional approach, showing that an information society requires consideration of technological, economic, occupational, spatial, and cultural matters (Webster 2002), ecological and social questions (Hilty and Hercheui 2010), as well as psychological, legal, and political issues (Raban et al. 2011). All these approaches expose three main characteristics of the information society (More 1997). The first shows that information is used as an economic resource. Enterprises use information to increase their efficiency, strengthen effectiveness, stimulate innovation, raise levels of productivity, ensure standards, and, through all these means, raise their competitiveness in the market. The advancement of more informationintensive enterprises generates enormous amounts of value and thus serves a country’s overall economy. The second characteristic of the information society is that information is more intensively used among the general public. People use information in their activities as consumers (to inform their choice between various products, to buy various digital and nondigital products, to achieve cultural provision), as citizens (to obtain

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government services, to exercise their civil rights and responsibilities), as students (to gain access to educational provision), and as workers (to do their jobs). The third characteristic of the information society is the development within the economy of an information sector, which can be conveniently called the ICT sector. It can be divided into two components, both of which play a significant role in information management – that is, the acquisition, recording, organisation, processing, preservation, display, and delivery of information. The two components are technological infrastructure (including computers, servers, data centres, network enablement, and so on) and software infrastructure (management information systems, e-services, office application packages, and so on). The function of the ICT sector is to satisfy the general demand for information facilities and services. To sum up, perspectives on the information society have evolved from narrow observations to a more holistic approach. In order to cover the variety of approaches, the information society is defined here as a society which has access to information and ICTs in order to achieve public, business, and individual goals. Its foundations are based on two interrelated pillars: long-term economic development, and technological change. Interlinkages between ICTs, productivity, economic growth, and competitiveness, as well as the scale and quality of education and employment, are crucial to build an information society. If these factors can be maintained in the future, this will only help to boost the development of the information society.

1.2 Sustainability as a New Dimension of the Information Society The information society is at the core of growth, human progress and wellbeing, and sustainable development (Houghton 2010; Hilty and Hercheui 2010; Johnston 2006; Servaes and Carpentier 2006a). It contributes to revolutionary changes in business, public administration, and everyday life. It plays an important role in bridging the economic and social divide and raising the necessary commitment to achieve economic and social development. The general optimism about the information society was expressed by Annan in his opening address to the 2003 World Summit on the Information Society: Technology has produced the information age. Now it is up to all of us to build an Information Society … From trade to telemedicine, from education to environmental protection, we have in our hands, on our

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desktops and in the skies above, the ability to improve standards of living for millions upon millions of people. (2005, vii)

The potential of the information society for social and economic development is enormous, but regrettably it can also be a source of threats and dangers. In many cases people’s lives are hardly touched by these innovations. If people are unable to acquire the capabilities for using ICTs, they will be increasingly disadvantaged or excluded from participating in the information society (Mansel 1999). Many scholars emphasise the importance of the societal problems posed by these new technologies, including the isolation of individuals, threats to cultural and linguistic diversity, and the widening of the gap between industrialised and developing countries (Lynch 1997). New social problems arise such as digital exclusion, social division and stratification, economic diversification, invasion of privacy, information and computer crime, and data smog (Echeverri and Abels 2008; Ferro, Dwivedi, Gil-Garcia, and Williams 2010; Mansel and When 1998). Moreover, technology is a powerful tool used cynically by large corporations and governments; as they reinforce their power they need to make sure that greater inequalities are not brought about while helping to bridge gaps (Raban et al. 2011). Some harmful mechanisms of the information society often relate to old dangers which existed before and have resurfaced with greater frequency and intensity in the age of wide usage of ICTs, especially internet technology. Amongst these are questions of authenticity, the loss of a sense of reality, aggression, the appearance of extremes (e.g., pornography and paedophilia), alienation, surveillance, and dataveillance (Pinter 2008). The information society is multifaceted and requires consideration of the various above-mentioned aspects. Due to this it is necessary to take a multidimensional approach to the information society in order to achieve sustainable development in the economic, social, cultural, and technological dimensions. It is very important to explore how information and ICTs can be used to promote sustainable practices and processes in contemporary societies, as well as supporting managerial methods and techniques which will allow enterprises, public administration, and people to contribute to sustainable development. Such research is being carried out and the concept of the sustainable information society (SIS) has been explored in the global literature for several years (Berleur et al. 2010; Fuchs 2006, 2008, 2009, 2009a, 2010; Hilty 2008, 2009; Hilty and Hercheui 2010; Hilty et al. 2005; Houghton 2010; Mansel and When 1998; Schauer 2003; Servaes and Carpentier 2006). Researchers have started to focus their studies on the issues of ICT adoption and information

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and knowledge management in enterprises, public administration, and society in such a way as to allow for sustainable development. The first publications on the information society in the context of sustainable development emerged at the turn of the twenty-first century. Mansell and When (1998) elaborated on the potential applications of ICTs to sustainable development. They concentrated on the leading developments in the application of ICTs to support the provision of government services, to achieve productivity gains, to improve people’s quality of life, to alleviate poverty, to enhance access to information and dissemination of information, and to facilitate knowledge sharing. They particularly focused on the dangers that can accompany a failure to develop ICT strategies tailored to the specific and changing needs of countries, especially in the developing regions of the world. Schauer (2003) discussed a comprehensive overview of the effects of ICTs on sustainable development. He explored sustainable development in its ecological, social, cultural, and economic dimensions: Sustainable development is a development in which present generations find ways to satisfy their needs without compromising the chances of future generations to satisfy their needs. Sustainable development has four dimensions which are ecological, social, economic and cultural sustainability. (2003, 6)

He argued that ICTs can trigger ecological sustainability by cutting down resource consumption, foster social sustainability by providing equal access to information, advance cultural sustainability by promoting cultural understanding, and aid economic sustainability by stimulating growth. Hilty et al. emphasise that “sustainability in the information society is a more recent field of research, which concentrates on the consequences of information and communication technology (ICT) for the objective of sustainable development” (2005, 38). They focus mainly on ICT opportunities for sustainable development, and show how information systems can facilitate such development by creating the kind of economic activity that harmonises nature with human and social welfare in the long term. Utsumi (2005) shaped a vision of a development-oriented, equitable, and inclusive information society. According to him, a concrete plan of action is needed to build such an information society, “where everyone can create, access, utilise and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting sustainable development and improving their quality of life”

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(2005, xii). At the same time, Stauffacher and Kleinwächter (2005) stress that without sustainable development, the information society remains an empty concept; alone, it does not represent a key source for a successful struggle for development and against poverty. Johnston (2006) points out that it is necessary to introduce a novel approach to the development of the SIS, linking greater synergy of research and technology development with various regulations and implementation activities, as well as increasing investment in more effective public services – especially health care, education and administration – and providing more active support of “ecological” technology implementation. Johnston also refers to the role of ICTs in the development of the SIS, pointing out that it requires a more systemic approach in which “investment in ICTs must be accompanied by investment in skills and organisational change” (2006, 203). Therefore, this approach should include “greater synergy between RTD (research and technology development), regulation and deployment actions; greater investment in more effective public services, notably for health care and education, as well as for administrations; and more active promotion of ‘eco-efficient’ technologies and their use” (ibid.). A similar view had already been demonstrated by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003 and 2005. The international community recognised ICTs as enablers for development, firmly arguing that they can sustain “economic growth, job creation and employability … improving the quality of life of all” (Stauffacher and Kleinwächter 2005, 298). In 2012, participants at the WSIS expressed their opinion that the challenge of sustainable development and the significance of ICTs should become a cornerstone of a new evolutionary process (WSIS 2012). They identified four important areas for implementing and using ICTs: for sustainable economic growth, for effective public service, to protect infrastructure and the environment, and to build a booming ICT sector. Leveraging ICTs to enhance government services, enrich businesses, and empower individuals was indicated as the key element of the transformation of a society into an SIS. Additionally, it was seen as vital to provide the most convenient opportunities for fostering advancement in ICTs as a basis for reaching inclusive and sustainable development. The potential of ICTs as the key enablers of development was also firmly stressed at the 2013 WSIS: ICTs, including broadband Internet, mobile technologies and relevant ICT applications, should be fully recognised as tools that can help empower people, enable wider exercise of human rights including freedom of

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The European Commission justified this view of the SIS, arguing that ICTs contribute to the development of a more sustainable Europe, driving European growth and economic prosperity (COM 2005). The Commission defined three priorities in order to achieve sustainability in the European information society: building a single European information space, investing in research on ICTs to encourage innovation, and establishing an “inclusive” European information society. Moreover, DigitalEurope delivered the clear message to the EU decision-makers that “the transformational power of digital technologies will increasingly drive productivity, sustainable growth, innovation and employment throughout the European economy” (DigitalEurope 2010, 34). Simultaneously, recommendations to achieve the vision of the information society were formulated in these directions, among others: to foster ICT infrastructure and a digital single market, to encourage ICT R&D, to promote e-skills as skills for the twenty-first century, to reinforce trust and security on the net, and to support e-health and e-government. Various researchers and organisations have explored the areas of the information society, sustainable development, and ICTs and the relations between them, but without giving an explicit definition of the SIS. A major contribution to studies on the SIS was made by Fuchs, who also coined the term “SIS” (Fuchs 2008, 2009, 2009a, 2010). According to him, it is a society that “makes use of ICTs and knowledge for fostering a good life for all human beings of current and future generations by strengthening biological diversity, technological usability, economic wealth for all, political participation of all, and cultural wisdom” (Fuchs 2006a, 79). In his opinion, discussion on the SIS should be very much focused on a holistic approach, including ecological, technological, economic, political, and cultural issues. Generally, sustainability in the context of an information society was initially formulated in terms of environmental preservation (Hilty et al. 2005; Som et al. 2004). In subsequent years, the discourse broadened the scope of sustainability to include social, economic, and cultural aspects. Some researchers have presented more multidimensional views on sustainability which imply a “holistic and integrated policy framework of environmental compatibility, economic stability, social sustainability and cultural diversity” (Serveas and Carpentier 2006, 7). The essence of such views is very well illustrated by Fuchs, who recognised and explored four kinds of theoretical approaches to the SIS (Fuchs 2010):

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x Reductionist approaches. These see ecology, economy or technology as the sole driving force of the SIS. A very technologyoriented approach assumes that ICT access and skills alone suffice to improve the quality of lives of citizens, communities, and societies (O’Donnell et al. 2003). The ecological reductionist definition of the SIS states that ICTs support sustainability because they help reduce material resources and permit substantial dematerialisation in many domains (Hilty et al. 2005; Britton 1996). An economic reductionist strategy is oriented purely towards economic issues. In the European Commission’s i2010 strategy, economic goals such as “growth and improvement” were defined as the most important ones (COM 2005). x Protectionist approaches. These see a polity or culture as the determining forces of the SIS. They are rarely discussed in the literature. Mainly, they focus on ICTs as a means of engaging citizens in political decision-making. E-participation is the best example of these approaches (Macintosh 2004). x Dualistic approaches. These see multiple dimensions and goals as the driving forces of the SIS, but do not consider their compatibility and the causal relations between them. They are frequently described in the literature. Schauer (2003) provided a dualistic approach by arguing that ICTs can advance ecological, social, cultural, and economic sustainability. This point of view was also voiced by the WSIS (WSIS 2003, 2012a) and the European Commission (COM 2005a). The Polish government likewise advanced a dualistic view of the SIS by arguing that ICTs create “significant economic, social and cultural value” (MSWIA 2008, 2). x Dialectical approaches. These approaches see multiple interrelated dimensions and goals as the driving forces of the SIS. Moreover, the existing inconsistencies between these dimensions and goals are studied, and requisite changes are regarded as integral, interdependent, and systemic. Fuchs (2010) looked at a society as dialectical system upon which he built his theoretical model, where mutual moulding of the economic base and the political-cultural superstructure take place. According to him, a participatory, cooperative, and sustainable society is a society in which “knowledge and technology are together with social systems shaped in such a way that humans are included in and self-determine their social systems collectively, interact in mutually benefiting ways, and so bring about a long-term stability that benefits all present and future

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generations and social groups” (Fuchs 2010, 43). In addition, he identified and defined the specific qualities of cooperation, participation, ecological preservation, human-centred technology, socio-economic equity, political freedom, and cultural wisdom. Until now, the discourse on the SIS has been dominated by dualistic approaches. As has already been emphasised, in these approaches various goals are proclaimed and various actions carried out, but it is not considered whether these goals are compatible and the actions are related. Such approaches are fragmentary and very limited. Instead, the information society should be considered holistically and in a systemic manner. Therefore, in current scientific discourses on the SIS, dialectic approaches should be explored and improved. Empirical studies are needed to examine and verify developed theoretical assumptions, concepts, and models. Such theoretical and empirical studies should examine the various dimensions of sustainability and the relations between them in the context of the information society. The four sustainability dimensions of the SIS defined by Schauer (2003) can form the basis for these studies: ecological, social, economic, and cultural. In an ecological SIS, ICTs are used to convert and dematerialise production and consumption, to result in considerably lower general resource consumption by society. Physical movement can be largely substituted by virtual movement, physical products by digital products, physical shops by virtual shops, hard copies of documents by digital copies, and so on. At the same time, the environmental footprint of technological tools will be minimised, from their design through production to use, despite the increased numbers of devices in use. In a social SIS, access to information is equal and common for everybody, including for individuals who are for some reason disadvantaged (e.g., disabled, unemployed, uneducated, or poor). In order to close the gap of information exclusion, all individuals need to have both the knowledge and the practical opportunity to use ICTs that translate into receiving information from the web and the possibility of sharing their own work or opinions. Thus, ICTs balance access to and the use of information not only in the virtual world, but also in the real one. In an economic SIS, ICTs are the key driver of economic growth and employment. Natural resources and capital are used efficiently to create added value, both financial and in the form of experience and competence, for the economy and the people. In a cultural SIS, the virtual worlds are open to all present cultures equally. They concern lifestyle, work style, business style, and so on. The main goals of cultural sustainability are truth, trust, creativity, literacy and

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other skills, unity in diversity, and understanding, all of which should be supported by knowledge and ICTs. ICTs form the basis for creating a worldwide virtual community of common understanding and values. In general, studies on the information society should concentrate on its sustainability. In the discourse on the sustainability of the information society there needs to be a shift in focus from ecological issues towards the inclusion of broader societal and other issues – technological, economic, organisational, political, and so on. A more multidimensional view on the SIS is needed which implies a holistic and integrated policy framework of environmental compatibility, economic stability, technological usability, social sustainability, and cultural diversity. Furthermore, building the SIS requires new forms of solidarity, partnership, and cooperation among its main stakeholders – governments, businesses, and people (civil society) – who must take joint responsibility for achieving it. Consequently, studies on the SIS require solid theoretical methods, and instrumentation and models which can be used to solve practical problems related to its adoption.

1.3 The Conceptual Framework of the Sustainable Information Society 1.3.1 Imperatives for a Sustainable Information Society In creating a model SIS, it is important to consider the central imperatives which form the basis for showing how its various aspects can and should be analysed. The four imperatives identified for the current study are as follows: (1) sustainability, (2) many-sidedness, (3) holism, and (4) systems thinking. Sustainability This is the fundamental imperative that requires explanation. Sustainability can be defined as the ability or capacity of something to be maintained or to sustain itself. The most frequently quoted definition comes from the World Commission on Environment and Development, now known as the Brundtland Commission. According to it, the purpose of sustainability is to meet “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987, 37). This definition clarifies the concept’s primary essence: the ability to self-sustain development that does not degrade the factors and mechanisms which constitute it.

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The core of the concept of sustainable development embraces two mutually exclusive ideas: the human need to preserve natural resources, and the need to improve the quality of life. Initially, it combined concerns about poverty and development with environmental issues. Then, interpretations of this definition were advanced, ranging from the “pure ecologist” position, through “moderate ecologist,” “crash barrier,” and “3D,” to “4D” (Schauer 2003). The first two interpretations are purely focused on the ecological dimension. In the “crash barrier” interpretation, the relationship with ecology is weaker, and it places equal weight on social and ecological issues. “3D” defines a further dimension of sustainability, encompassing ecological, social, and economic questions that have equal importance and have to respect each other. In the “4D” approach, cultural dimensions are introduced. Sustainable development is, however, a debatable concept due to its indefinite meaning, which is open to a variety of interpretations, depending upon the given situation (Borys 2012; Elliot 2006; Hopwood et al. 2005; Zaucha 2012). In the context of the information society, sustainability should be examined in the following six dimensions: x Ecological sustainability concerns the impact of ICTs on the environment. It can be reached through enabling or facilitating the dematerialisation of production and consumption processes thanks to ICTs, and the consequent more efficient use of natural resources and decrease in waste production. x Economic sustainability refers to wealth for all by encouraging the application of information and ICTs. It requires the use of ICTs to improve business efficiency and productivity, optimising the distribution of products, generating income, and reducing poverty. x Political sustainability means participation of all in social, economic, cultural, and political life, enabled by information and ICTs. It can be reached through open, coherent, accountable productivity and efficient government structures, built upon ICTs. x Social sustainability applies to wisdom, literacy, and high general skill levels, advanced by information and ICTs. The role of ICTs is to give everyone widespread access to education and training systems, high quality healthcare services, ethical and nonexploitative employment, and democratic participation. x Cultural sustainability entails a compromise between cultural diversity and common values. The key to cultural sustainability is the protection of various cultural identities. All this can be supported by using ICTs.

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x Technological sustainability relates to the usability of information and ICTs as much as their widespread use. The sustainable implementation of ICTs plays a central role in supporting sustainable development in all the above dimensions – ecological, economic, political, social, and cultural. In summary, with respect to the information society sustainability should not only be interpreted in the context of the environment and associated with achieving some balance. In fact, it should be understood as follows: sustainable in relation to development; renewable in relation to resources; and sustained in terms of growth. Therefore, it should be seen as a much broader concept – as flexible, stable, continuous, sustainable, supportable, self-supported, durable, self-sustaining, or harmonious. Many-sidedness An important imperative for shaping the SIS is many-sidedness, which can also be defined as interdisciplinarity, multilateralism, anisotropy, or a multidimensional or multidisciplinary approach. A multidisciplinary approach runs counter to a mono-disciplinary approach, which only explores one side of a phenomenon and can lead to oversimplifications (Jones 2009). A mono-disciplinary approach can give a partial and oversimplified view of the SIS, and is likely to fail to offer a holistic and multidimensional understanding. A thorough understanding of the SIS requires it to be analysed from several angles, viewpoints, fields, and disciplines. For its description and explanation, the achievements of many branches of science are employed, such as economics, business administration, education, government, sociology, psychology, or computer science. One of the motivations behind employing a multidisciplinary approach is the need to account for the complexity that exists in this society in the real world. Unlike other approaches, which focus on one dimension and thus reduce complexity, the underlying assumption of a multidimensional approach is that the better these intricacies are understood, the better they are analysed. It provides a more intensive and extensive explanation than a mono-disciplinary approach. Studies on the SIS should be focused on the technological, economic, socio-cultural, and organisational dimensions. The technological dimension centres on the capabilities and quality of technological aspects – hardware, networks, telecommunications, and software (front- and backoffice). The economic dimension concerns the growing importance of information activities, including the ICT sector and economic capabilities

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to develop the SIS. The socio-cultural dimension charts the value system of the SIS, in particular exploring how information and ICTs are perceived by society’s stakeholders and how information and ICTs affect the pattern of everyday human, business, and political life. The organisational dimension shows which theories, techniques, methods, and strategies to adopt. In essence, the SIS requires studies that focus on its stakeholders – people, enterprises, and public administration. The first shows how people as consumers, students, employees, and citizens use information and ICTs for their well-being; the enterprise approach points at improving the performance of enterprises by using information and ICTs; and the public administration viewpoint focuses on the accessibility and effectiveness of public administration with the use of ICTs. The key nexus of the SIS is ICTs and their three dimensions: access (supply), competences, and use (demand). These dimensions play an important role in the successful development of the SIS, and should be studied in depth. By looking at different views, a multidisciplinary approach provides a complementary, coherent, and extensive explanation for managing SIS development, thereby supplying a more elaborated holistic understanding of the SIS. Holism A special imperative which plays a pivotal role in the explanation of the SIS is holism. The history of theoretical considerations of the nature of human society branches into two mutually exclusive (and often opposing) modes of interpretation, an atomistic and a holistic one (Strauss 2008, 188). Atomism and holism try to describe the universe in terms of a discrete multiplicity of basic entities (atoms). Atomism presents “an extreme position according to which it is possible for a human being to develop all the capacities characteristic of our kind in total isolation from her fellows, if indeed she has any fellows; there is no incoherence, as it is often put, in the notion of the solitary individual” (Pettit 1996, 111–12). By contrast, holism excludes this claim, arguing that “one or another distinctive capacity – usually the capacity for thought – depends in a noncausal or constitutive way on the enjoyment of social relationships” (ibid., 112). Although both these approaches were already present in ancient Greece in the writings of Callicles, Plato, and Aristotle (Strauss 2008), the holistic theory of development (as opposed to reductionism) was launched by J.C. Smuts (1927) in the first half of the twentieth

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century. According to this theory, the world is a system whose functioning is contingent upon a mutual close relationship between “holons.” Arguably, in the context of the SIS the concept of complementary holism proposed by Albert et al. (1986) is especially significant. The concept is rooted in two principles: holism and complementarity. Holism means that reality’s many parts always act together to form an entwined whole. Meanwhile, complementarity refers to the fact that the parts which compose wholes form relationships that help define one another, even though each appears often to have an independent and even contrary purpose, use, or existence. According to the concept of complementary holism, we can conceive of society as “two basic networks: a human center composed of citizens, their consciousnesses, personalities, needs and skills, and a surrounding institutional boundary composed of society’s institutions and their role structures” (Albert et al. 1986, 20). The human network and the institutional one together constitute the larger society which, meanwhile, includes both. The actions and expectations of the human population require the establishment of institutions. However, the consciousnesses and personalities of the people are themselves moulded by the institutional structures that people continually deal with. Overall, according to the holistic theory, the SIS is a complete system consisting of interrelated components (e.g., stakeholders, processes, goals, trends). The regularities that govern the information society cannot therefore be inferred on the basis of regularities governing its components, but on the basis of components and the relationships that occur between them. Systems thinking Pursuant to those above, the SIS also requires “systems thinking” (also known as a systems approach). This approach integrates the analytic and the synthetic method, emphasising holism over reductionism. It was first proposed under the name “general system theory” by Bertalanffy (1969) as a contribution to biology and physics (Rokita 2011; Weinberg 2011). Meanwhile, systems thinking was developed to study various systems – mechanical, physical, biological, cognitive, and social (Wiener 1948). In recent years the systems approach has been evolving and may be applicable to approaching and handling complex, large-scale and different kinds of problems in an objective, logical, complete, and thoroughly professional way (Ramo and Clair 1998). Overall, systems thinking emphasises holism over reductionism, is characterised by multidisciplinarity, and concentrates on both structures and processes (Rokita 2011).

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As outlined in Ziemba (2013a), the SIS is treated as a system that: x has aims, which are carried out in one or a number of ways; x has a structure consisting of components and the connections between them, with each part linked to the others, determining the attainment of these objectives; and x is open, which means that between it and the environment there are still many dependencies. Conceptually, the SIS is a complex set of aims, actors, structures, processes, and relationships. All of these components are interrelated, dependent, and open. In essence, the SIS consists of interdependent subsystems that are based on fulfilling one specific function, but are open, communicatively interconnected, and networked. These subsystems can be conceived as ecological, technological, economic, political, social, and cultural.

1.3.2 Assumptions and Components of the Sustainable Information Society As stated earlier, the SIS is an open system. This system has aims and a structure consisting of components and connections between them, and there are many dependency relationships between the system itself and its environment. The explanation of this model needs an in-depth exploration of its components and the relations between them. This in turn requires answers to the following questions (Ziemba 2014): x What are the emerging trends influencing the SIS? x Who are the main stakeholders (actors) of the SIS and what challenges do they have to take up? x What are the competences of the SIS? x What patterns and principles of behaviour characterise the SIS and lead to its development? x What are the goals of the SIS? x What are the critical success factors for the SIS? x How can the SIS be measured? The emerging trends influencing the sustainable information society Trends that currently have and, in the near future, will have the greatest impact on the trajectory of SIS development are multi-dimensional. Those

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which have the greatest influence on the SIS include: the growing importance of knowledge and knowledge management; the rapid development of ICTs and accelerating digitisation; increasing globalisation; the development of a networking and design approach; and the emergence of generations Y/Z/Alpha (Ziemba 2013a). One of the profound influences on the SIS is information and its capture, coding and storage, transformation, searching, transferral, delivery, and use (Hesse et al. 2008; WyĪnikiewicz 2010). The dynamic growth of information resources is a trend that enforces fundamental changes in both the educational processes and competence requirements of future employees. New professions emerge and the significance of existing ones increases, in particular those broadly related to information processing. This trend also influences structural changes both within industries (with a general necessity for data and information processing) and between them (with an increase in the relative importance of activities connected with information processing, e.g., ICT sectors, media, consulting, etc.). Increasingly, however, for the competitiveness of enterprises and whole regions, knowledge is becoming the most valuable resource of people, enterprises, and public administration. Knowledge and intellectual capital are a source of competence, strength, wealth, competitiveness, efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity. Nonetheless, knowledge exploitation alone – its possession and usage – is not enough. It should be explored, so new sources of knowledge can be looked for and existing knowledge enriched. Maintaining a balance between the exploration and exploitation of knowledge is becoming increasingly important (Adler et al. 2009; Benner and Tushman 2003; Jansen 2005; Lavie and Rosenkop 2006; Lavie et al. 2010; Raisch et al. 2009). There are two important reasons for this. First, focusing on the exploration of knowledge or the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, experimenting, innovating, and adopting new cognitive orientation always generates considerable costs. Second, focusing on knowledge exploitation (sharing and using already owned knowledge) may cause greater difficulties in adapting to the changes taking place. In addition, permanent knowledge and skills acquisition and their effective implementation in practice are becoming of paramount importance. New inventions, patents, and discoveries will increasingly result from research convergence and collaboration between practitioners and researchers from different disciplines. All these trends force fundamental socio-cultural and organisational changes, in work organisation, education processes, and the labour market, as well as in business and public administration. The new paradigms of

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business see the emergence of different types of enterprises (e.g. those based on knowledge, intelligence, networking, and learning) as well as different approaches to the management of enterprises (e.g., knowledge management, trust management, and virtualisation). The same concepts also apply to public administration and government units at the local and national levels. Telecommuting, flexible working hours, and work involving continuous interaction and brainstorming, for example, are becoming increasingly important. Moreover, various types of networking, together with a design approach to problem solving and task performing, create additional favourable conditions for development. No less important are the appropriate interpersonal, social, and cultural skills and abilities. Failure to keep pace with these trends undermines the long-term competitiveness of individuals, society, business, and the economy as a whole. Apart from knowledge, the main driver of very profound changes in the SIS is the rapid development of ICTs, especially internet technologies and, more recently, mobile technologies (Avgerou 2010, 15; Hanna 2010; Kassicieh 2010; Olszak and Ziemba 2011; Roztocki and Weistroffer 2009). The continuous development of ICTs and their ubiquity in social and economic life mean that ICT competences are no longer specialist, but have become universal. Computer ubiquity spurs the development of new operational models such as e-business and e-government. This is all accompanied by a change in social attitudes. The need to stay online and increasing interactivity create new conditions for the functioning of the economy and labour market. The ICT sectors of the economy form the backbone of the SIS (Ziemba and ĩelazny 2013). Its development must be accompanied by the widespread use of ICTs by people, businesses, and public administration. In the SIS, it is important which ICTs to focus on and how to create those ICTs in a consistent and flexible manner, to absorb, adapt, and use them in various areas of social and economic life. Thus, a strategy of ICT sector development must be implemented together with a strategy of a common ICT access (for people, enterprises, and public administration) as well as a common strategy of ICT usage by all to deal with issues from different fields. This would give rise to technological progress and bring about changes in educational systems, the labour market, business, and public administration. Technological progress may lead to the disappearance of some industries and professions and the shifting of resources to other, new fields. Moreover, it can result in a technological divide between some people and enterprises; for example, only the largest enterprises have the human, social, financial, and organisational capital to enable them either to quickly adopt the newest

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ICTs or engage in the process of their creation. Technological progress may become, in turn, a source of economic, social, educational and cultural stratification. It also carries with it dangerous phenomena such as cyber-crime. The SIS is largely determined by globalisation, which gives a global dimension to economic and social activities and processes (Brock 2012; Tapscott and Williams 2006, 2010). Currently, enterprises are forced to take an outward-looking approach and use resources, including human capital, with unique competences that occur in their global environment. Business is increasingly based on taking action across borders, cultures, and disciplines. Hence, global cooperation and partnership, global research networks, and global (not merely international) enterprises are important. International enterprises with federated structures and subsidiaries, characterised by separate powers and autonomy, incur high transaction costs, which often translate into difficulties in development. Those difficulties decrease in global enterprises with a global workforce, unified processes, global ICT platforms, and global processes of design, supply, production, and distribution. Increasingly, enterprises create business networks in which employees, suppliers, business partners, consumers, and even competitors create added value together (Tapscott and Williams 2006). All these factors provide the conditions for reducing transaction costs (e.g., the costs of looking for suppliers, negotiating prices and agreements, checking the reliability of business partners, coordination, and conclusion of contracts) and rationalising the supply chain, as well as achieving growth, diversity, and innovation. However, these require global competences with regard to dotcom markets, culture, mentality, customs, legal requirements, and so on. In addition, globalisation shapes the daily life of people: their work, education, shopping, and entertainment. At the same time, people face the challenge of multiculturalism, with its intermingling of cultures and lifestyles. Apart from that, globalisation entails global threats, including income polarisation, which increase economic, technological, educational, and social stratification. The next key trend influencing and shaping the SIS is the networking and design approach (Cheng 2011; Chetty and Agndal 2007; Choe 2011; Koohang et al. 2010; Phelps et al. 2012; Tapscott and Williams 2006; WyĪnikiewicz 2010). Design and network cooperation (to achieve a particular goal) between specialised firms and between business and science becomes the most effective modus operandi. Such cooperation forces changes in the work organisation model, and thus the role of a conscious, flexible, and responsible employee increases. The employer ceases to be the governor and controller and becomes a partner in

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a project. Increasing networking and designability blur the boundaries between sectors and industries. At the same time, the “multiaspectiveness” of products and services increases, and this requires the cooperation of specialists from various fields – the production process should be accompanied by sociologists, cultural experts, graphic designers, physicians, and so on. The key tool supporting the networking and design approach is the internet, which links society stakeholders in an interconnected network, often referred to as a network of knowledge. Today, this network creates an infrastructure not only for the passive reception of information, but above all for creativity, participation, and knowledge sharing, facilitating cooperation and a project approach. In order to take advantage of the network opportunities in an organisation’s development process, the following novel phenomena should be accounted for: the blogosphere, collective intelligence, open collaborative platforms, and collaborative innovation (Tapscott and Williams 2006). Task-oriented and functional structures are converted into design structures, or what Mintzberg (1983) called an “adhocracy,” a network constellation composed of enterprises, government units, and individuals that reduces multiple barriers to knowledge exchange, competence sharing, joint work, and team decision-making, in order to exploit rapidly emerging opportunities that occur in the network. The SIS is also determined by a demographic factor which does not solely concern the generation born after 1980, known as “generation Y,” “the network generation,” or “children of the internet” (Feiertag and Berge 2008; Ferris 2012; McCrindle 2014; Meier et al. 2010; Tapscott 2009), brought up in the age of globalisation and economic boom. Today a new group, “generation Z,” whose members were born after 1995, is becoming dominant in society. In the near future, this role will be taken over by “generation Alpha,” born after 2010, a period of internet technology development, Web 2.0, and advancement of mobile applications. As these generations enter social life, they bring with them new rules, norms, and principles of socialising and participation that are coherent with their worldview and behaviour in their private and professional lives. The ensuing shift embraces consumer expectations and behaviour, citizenship, professional expectations, style of work, degree of self-consciousness, and models of life (e.g., leisure activities). At the same time, numerous threats emerge, such as generational alienation, the exclusion of authorities, the technological divide, and a lack of accountability. All these lead to changes in the roles and responsibilities of people as learners, workers, consumers, and citizens, and require the transformation of educational, labour, business, and government systems.

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Education reform is needed, because learning processes today cannot rely on reading and uncritical repetition, but require active participation. Moreover, alongside the development of ICTs the need for a greater range of competencies in new technologies arises, also among people who do not work in fields immediately connected with the ICT sector. In such circumstances, knowledge evolves constantly and this highlights the need for its ongoing exploration, which is a lifelong process. The idea of lifelong learning is revolutionising education in general and is the driving force behind the creation of new forms of education, such as e-learning (Koohang 2012) or universities for children, people of working age, and people after working age (such as the University of the Third Age). This new education model has to equip knowledge workers, conversant with sophisticated ICTs, who can rely on their mind and knowledge rather than on their manual and physical abilities. Knowledge workers are characterised by a high degree of expertise, and their work requires the exploitation and exploration of knowledge. Furthermore, unconventional attributes and norms are contributed to workplaces by generations Y and Z and these, in turn, can create the basis for change and innovation in work culture (Tapscott 2009; McCrindle 2014). Enterprises, therefore, face a difficult challenge in responding to new expectations. First of all, they are abandoning rigorous, hierarchical, and closed organisational structures, adopting instead meritocratic, self-organising, distributed structures, based on collaboration and partnership. These structures facilitate the communication, acquisition, and absorption of knowledge, knowledge sharing, the development of innovation and creativity, and increased efficiency and effectiveness. At the same time, the relationship between consumers from generations Y and Z and the enterprises that provide them with goods and services is undergoing a transformation (McCrindle 2014; Tapscott 2009). Anonymous, passive, one-way relationships are replaced by new ones – open, interactive relations based on partnerships. Generation Y/Z consumers get consciously involved in proactive relationships with enterprises, willing to satisfy their consumption needs through the selfdesign, reconfiguration, or even production and distribution of products. As a consequence, enterprises face the challenge of participating in processes of value creation, acquisition of new knowledge, and innovation. For this reason, consumers are replaced by prosumers in such relationships (Comor 2010; Fuchs 2011; Ritzer and Jurgenson 2010; Ziemba 2013), who may be referred to as “external company employees” who help enterprises in inventing and producing ever newer goods and services.

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The relationship between generation Y/Z and public administration is also undergoing a transformation. These citizens not only participate in public elections, but increasingly get involved in governance and decisionmaking (Hilbert 2009; Pratt 2009), as they intensify their participation in issues concerning their local environment and communities. All these actions lay the foundations upon which civic society is built, where citizens knowingly participate in public life, are active and responsible, and have self-organisation abilities. For their part, public authorities have to acknowledge these challenges and embrace them in their full scope. Their response cannot be limited to streamlining administration through the use of ICTs to rebuild internal processes of administration (e-administration) and ways of providing public services (e-government services) (Ziemba 2012; Ziemba and Olszak 2012; Ziemba and Papaj 2012). The scope of changes needs to be much broader, as it becomes necessary to create democratic structures, processes, and practices in which ICTs ensure transparency of public administration, public participation in the process of governance and the creation of public services, and democratic decision-making (e-democracy). In turn, for this to happen it is important to create networks and network spaces for cooperation among public administrations, citizens, and businesses (e-governance) (Brainard and McNutt 2010; Dawes 2008; Michel 2005). As a consequence, citizens are activated and participate in decisionmaking policies that will translate into a more effective system of government that is based on a broad consensus. The main stakeholders (actors) of the sustainable information society As highlighted above, the identified trends (the growing importance of information and knowledge, ICT development and accelerating digitisation, increasing globalisation, the development of a networking and design approach, the emergence of generations Y, Z, and Alpha) influence and shape the SIS, and set a trajectory for its development. It is necessary to constantly monitor the trends, because over the years new trends and challenges will appear. The emerging trends have a significant impact on the SIS stakeholders – people, enterprises, and government units – and the relationships among them. For stakeholders, these trends create new challenges, provide new tasks to be accomplished, and open up new possibilities and opportunities, as well as posing new threats. Consumer expectations and behaviour, attitudes to citizenship, professional expectations and style of work, self-awareness levels, and life models are changing. People performing different roles in society (e.g.,

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learners, workers, consumers, citizens) face the need to constantly improve competences, learn, and gain knowledge. For their part, enterprises need to respond to the challenge of implementing new management concepts and new business models that account for the importance of information and knowledge in the improvement and development of their skills, as well as the creation of added value, and consequently building and sustaining their competitive advantage. In addition, they may miss opportunities for business success if they ignore or minimise the role of ICTs in business activities. The information society is not created as a result of spontaneous activities of enterprises and people, but requires strategic thinking on the part of government, and the implementation of managed development components. Public authorities and public administration are responsible for creating the economic, social, political, technological, and cultural canvas on which the SIS will be developed. They must, therefore, create the conditions for the development of the SIS, yet in their actions they should use the most recent solutions based on information, knowledge, and ICTs. The SIS stakeholders are presented in Chapters Two, Three, and Four, with their challenges, tasks, and new approaches to work, consumption, business, and public administration. The competences of the sustainable information society The SIS is a society in which people, enterprises, and public administration are capable of continuous learning and improvement of their competences, resulting in adaptation and development, revitalisation, reconstruction, and reorientation in response to emerging trends and challenges. Thus it does not represent a state of harmony, but a continuous and harmonious process of change, created by information, knowledge, and ICTs. The main subjects of transformation are processes, business models, individual people’s behaviour and tasks, and public administration functions. These changes are in close correlation with each other and remodel relations between different SIS stakeholders. For example, the exploration of knowledge and innovation creation is less effective if confined to enterprises’ internal R&D activities. At the same time, consumers increasingly want to satisfy their needs through self-design, reconfiguration, or even the production and distribution of products. It is therefore beginning to make sense for enterprises to use potential consumers, in particular their knowledge, creativity, and innovation, in the process of creating innovation. So a new role is played by consumers (they

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become prosumers); a new business model appears (prosumption); and a new management concept is implemented (consumer knowledge management). Patterns and principles of behaviour that characterise the sustainable information society In order to act and work together for SIS development, stakeholders need patterns or principles that set out the framework for behaviour, action, and cooperation. Those principles are largely shaped by the emerging trends described above. The most important ones that shape behaviour, action, and cooperation conducive to the SIS include networking, partnership, trust, transparency, openness, creativity, adaptability, and entrepreneurship. Networks play a special role in the SIS. They generate new relationships between SIS stakeholders, and encourage the activation of talents and creativity. Their potential is frequently based on multidisciplinary teams that go beyond traditional organisational boundaries. Members of these teams use a design approach and cooperate in various institutional configurations that are created and disbanded depending on current challenges. Such a situation is mainly manifested in developing networks of connections between workers who work on joint tasks, learners who learn together, and some stakeholders who are interested in a particular topic and work on achieving certain common objectives. In this way people, enterprises, and public administration may jointly reflect on the consequences of different economic, technological, and social changes, formulate appropriate recommendations, and take more effective actions. The philosophy of a network approach is based on partnership and trust. In the SIS, partnerships between individuals, businesses, and government units should be commonplace and exist amongst and between these stakeholders. Various stakeholders may partner together to increase the likelihood of each pursuing their interests and achieving their goals. Only those partners that possess the best competences in a given field are allocated resources, tasks, and responsibilities. At the same time, partnerships have to mean openness, transparency, clearly defined goals and tasks, and full compliance with the subsidiarity principle. Joint problem diagnosis and solution finding allows access to better resources on the one hand (matching various competences that are at the disposal of various stakeholders), and allows for cost optimising on the other (cosharing of costs with the same outcomes).

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The next key principle that shapes the SIS is trust. It can be applied to individuals as well as various societies, and is also attributable to relationships within and between SIS stakeholder groups. It may have different faces. Trust is often conceptualised as reliability in transactions and belief in the competence, honesty, fairness, benevolence, or positive intentions of others (Paliszkiewicz et al. 2014; Grudzewski et al. 2010). Trust has focal meaning for quality relationships, clear communication, knowledge sharing, a clear understanding of expectations, building social capital, and, as a result of all these, the success of any collaboration. It is seen as a lubricant, reducing the cost of transactions between parties, enabling new forms of cooperation, shaping stakeholder engagement, improving effective leadership, and generally furthering individual, business, and government activities and their prosperity. Partnerships and trust are strongly connected with transparency. This means that the intentions, actions, and work outcomes of various stakeholders are easy for others to see. Hence, application of the transparency principle results in the removal of any asymmetry in access to information. To increment transparency, greater disclosure, clarity, and accuracy in communications between SIS stakeholders must be ensured; this prevents the imposition of particular goals and SIS functions on the part of a narrow group of interests. In this way the interests of all stakeholders may be pursued, rather than those of any specific group. Used in various social communities, businesses, and public administration, transparency implies communications, accountability, and openness. Openness relates to transparency and is most often seen in terms of access to information, especially within enterprises, government units, or societies (Peters 2010). It also emphasises collaborative and cooperative management and decision-making, rather than that of a central authority. The SIS can be called an “open society.” In essence, openness implies new forms of government, business, work, education, people, culture, and society. Open government demands that government decision-making is transparent at all levels, public records are open to public scrutiny, and individuals have the right of access to public information. Open business or enterprise is built upon openness movements and their components, such as free or open source software, open content, and open tools and standards. The values of transparency, stakeholder inclusion, and accountability are of paramount importance in this approach. Openness at work means cooperative or collaborative management and decisionmaking, as well as activities aimed at improving communication in enterprises and government units. In its implementation, such enterprises and government units make use of flat hierarchies and consensus-based

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decision-making. Open education is built on the nested and evolving convergences of open publishing, open access, and open science. Open educational materials are used and reused for teaching, learning, and research. Openness is also directly tied to individuals. Open people are regarded as experimental, creative, curious, flexible, and innovative. Open cultures are focused on political, technological, social, and organisational ways of advancing the free flows of information. Finally, the primary demands of the open society are a free press, transparent government, pluralism, checks and balances, tolerance, freedom of thought, and open public debate. The SIS is an era of permanent change, instability, and risk caused mainly by globalisation, new technologies, transparency, and openness. Stakeholders should adapt to these changes, whether technological, economic, social, culture, or political. Adaptability can be seen as the ability to alter something else or oneself to fit to occurring changes. This adaptability is twofold: on the one hand, it copes with unexpected changes in the environment; on the other, it takes into account internal changes. Only open and constantly learning systems have the necessary capacity for adaptability. Application of the principle of adaptability by people, enterprises, and public administration is a way of preserving the flexibility – and hence the efficiency – of the SIS. In this environment, an individual must acknowledge the need to change based on some current or future perceived modifications in the environment, and adjust his or her behaviour accordingly. Enterprises and public administration, for their part, must focus on the four organisational capabilities that foster rapid adaptation. These are: the ability to see, understand, and act upon signs of change; the ability to experiment with products, business models, processes, and strategies; the ability to manage complex and interconnected systems of multiple stakeholders; and the ability to motivate employees and partners (Kuyap 2014). In the SIS, creativity, and the related concept of innovation, are tremendous generators of added value for people, business, and public administration. Creativity means “deliberately creating something that is new and useful” (Wessel 2012, 31). It is the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, concepts, theories, relationships, theories, or the like, and to create meaningful new and innovative ideas, forms, methods, approaches, concepts, and interpretations. In society, where events such as globalisation and rapid advances in ICTs present unique challenges, the ability to be creative and innovative is often considered a core competency for success. The two perspectives of creativity are especially important: personal creativity and business creativity. Personal creativity gives people

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a greater sense of self-worth, adds greater meaning to their work, and makes everyday life deeply satisfying. By contrast, business creativity sets enterprises free to discover new products, markets, and ways of doing or leading business. Tapping into employee and, increasingly, consumer creativity allows enterprises to bring out innovative ideas, products, and services, and ultimately leads to greater customer satisfaction. Public administration also requires creativity in order to become sustainable. It should focus on creativity and innovation to make its activities more efficient and effective, as well as easing the lives of people and businesses. Last but not least, entrepreneurship on the part of people, enterprises, and government units is needed for the SIS. From the individual point of view, entrepreneurial behaviour means visionary imagination, selfconfidence, hopefulness, a propensity to take risks in order to achieve certain goals, perseverance in pursuing goals, the ability to think creatively, the ability to seek inspiration in defeat, an appreciation of knowledge and experience, the ability to learn from others, organisational skills, and the ability to be glad with success (Sobiecki 2009). Entrepreneurship as regards business and public administration implies reorganisation, reconstruction, reorientation, and revitalisation – and is not, as was the case in the past, necessarily connected with the ability to set up an enterprise or public administration. At the same time it means seizing all opportunities and possibilities. From a practical point of view, entrepreneurship requires certain innovations and their consistent implementation (Grudzewski et al. 2010). To this end, the efficient use of resources, especially knowledge and human capital, is essential. The next best thing is a prompt and flexible response to market signals. Furthermore, many lower-added-value enterprise functions that do not require key or distinctive competences are performed by business partners and consumers (KoĨmiĔski 2004). Generally, depending on the entrepreneurship applicability for the society and the entrepreneurial activities undertaken, four types can be distinguished (Grudzewski et al. 2010): 1) Indifferent entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial activities of a particular person, group of people, or whole enterprise aim exclusively at the improvement of their well-being. 2) Social entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial activities of a particular person, group of people, or whole enterprise aim at the improvement of their existence and the well-being of others. 3) Egoistic entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial activities of a particular person, group of people, or whole enterprise contribute to the improvement of their well-being, but at the expense of others.

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4) Pathological entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial activities of a particular person, group of people, or whole enterprise are pathological, and contribute the improvement of their well-being at the expense of others. In the SIS, social entrepreneurship is obviously very desirable. It is connected with the employment of other people, the purchase of materials from other entrepreneurs, and the integration of business partners and consumers into processes of innovation and added value creation; but it is also associated with the improvement of people’s well-being and attaining social objectives. For the SIS, social entrepreneurship is explicit and central. It ties in with “applying practical, innovative and sustainable approaches to benefit society in general, with an emphasis on those who are marginalized and poor” (London and Morfopoulos 2010, 2). The goals of the sustainable information society The SIS encourages continuous and flexible development of people, business, and public administration, and stays in harmony with the environment and the interests of different stakeholders. Its aim is to meet current needs without compromising the needs of future generations and without risk to a variety of natural and socio-technical systems, such as the natural environment, family, social class, social group, enterprise, household, national economy, and so on. The indirect objective of the system is the positive absorption of emerging trends, creating broadly defined added value. This leads to the achievement of direct objectives, such as building the welfare of present and future generations, ensuring economic growth, increasing political participation, and building the wisdom of society, at the same time as balancing the interests of stakeholders and diverse socio-technical and natural systems (including social strata and community groups, families and households, the national economy, and the environment). The critical success factors for the sustainable information society Building the SIS is not straightforward, and it is not the responsibility of the public administration and public authorities alone. It is a complex endeavour that implicates different tiers of citizens, businesses, and public administration. The SIS requires close cooperation between citizens and businesses, in conjunction with national, regional, and local public

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administration. In order to turn the idea of the SIS into reality, all stakeholders of society must take their own share of responsibility. It becomes critically important then to define clear mandates and responsibilities, and ensure that policies are coherent with the goals of the SIS. Furthermore, the coordination of many activities is needed, aimed at reconciling technological, organisational, social, economic, and political issues. In general, numerous factors contribute to success in building the SIS, and so many matters can compete for attention that it is often difficult to see the wood for the trees. Hence, a major challenge is to identify these factors and issues. This is where the theory of critical success factors (CSFs) can help. Its use in building a framework of factors for the successful SIS is presented in sections 1.5, 2.4, 3.4, and 4.4. Measurement of the sustainable information society In order to make rational personal, business, and political decisions we need to have quantitative tools for measuring the state of affairs, defining directions of desirable actions and evaluating their effects. Already a few decades ago, Drucker (or maybe Deming) said, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” (Moon 2013, 15). DeMarco (1982, 6) also pointed out the need to measure performance: “You can’t control what you can’t measure.” For SIS development, the measurement of growth plays an important role. A quantitative examination and description of the SIS are indispensable means of managing transformations that lead to its development. Such measurement has many important functions: it helps business and public administration managers to perform many tasks, from evaluating how well the enterprises and government units did in the past to learning how to improve in the future. This is a prerequisite for the formulation, implementation, and verification of various development programmes. Moreover, it allows the location and definition of important issues that need to be resolved, and establishes expectations and future activities. Generally, the main, utilitarian functions of quantitative research of the SIS are (GoliĔski 2011): x defining the development priorities and objectives of the SIS; x assessment of progress in achieving the defined objectives of the SIS; x monitoring of the processes in the SIS;

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x support for investment decisions regarding the development of the SIS; x measurement of selected parameters that characterise the SIS; x giving the opportunity for benchmarking. The foundation of SIS measurement should conform to good practice for information society measurement. Finally, it is important to account for the measurement of the sustainable imperative in the methodology. Chapter Five covers the measurement of the SIS in detail.

1.3.3 Definition and Features of the Sustainable Information Society The key components of the SIS are its stakeholders, ICTs, information and knowledge, emerging trends, competences, patterns of behaviour, and critical success factors. Its inseparable elements are also its objectives and the measurement of their achievement. Taking all these elements into account, the conceptual framework of the SIS is presented in Fig. 1.1 (overleaf). The stakeholders form the main nexus of the SIS, namely people, enterprises, and public administration. At the same time, they are responsible for the building of the SIS. This stems from the fact that the SIS is a joint effort which requires cooperation and partnership among the members of society as a whole. The stakeholders are capable of continuous learning and improvement of their competences, resulting in adaptation and development, revitalisation, reconstruction, and reorientation in response to the emerging trends and challenges. In order to do this, the stakeholders effectively employ information and ICTs. To act together for SIS development, the stakeholders need patterns that set out the framework for behaviour, actions, and cooperation. The most important ones include networking, partnership, trust, transparency, openness, creativity, adaptability, and entrepreneurship.

Public administration Enterprises

People

STAKEHOLDERS

COMPETENCES OF THE SUSTAINABLE INFORMATION SOCIETY learning, adaptation, development, revitalisation, reconstruction, reorientation

Figure 1.1. The conceptual framework of the SIS. Source: (Ziemba 2013a, 2014)

MEASUREMENT OF THE SUSTAINABLE INFORMATION SOCIETY ICT access – ICT competences – ICT use

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS ICT access – ICT competences – ICT use economic, socio-cultural, technological, organisational

PRINCIPLES trust – partnership – networking – transparency – openness – creativity – adaptability – entrepreneurship

DATA INFORMATION KNOWLEDGE

ICTs computers, networks… digital services digital contents

TRENDS growing importance of knowledge and knowledge management ICT development and accelerating digitalisation increasing globalisation networking and design approach development emergence of Generation Y/Z/Alpha

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUSTAINABLE INFORMATION SOCIETY

GOALS OF THE SUSTAINABLE INFORMATION SOCIETY building welfare, ensuring economic development, increasing participation in political life, building wisdom of society

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The emerging trends have a significant impact on the stakeholders and the relationships between them. Particular examples today include the growing importance of knowledge and knowledge management, rapid development of ICTs, accelerating digitisation, increasing globalisation, a development and design approach, and the emergence of generations Y and Z. It is necessary to monitor these trends constantly, because over the years new trends and challenges will appear which will, in turn, affect the stakeholders and the relationships between them, and ultimately shape the SIS. All emerging trends should be adapted by the stakeholders in order to build the welfare of present and future generations, ensure economic growth, increase social participation, and build the wisdom of society, while balancing stakeholder interests and diverse socio-technical and natural systems such as social strata and community groups, families and households, the national economy, and the environment. Moreover, there are different determinants that are indispensable for the successful development of the SIS, and, on the other hand, barriers hindering this development. The nature of these determinants and barriers varies; they are mainly of an economic, technological, social, organisational, cultural, and political character. They should be considered at these three stages: (1) ICT access, reflecting the technical and economic accessibility of ICTs; (2) ICT competences, reflecting competences and awareness related to the use of ICTs; and (3) ICT use, reflecting efficient and effective usage of ICTs by all stakeholders. These determinants and barriers influence the breadth and depth of the SIS, that is, its maturity level as reflected in the various indicators and indices. In turn, measurement of the SIS is an indispensable means of managing transformations leading to its development. Taking all these matters into consideration, a closer look at the components of society and the relations between them reveals the following definition of the SIS: The sustainable information society is a society whose stakeholders effectively use data, information, knowledge, and ICTs to learn and improve their competencies continuously, for the development, revitalisation, reconstruction, and reorientation of their activities, and as a result positively adapt to trends, and thus build the welfare of present and future generations, ensure economic growth, increase participation in social life, and build the wisdom of society, while balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders as well as natural and socio-technical systems.

At the end of the discussion on the nature of the SIS, the main categories that characterise this kind of society are identified and presented

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in Table 1.1. The basis for identifying these categories was a series of studies conducted by GoliĔski (2011) and Karvalics (2008), who identified the main categories of the information society. Table 1.1. Basic categories, dominant features, and metaphors of the SIS Dominant feature Production Development of the ICT sector in the economy. Increase in the importance of ICTs for the functioning of other sectors. Increase in investment expenditure on ICTs. Development of service sectors in the economy. Increased role of services based on ICTs. The development of services which require sound knowledge and skills to use ICTs.

Consumption Increase in purchasing information and cultural goods and services. Increase in consumption expenditure on ICTs. Consumer needs are increasingly satisfied with selfdesign, reconfiguration, or even production and distribution of products. Blurring of the traditional roles of “producer” and “consumer.” Consumers increasingly collaborate with enterprises or with other consumers to produce things of value. Personalisation and mass customisation. Resources and technology Increase in role of information and knowledge. Increasing the value of intellectual capital. ICTs are of major strategic importance for the creation of human well-being. ICTs benefit all aspects of life, e.g., government services, healthcare, education, employment.

Metaphor

Information industry. Knowledge industry. Information economy. Knowledge economy. Knowledge-based economy. E-economy. Service-based economy. Intellectual industries. Digital products. Prosumption. Prosumers. Co-creation. Co-production. Consumer society. Mass customisations.

Information capital. Corporate knowledge assets. Corporate knowledge assets. Intellectual capital. Human capital. Social capital. Network capital.

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Employment Increase in the number of employees in information processing. Increase in the number of employees in the service sectors. Increase in employees who use information and ICTs. Work A departure from rigid, hierarchical, and closed organisational structures towards meritocratic, selforganising, distributed structures. Progress of people is based on ability and talent rather than on class privilege or wealth. Work based on communication, collaboration and partnership. Work based on knowledge and information. Increase in the importance of telecommuting. Education Increasing role of education in the labour market. Increase in the educational level of society. The eradication of illiteracy. Increasing role of the ability to learn and improve competencies during entire life. Use of ICTs at all stages of education. Increase in the importance of ICT skills. Increase in knowledge frontiers, information space. Public authority Creating, promoting and applying participation, openness, transparency, and cooperation. Transparency and participation in the management of local affairs. Freedom to communicate and equal access to information and knowledge constitute fundamental rights for everybody. Cooperation between local and regional authorities of the world. Rationalisation and improvement of the public administration by using ICTs. Influence of ICTs in citizen participation in political and social life. Use of ICTs to deliver public services to people and enterprises. Transformation from bureaucratic government to relational government.

Knowledge workers. White-collar workers. Knowledge class. Mind worker. Cogitariat. Digitariat. Meritocracy. E-working. Resources and technology. Teleworking. Telecommuting.

Knowledge workers. Meritocracy. Learning society. Life-long learning. E-learning. Learning society. Scientific revolution.

E-democracy. E-participation. E-government. E-government services. E-governance. Participatory democracy.

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Growth Growth based on knowledge and innovation. Growth based on a high-employment economy delivering economic, social, and territorial cohesion. Growth for a resource-efficient, greener, and more competitive economy and to aid people’s welfare (human well-being). Culture Respect for cultural and linguistic diversity. Concentration on establishing digital solidarity, both in society and worldwide. Increase in the importance of freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, shared responsibility. Transformation from centrality to cultural decentralisation. Sustainability Neutral or positive impact of ICTs on the environment. Usability, as well as widespread use, of information and ICTs. Wealth for all by encouraging (the application of) information and ICTs. Participation of all in social, economic, cultural, and political life, enabled by information and ICTs. Wisdom, literacy, and high skill levels of all, advanced by information and ICTs. Management Globalisation of the economy. Adoption of new concepts of management. Development of new business models based on ICTs. A flexible, adaptable and informal form of organisation without formal structure. Establishing global and international enterprises. Development of online businesses based on openness, networking, peering, sharing and collaboration.

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Smart growth. Inclusive growth. Sustainable growth.

Digital solidarity. Cultural diversity. Technoculture.

Ecological sustainability. Technological sustainability. Economic sustainability. Political sustainability. Socio-cultural sustainability.

Trust management. Innovation management. Knowledge management. Consumer knowledge management. Virtualisation. Enterprise 2.0. Crowdsourcing. Business intelligence. Wikinomics. Adhocracy. Management 2.0.

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Networking Network as a model of contemporary society, economy, and business. Development of the virtual society. Worldview increasingly created by information and ICTs. Strengthening of online communities, including voluntary communities. Threats Advent of new forms of stratification concerned with education levels and accessibility of ICTs. Replacement of traditional forms of warfare, placing economic conflicts into an information and ICT context. Fight against cyber-crime. Combatting the digital divide and social and economic stratification. Commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive, and development-oriented society. Commitment to build confidence and security in the use of ICTs.

Network society. Cloud computing. Wikonomics. Virtual society. Wired society. Global village. World connectivity. Information warfare. Cyber crime. Risk society. Digital divide. Cyber terrorism. Digital gap.

In summary, the SIS as defined is a multidimensional system which calls for a multifaceted modus operandi for its programming, construction, and development. It would aid stakeholders to find answers to important contemporary questions, in particular (Ziemba 2013a): x People. What are the new requirements towards employees and consumers? What are the needs of the labour market? What are the transformations of relationships between people, enterprises, and government agencies? What competencies should contemporary people have? What ICT skills are important for people? x Enterprises. What determines the competitiveness of the business? What are the major resources of enterprises? What roles are played by knowledge and ICTs in business? What competencies are important for enterprises? Who are today’s customers, and what are their requirements? x Education institutions. How has the labour market been transformed? What competencies are important for contemporary people? What are the new requirements for the education of pupils, students, and staff? What ICTs can be used to support the learning process? What ICT skills are important for people?

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x Government agencies. How are the requirements of citizens and enterprises changing towards government agencies? What competencies are important for government agencies? What role do ICTs play in public administration? x Government authorities. What are the objectives of the SIS? What are the characteristic competencies of the SIS? What are the crucial pillars of the SIS? As a result, the SIS system should help to identify and evaluate emerging trends, design necessary changes, and plan and develop activities and initiatives so as to take advantage of those trends and build welfare in a broad sense, taking as much possible advantage of emerging opportunities while at the same time avoiding risks.

1.4 ICTs as a Vital Nexus of the Sustainable Information Society 1.4.1 Key Attributes of ICTs ICTs are a key enabler for boosting the development of the SIS. They make significant contributions to revolutionary changes in everyday life, business, and public administration, transforming society and fuelling economic growth. If SIS stakeholders are unable to acquire the capabilities to use ICTs effectively, they will be increasingly disadvantaged or even excluded from the benefits afforded by ICTs. The social and economic potential of ICTs for development is enormous, but so too are the risks of exclusion and stratification. The effective use of ICTs to enhance social inclusion and economic growth is without doubt one of the key challenges facing public administration and authority, businesses, and every individual. In general terms, ICTs can be approached from two angles: as a tool, and as an industry (Ziemba 2014). As a tool, available and usable ICTs can truly change the way societies function in the dimensions of work, entertainment, studies, government, and life, at the personal, organisational, sector, vocational, and national level. ICTs as a tool include ICT infrastructure (hardware, networks, and telecommunication), and software (system and application software, or information systems). As an industry, ICTs have become a major economic driver in the hardware, software, telecommunications, and consulting services sectors. In the SIS, the possibilities offered by ICTs have the potential to contribute to societal and economic goals for growth, innovation,

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sustainability, quality of life, and equality. In particular, these goals now include ameliorating sustainable economic growth, improving productivity, offering employment opportunities, supporting innovation, enhancing the effectiveness and responsiveness of government services, ensuring the welfare of citizens, fostering social inclusion, and creating the conditions for the formation of competitive, equitable, and sustainable knowledge economies. The power of ICTs lies mainly in their capacity to improve the exchange of information and knowledge and to create new economic and social networks. Upon closer analysis, the following key attributes of ICTs make them of crucial importance to the development of the SIS (Microsoft 2004; Zicmane 2004): x ICTs are global: they can overcome cultural, linguistic, geographic, and time barriers. x ICTs can create a network: they can tap into networks of people and information. x ICTs are crosscutting: they apply to the whole range of human activities, whether public, business, or private. x ICTs are multifunctional and increasingly interoperable: they can allow users to combine and implement them in almost infinite ways. x ICTs are efficient: they can lead to reduced costs and substantial efficiency gains in production, distribution, and marketing. x ICTs contribute to the management of knowledge and information: they have the ability to support acquisition, collection, storage, retrieval, and distribution of knowledge and information. The above attributes make ICTs an essential enabler of the SIS. ICTs act as enablers in several respects: of environmental protection (ecological sustainability); of economic growth (economic sustainability); of sociocultural development (socio-cultural sustainability); and of governance (political sustainability).

1.4.2 ICTs as Enablers of Ecological Sustainability ICTs may be used to great effect to contribute to ecological sustainability; this can be achieved by dematerialising production and consumption, resulting in a significantly lower use of natural resources (Schauer 2003). Unfortunately, the positive effect of ICTs on the environment is not evident.

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Admittedly, thanks to ICTs, physical traffic is largely replaced by virtual traffic, physical products by virtual products, physical shops by virtual shops, printed documents by virtual documents, which means that ICTs contribute to more efficient use of natural resources and decrease waste production, as well as allowing energy and transport savings. Moreover, ICTs can be used to monitor and evaluate the state of the natural environment. For some time, ICT applications have supported the processing of environmental information in the form of monitoring systems, databases, information systems, analytical and simulation models, spatial information processing, and other kinds of ICT applications for environmental protection, research, planning, and disaster mitigation. This intensively developing field is called “environmental informatics,” and it integrates elements of computer science such as database systems, geographic information systems, modelling and simulation, knowledge-based systems, and neural networks, in order to use them to solve environmental issues. Environmental informatics contributes to sustainable development by supplying shared data that creates a basis for understanding and, in consequence, promotes the emergence of shared policies and strategies with regard to environmental problems (Hilty, Lohmann, and Huang 2011, 4; Hilty and Aebischer 2015). However, a lot of studies suggest that, in the words of Zicmane (2004, 11), a “significant economic structural change towards a ‘dematerialized’ e-economy induced or influenced by the ICT sector (as it can be defined statistically) cannot be observed. Neither can dramatic negative environmental effects be anticipated.” There are many causes for this situation: for example, significant resources are needed during ICT production, there is an emerging trend towards shorter service lives of ICT devices, and ICTs are used to promote lifestyles with a higher resource consumption. According to Hilty et al., there are three levels of ecological ICT effects that should be taken into account (Hilty 2010; Hilty, Lohmann, and Huang 2011): x “First-order” (primary) effects, also called “green in ICTs”: effects of the physical existence of ICTs (environmental impacts of the design, production, use, recycling, and disposal of ICT hardware). x “Second-order” (secondary) effects, also called “green by ICTs”: indirect effects of ICTs, changing the life-cycle processes of any products (environmental impacts of the design, production, use, recycling, and disposal of other products).

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x “Third-order” (tertiary) effects: effects of the medium- or long-term adaptation of behaviour and economic structures to the availability of ICTs. The effect of the physical existence of ICTs on ecological sustainability is far from clear. There are many instances where ICTs either make no difference to the environment or are even having negative consequences (Hilty, Lohmann, and Huang 2011). For example, many scarce resources and highly valuable (and also highly toxic) materials are used in electronics products, thus making recycling difficult and less efficient. Moreover, because of the miniaturisation and integration of electronics products, the demand for rare metals is growing fast; the trend towards a shorter service life for ICT hardware is severely increasing this demand. ICT products differ in terms of production, use, and end-of-life treatment. For some of them (e.g., servers) it is indispensable to cut down their power usage, while for others the optimisation of their design for recycling purposes or to avoid negative effects during end-of-life treatment is more important. According to the second-order effects, ICTs can be viewed as enablers, improving processes in other sectors (Hilty 2010; Hilty, Lohmann, and Huang 2011). ICTs can be used to modify the life-cycle processes of other products. Such modifications could be made in various ways, by optimising their design, production, use, and disposal, by substituting ICT services for physical products, and by introducing more functional units in place of less functional units. Third-order effects arise from changes in economic and social structures and behaviour (e.g., dematerialisation, the networked economy) enabled by the availability, accessibility, application, and use of ICT goods and services. ICTs have a profound influence on economic and social issues. Amongst these are the attitudes, expectations, and behaviour of individuals as consumers, citizens, and members of various communities; the demand and supply of products; organisational structures; production, distribution, and service processes; and governance in the private and public sectors. The economy is becoming less resourceintensive and increasingly dematerialised and weightless, which reduces environmental impacts (Fuchs 2008). However, attention needs to be paid to the issue of rebound effects (Hilty 2010). For example, burning digital music onto DVDs or printing digital books results in rebound effects that cause new material and energy impacts (Fuchs 2008). From this perspective, choices made by people, businesses, and public administration about how to use ICTs to change their structures and

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behaviour will play a potentially significant role in achieving sustainable development. In general, ICTs for environmental sustainability can be subdivided into sustainability in ICTs on the one hand, and sustainability by ICTs on the other (Hilty and Aebischer 2015). Sustainability in ICTs refers to ICT goods and services being more sustainable across their whole life cycle, which is achieved through the reduction of energy and material flows connected with them. Sustainability by ICTs reflects the creation, enabling, and encouragement of sustainable patterns of production and consumption by means of ICTs.

1.4.3 ICTs as Enablers of Economic Sustainability ICTs are a crucial driving force in business performance improvement and productivity growth, thereby ensuring a stable and sustainable economic growth. Sustained economic growth is a result of the ubiquitous adoption of ICTs by all organisations, especially enterprises and government units. ICTs can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of enterprises and public administration, simply through the processing of information and knowledge. Moreover, new theories and models of business and public administration become extraordinarily powerful instruments for economic growth with the support of ICTs. There is a rich literature examining the multi-channel contributions of ICTs to economic growth, primarily focused on the US and Europe, but also taking in other regions such as Asia. Examples of such studies include Antonopoulos and Sakellaris (2009), Avgerou (2003, 2010), Correa (2006), Guillemette and Paré (2012, 2012a), Jorgenson and Vu (2010, 2011), Jalava and Pohjola (2007), Khoung (2014), Martínez et al. (2008), Miller and Atkinson (2014), and Piatkowski (2004). The studies illustrate the contributions of ICTs to growth, which come from ICT usage, investment, and production. Poland likewise is banking on the development of the ICT sector and ICT use in other sectors (Agencja M Promotion 2013). The Polish ICT industry specialises in the consumer electronics sector and the production of custom software, electronic games, and mobile solutions. ICT projects have mainly been carried out in the following areas: health protection, telecommunications, finances, and public administration, as well as the armament and automotive fields of industry. Poland is the fifth largest economy in Europe in terms of employment levels in the ICT-producing sector. It also presents itself as an attractive location for R&D centres and start-ups that specialise in software development. Poland is in the process

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of transition from an economy based on production-system efficiency to one based on knowledge and innovation. As a crucial part of this process, the country focuses on the development of the ICT sector and the improvement of business and public administration through the use of ICTs. Economic sustainability can be achieved with ICTs for the following reasons, amongst others: x ICTs allow the processing of an immense amount of information, reducing information asymmetry and incompleteness, the most frequent cause of market failure. x ICTs support knowledge management, i.e., the acquisition, creation, storage, and sharing of ideas and expertise, locally, regionally, and across the world, thus enhancing competitive advantage and wealth creation. x ICTs allow better integration, coordination, and management of value chains, reducing delivery times and coordinating stock levels through improved monitoring of supply and demand, which in turn enhances customer service. x ICTs allow synchronisation and synchronicity of tasks and activities, enhancing the optimal use of resources and inputs. x ICTs allow an improved decision-making process at the lower, the middle, and particularly the top levels of management, increasing productivity in both enterprise and public administration. x ICTs stimulate and accelerate the process of innovation, encouraging the creation and development of new ideas, products, and services. x ICTs initiate change and the reengineering of processes in enterprises and public administration, thereby improving organisational productivity. x ICTs make it easier to cooperate and build trading partnerships, reducing transaction costs. x ICTs allow swift and simple communications, enhancing openness and transparency. x ICTs make it easier to access consumption and labour markets, increasing consumption and employment. x ICTs contribute to the creation of new business models, especially B2B (business-to-business), enabling enterprises to lower costs in procurement, production, sales, and distribution, as well as stimulating the development of new markets and services.

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In fact, investment in ICTs can spur stable and sustainable economic growth in three ways: it contributes to overall capital deepening, helping to increase labour productivity and economic growth; technological progress may contribute to faster economic growth in the ICT sector; and greater use of ICTs outside the ICT sector helps enterprises and public administration to increase efficiency and develop new products and services, hence increasing productivity and ensuring growth. However, it is clear that simple diffusion and use of ICTs alone will not lead to stronger economic growth and sustainability: “Indeed, economic performance is not the result of a single technology, policy or institutional arrangement, but of a comprehensive and co-ordinated set of actions to create the right conditions for growth and innovation” (Zicmane 2004, 20). First, while proper use of ICTs surely improves efficiency and productivity, poorly planned and designed ICTs increase costs and time in their implementation, when the process of efficiency could be achieved by some other cheaper alternatives. Moreover, adding ICTs to an already ineffective and inefficient environment (for example, processes) will just make it more ineffective and inefficient, and quite likely more expensive. Therefore, an appropriate planning and design methodology is extremely important. ICT implementation must include a preliminary phase to analyse and “clean up” the environment before designing the ICT-enabled version. Second, because changes in organisations and ICTs are enduring, the alignment of ICTs with business objectives must not only be understood, but constantly renewed and adjusted. The introduction of ICTs must be accompanied by changes in management and organisational structure, preceding implementation, for example, by a reengineering of business processes. Some processes should be removed, while others should be modified and improved. However, ICTs are often an enabler for new processes. Third, governments play a critical role in fostering ICT adoption (Khuong 2014). To this end, an effective strategy, wellconsidered policy initiatives for ICT development, and government support are all critical for ICT contribution to economic growth. In summary, thanks to ICTs the pace of innovation and diffusion of knowledge has considerably accelerated, giving enterprises, industries, and whole economies the opportunity to enhance economic growth through the adoption of new concepts, models, and ideas. Yet ICTs will not be effectively utilised without changes in the structure, organisation, and business models of enterprises and without improved ICT skills in the labour force. In order to take full advantage of ICTs, authorities and businesses should create economic policies that foster a friendly business environment, encourage trade, create a positive environment for foreign

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capital inflows and human capital investments, improve the effectiveness of law enforcement, boost macroeconomic stability, and, of primary importance, promote competition in the labour and product markets.

1.4.4 ICTs as Enablers of Socio-Cultural Sustainability ICTs are bound to play an increasingly prominent role in enabling sociocultural sustainability. A prerequisite for social development is economic growth driven by ICTs, and economic sustainability provides the foundation for socio-cultural sustainability. Moreover, ICTs are contributing to revolutionary changes in everyday life. The implications of ICTs for the social, entertainment, and cultural sectors are enormous, but they are not a panacea for social and cultural disadvantages. Applying ICTs may destroy more jobs than it creates, giving rise to the risks of unemployment and social dislocation, widening the gap between rich and poor, increasing the problem for policy makers of computerised crime, curtailing people’s safety, and so on. Therefore, there is an urgent need to prioritise the development of ICT strategies and actions that are oriented towards people. Such an approach may marginalise social disadvantages, reduce poverty, increase employment, and improve people’s everyday lives. Socio-cultural sustainability can be achieved through ICTs for the following reasons, amongst others: x ICTs make it easier to learn, train, and retrain, at all levels, in both formal and informal education. x ICTs support scientific and technical R&D activities, collaboration, and knowledge sharing between members of various scientific and technical research communities. x ICTs change the nature of work and the working environment, creating new professions and new ways of performing work (e.g., e-working). x ICTs require a curriculum revision to introduce knowledge and skills that are relevant to their production and use. x ICTs play important roles in contributing to improved food security, understanding of disease pathology, and better healthcare. x ICTs facilitate improved weather prediction, forecast various disasters, and support humanitarian initiatives. x ICTs enable all to access and contribute the necessary knowledge to guarantee human rights and social justice.

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x ICTs enable marginalised and vulnerable groups in society (e.g. disabled people, the elderly, and pensioners) to participate more actively in various social and cultural communities. x ICTs allow the promotion of cultural diversity, local culture and traditions, culture heritage, and common values. ICTs create new opportunities that can be controlled, provided the suitable skills and capabilities are employed. This entails sufficient investment to modify and revitalise science-based education and to lay the foundations for the SIS generally. In order to achieve this, society should be provided with the conditions for lifelong learning, to upgrade and improve its capacity to respond to threats and exploit every opportunity for advancement and for the improvement of its quality of life (Mansel 1999; Partridge 2007; WSIS 2014). Overall, ICTs can become a powerful tool to improve people’s everyday lives only if information and ICT literacy are affordable and available to all. The enhancement of information and ICT awareness and culture among different social strata entails significantly greater use of ICTs in people’s day-to-day activities, thereby creating a genuine bond with the technology.

1.4.5 ICTs as Enablers of Political Sustainability The design of socio-cultural and economic sustainability is heavily dependent on political conditions. These conditions are usually defined by government authorities. Many societies are experiencing further democratic development, with various groups increasingly participating in the processes of government decision-making (Axelsson 2013); in this way the transition to political sustainability can be observed. Political sustainability means the participation of all in social, economic, cultural, and political life, enabled by information and ICTs, and can be reached through open, coherent, accountable, productive, and efficient government structures supported by ICTs. In this situation there is large role to be played by the concept of governance, in particular e-governance. Some definitions of governance focus on the technical and administrative aspects of policy implementation and public resource management. Others concentrate on government engagement with industry and society. According to such definitions, governance is “how institutions, rules and systems of the state – executive, legislature, judiciary, and military – operate at central and local levels and how the state relates to individual citizens, civil society and the private sector”

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(Phillips, Caldwell, and Callender 2007, 140). But going further, it is also worth considering the characteristics of poor and good governance. Poor governance is characterised by arbitrary policy making, unaccountable bureaucracies, unenforced or unjust legal systems, the abuse of executive power, a civil society unengaged in public life, and widespread corruption. Good governance, meanwhile, is epitomised by predictable, open, and enlightened policy making, a bureaucracy imbued with a professional ethos acting in furtherance of the public good, the rule of law, transparent processes, and a strong civil society participating in public affairs. Certain key issues are appropriate for good governance, namely transparency, participation, accountability, efficiency, effectiveness, ethics, equity, and responsiveness (Johnston 2003). A fundamental requirement of political sustainability is good governance supported by ICTs. Therefore, e-democracy and e-governance are starting to play an ever-greater role in the SIS. E-democracy refers to democratic structures, processes, and practices in which ICTs are utilised to improve transparency, citizen participation, and democratic decisionmaking. Meanwhile, e-governance means cooperation, networking, and partnership relations between government agencies, citizens, and business. As for more specific recommendations, e-government services are now recognised as one of the central elements of good governance. Similarly, e-public procurement has the potential not only to bring savings to the public administration, decreasing bureaucracy and the scope for corruption, but could also to galvanise the interest of firms in using more advanced ICTs in the private sector as well (Piatkowski 2004). Section 4.2 covers some of these issues in detail.

1.4.6 ICT Competence of Sustainable Information Society Stakeholders ICT employment is a large and strategically important part of the SIS. ICTs not only enable productivity and efficiency in all kinds of organisations and virtually all industries, but also provide meaningful and comfortable livelihoods for many people. They are incredibly pervasive, being used by all SIS stakeholders, often in different ways. Because ICTs move so fast, SIS stakeholders have widely differing understandings about them; confusion and disorientation about ICTs is widely and naturally experienced by students, housewives, children, counsellors, managers, employees, employers, academics, policymakers, investors, scientists, and others. The ICT competences of SIS stakeholders should therefore be

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improved in the SIS. Only then is there some chance of using ICTs as enablers of sustainability. Depending on the depth and breadth of ICT knowledge and skills, there are three basic levels of competence and roles with ICTs: ICT Users, ICT Enablers, and ICT Creators (Fig. 1.2, overleaf). The lines between them are often fuzzy, and people who are primarily located in one area may have roles in others.

R&D innovators

ICT Creators

ICT operations

ICT Enablers

everybody

ICT Users

Industry specific

Generally applicable

often advanced degree

various credentials

digital literacy

Enterprise specific

Figure 1.2. Levels of competences and roles with ICTs. Source: (MPICT 2015).

Today, most people are ICT Users. Students use ICTs to receive their assignments, perform research, complete and present work, connect with educational systems, communicate with teachers, and stay in touch with family and friends. ICTs are used by people in all industries to interact with organisational and business systems, get their work done, do research, and communicate with co-workers, peers, customers, suppliers, and business partners. Citizens increasingly use ICTs for entertainment, communicating with family and friends, managing family businesses, and learning about and interacting with government services. In order to become an active and conscious part of society, academia, and workplaces in the SIS, most people need competency with ICTs, regardless of their area of work or industry. This phenomenon is known as “digital literacy.” Community colleges, lifelong learning, and ICT leaders and visionaries play a significant role in developing ICT User competence and digital

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literacy, to enhance the success of the SIS stakeholders in the society as a whole. The middle layer, ICT Enablers, is made up of applied technologists who deal with existing ICTs and their implementation in order to deploy, maintain, manage, and support them in the real world. People who work with specific implementations and applications of ICTs in their fields have a sound and deep ICT knowledge, along with specialised skills in other fields. To this group belong technicians, managers, analysts, specialists, installers, and administrators. They are employed in the ICT operations of all kinds of organisations in every industry, including in ICT-related companies. ICT Enablers help understand existing technologies and implement them to the advantage of their organisations and users. They facilitate and support the use of ICTs by ICT Users. They utilise ICT infrastructure and enterprise systems to assure their availability and functioning for others. A variety of programmes to develop the knowledge and skill sets for this dimension are offered by colleges and universities. Some are connected with very specific and narrow training on specific technologies, equipment, systems, or software, while others relate to more comprehensive knowledge and skill sets for broader roles. The whole pyramid ends with the level of ICT Creators, who are theoretical experts and R&D scientists; they are the wizards behind the theoretical science and the applications of this science that develop and advance ICT industries, products, and services. This top group comprises scientists and experts who develop scientific theories and concepts, invent technologies, and create new applications for technology. They may be employed by academic institutions or the R&D organisations of either ICT or non-ICT industry sectors. They are often self-taught people who learn through other channels, tinkering or learning from others in their branch of knowledge. In summary, all SIS stakeholders need ICT User knowledge and skills, and digital literacy should be widespread. These are the routine competences that are essential for the SIS, but they are not enough for this society to develop further; for this, ICT Enabler knowledge and skills are required. These are the core competences for the SIS, comprising fundamental knowledge, ability, or expertise in ICTs and allowing the SIS to develop. ICT Creator competences are even more important for the development of the SIS. They are the distinctive competences that are unique, and some competitors do not have them. These competences evolve and improve the SIS.

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1.5 Conceptual Framework of Factors for the Successful Sustainable Information Society 1.5.1 Value of the Concept of Critical Success Factors In the SIS, it is important to focus on ICTs in a consistent and flexible manner, absorbing, adapting, and using them to support various areas of economic, social, and cultural life. This requires close cooperation between people and businesses, in conjunction with national, regional, and local governments. Numerous factors contribute to a successful adoption of ICTs for the SIS, with so many matters competing for attention that it is often difficult to see the wood for the trees. Hence, a major challenge is to identify these factors; that is where the concept of critical success factors (CSFs) can help. The concept of CSFs has been established over the last thirty years by various researchers (Rockart 1979; Amberg et al. 2005). The initial concept of CSFs was quickly accepted by academics and practitioners and implemented in a variety of industries, such as manufacturing, healthcare, and aeronautics (Borman and Jansen 2013). It was initially employed in the context of business management, and subsequently in project management, focusing on the key factors of successful project implementation. Today, the approach is increasingly used as a means of supporting strategic planning of information systems (Amberg et al. 2005). Overall, CSFs are defined as the limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the organization. They are the few key areas where things must go right for the business to flourish. If results in these areas are not adequate, the organization’s efforts for the period will be less than desired. (Rockart 1979, 85)

Similarly, Leidecker and Bruno (1984) define CSFs as “those characteristics, conditions, or variables that, when properly sustained, maintained, or managed, can have a significant impact on the success of a firm competing in particular industry” (Amberg et al. 2005, 24). CSFs are tightly linked to the mission and strategic goals of a business or project. The mission and goals focus on what is to be successfully accomplished, whereas CSFs focus on the vital areas to get to the essence of both what is to be accomplished, and how it will be accomplished. The concept of CSFs gives a sound basis for stating which decisions, activities, conditions, and resources should be followed during a transition to the SIS. Essentially, CSFs are a set of factors that influence the success

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of ICT adoption and the alignment of the SIS with ICTs. CSFs point at those activities which should form the primary focus in order to achieve the most satisfactory results of ICT adoption. They are the most important areas, which must be performed well in order to achieve the mission and goals of the SIS. The examination of CSFs for the SIS requires answers to the following questions (Turban, Mclean, and Wetherbe 2003): x What goals are central to the SIS? x What are the critical factors that are essential to meeting these goals? x What decisions or actions are key to these critical factors? x What variables underlie these decisions, and how are they measured? Generally, CSFs could be considered as a set of tasks that should be addressed in order to achieve success in SIS development. Their identification helps all SIS stakeholders to know exactly what is most important for successful ICT adoption, and to align the SIS with ICTs. In effect, this helps the stakeholders to take more effective and strategic actions in the right context, and so pull together towards the same overall aims. In the context of the SIS it is necessary to examine the CSFs for successful ICT adoption by enterprises, public administration, and people. There are already a number of studies that detail the CSFs for information systems implementation in enterprises. Many researchers have examined and defined the CSFs that affect the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems (e.g., Law et al. 2010; Liu 2011; Law and Ngai 2007; Roztocki and Weistroffer 2011; Soja 2010; Wang et al. 2008). The most extensive set of CSFs for ERP includes the following: top management support, user training and education on software, business process reengineering, project management, effective communication, change culture, clear goals and objectives, use of consultants’ services, interdepartmental cooperation, financial resources, project team organisation and competence, legacy system management, change management, and vendor support. Researchers have also contributed to the investigation of the CSFs involved in implementing Business Intelligence (BI) systems (e.g., Mungree et al. 2013; Olszak and Ziemba 2012; Yeoh and Koronios 2010). According to Olszak and Ziemba (2012), the most extensive set of CSFs for BI systems implementation can be perceived from three perspectives: organisational, process, and technological. The organisational perspective includes the following factors: adequate budget, competent BI project

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manager (leadership), sufficient skilled staff, team, and managers, past experience, and cooperation with a BI supplier. The most important matters for BI systems implementation from a process perspective are well-defined user expectations (information requirements) and adjustment of the BI solution to users’ business expectations. The technological perspective takes into account such factors as integration between the BI system and other systems (e.g., ERP), appropriate technology and tools, and a user-friendly BI system. There are some studies on the determinants of and obstacles to information systems implementation in public administration. These relate to e-government, usually embracing only the provision of electronic government services, but also addressing ERP systems. Overall, among factors that determine e-government, the following are most cited: ICT infrastructure development, law and public policy, procedures and regulations, maladjustment of organisational methods and procedures in government units, the digital divide, e-literacy, ICT accessibility, people’s resistance to change, citizen privacy and security, transparency, interoperability, permanent availability and preservation, public–private competition or collaboration, a lack of trust, a lack of finance, and people’s unawareness (see for example Almarabeh and AbuAli 2010; Borman and Janssen 2013; Ifinedo and Singh 2011; Iskender and Ozkan 2013; Nfuka and Rusu 2011; Rana, Dwivedi, and Williams 2013; Sultan, AlArfaj, and AlKutbi 2007). There are only very few studies on CSFs involved in implementing ERP systems in public administration (for example Mengistie 2013; Ziemba and Obáąk 2013). Ziemba and Obáąk (2013), and they indicate four relevant groups of CSFs: 1) Public procurement procedure. Clear and precisely defined tender specification, realistic and chronologically arranged schedule, clear goals and objectives of the ERP system implementation. 2) Government processes management. Frozen information requirements, identified government processes, government process reengineering. 3) Project team competences. Project team competence on ERP systems and public administration, use of consultants, cooperation with research centres, expertise in ICTs. 4) Project management. Top management support, clear assignment of roles and responsibilities, change management, risk management, involvement of ERP system end-users, interdepartmental communication, use of proven project management methodology, and effective monitoring and control.

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The review of existing literature illustrates that research on CSFs for the development of the SIS faces challenges. There is a lack of a general CSF framework for ICT adoption in the context of the SIS. There are no complex studies – not only on information systems such as ERP or BI, but also other kinds of systems, as well as hardware, networks, and telecommunications. In addition, the bulk of studies conducted concern developed countries, and only limited data is available on emerging and transition economies. Similarly, CSFs for e-government, embracing the adoption of ICTs to improve government processes, deliver government services, and ensure e-democracy and e-governance in the context of the SIS, have not been fully explored. Existing studies on e-government also mostly apply to developed countries. Additionally, studies on CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people are missing. All this illustrates the need to collect data on CSFs for ICT adoption, as enablers of the SIS. Collecting data from people, enterprises, and public administration, the main stakeholders of the SIS, should contribute to the greater understanding of factors for its successful development.

1.5.2 Methodology of Critical Success Factors for the Sustainable Information Society A methodology of CSFs for the SIS should provide answers to the following central research questions: x x

What is the framework of CSFs for the SIS? What are the CSFs for the SIS in reality (e.g. in Poland)?

The fundamental assumption in creating the framework of and identifying the CSFs for the SIS was that ICTs are a vital nexus of the SIS. They were therefore explored as CSFs for ICT adoption by people, enterprises, and public administration in the context of the SIS challenges and goals, according to the conceptual model of the SIS presented in Figure 1.1. In order to work out the framework of CSFs for the SIS and identify the CSFs in Poland, a multi-step approach was applied. Figure 1.3 presents the main steps of the research methodology. The first five steps led to the final framework of CSFs for the SIS. The next four steps gave the CSFs for the SIS in Poland.

Concept and Challenges of the Sustainable Information Society

Identifying CSFs based on the existing studies

Step 2

Defining the prototype framework of CSFs

Step 3

Verifying the prototype framework of CSFs

Step 4

Evaluating the prototype framework of CSFs

Step 5

Creating the final framework of CSFs

Step 7

Creating the survey questionnaire on CSFs Defining the sample and the sample size

Step 8

Collecting the data on CSFs

Step 9

Identifying CSFs for the SIS

Employing the CSF framework in practice

Step 6

Building the CSF framework for the SIS

Step 1

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The final CSFs for the sustainable information society Figure 1.3. The research methodology for examining CSFs of the SIS.

Step 1: Identifying CSFs based on the existing studies The goals of the first step were to decide whether to perform qualitative or quantitative research, and to identify the CSFs explored and described in the literature. To complete this step, similar existing studies in the literature were examined. The search for appropriate literature began with five bibliographic databases: Ebsco, ProQuest, Emerald Management Plus, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Scopus. This was achieved by developing a relevant set of keywords and phrases (such as “critical success factors,” “CSFs,” “success factors,” “success,” “ICT,” “adoption,” “usage,” “ICT,” “sustainability,” “sustainable,” “information society”) in all possible permutations and combinations, taking into consideration the logical AND and OR as appropriate, and conducting a corresponding search. Additionally, to explore CSFs for people, the following keywords were used: “net generation,” “citizens,” “people,” “digital society,” and “society”; for

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enterprises, the keywords were “enterprises,” “e-commerce,” “e-business,” “ERP system,” and “enterprise system”; for public administration, they were “e-government,” “electronic government,” “e-administration,” and “public administration.” In addition, some journals dedicated to research on enterprise information systems, e-government and information society were also explored, especially Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Issues in Information Systems, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Information Systems Management, Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, Information, Communication & Society, MIS Quarterly, Government Information Quarterly, Transforming Government: People, Process, and Policy, Electronic Government: an International Journal, The Electronic Journal of e-Government, Journal of US–China Public Administration, Canadian Journal of Administrative Science, Business Process Management Journal, Business Strategy Series, European Journal of Scientific Research, The Southern African Journal of Information and Communication, Development and Sustainability, Information Technologies and International Development, and Information Society. Open access papers and empirical studies were also examined. The critical review of existing studies showed that the majority of the studies on CSFs are qualitative. Only a limited number of quantitative studies on this subject are available, and they generally focus on specific issues, for example on CSFs for the adoption of ERP systems, BI systems, or e-government services. So, the analysis of the subject using a quantitative approach, but from a broader and detailed perspective covering multiple aspects of the SIS, can lead to a big picture of CSFs for the SIS. Based on the literature review findings, various CSFs were identified for the SIS. Step 2: Defining the prototype framework of CSFs The goals of the second step were to compare the CSFs identified in the literature to the Polish reality, and to define the prototype framework. Only the combination of theoretical knowledge based on a literature review and practical experience based on working in practice can provide insights that indicate meaningful factors influencing the SIS. Therefore, CSFs for the SIS in the Silesian Voivodeship (Poland) were indicated on the basis of collaboration of the research team with the Silesian Centre of Information Society (SCSI) in Katowice. The SCSI is a government unit

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responsible for information society development in the Silesian Voivodeship. The research team took a constructive and practical approach to their work on defining the prototype CSFs. The following methods and techniques were used: x collaboration with SCSI to identify CSFs for the SIS in Poland, especially in the Silesian Voivodeship; x logical reasoning (deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning) to compare CSFs identified based on the literature and on collaboration with SCSI, and to indicate a single set of all CSFs described in the literature and identified in practice in Poland; x brainstorming sessions to establish the prototype set of CSFs; x logical reasoning to recognise the nature of indicated factors, and to determine the dimensions and stages of factors according to their nature; and x logical reasoning to assign each factor to an appropriate dimension and an appropriate stage. Finally, the result of four months of research teamwork was the set of CSFs for the SIS. The CSFs for SIS were considered holistically: x They were assigned separately to the SIS stakeholders, i.e. CSFs for ICT adoption by people, by enterprises (e-business), and by public administration (e-government). x They were divided into four dimensions: economic, socio-cultural, technological, and organisational. x They were reflected in the three stages: ICT access, demonstrating the technical and economic accessibility of ICTs; ICT competences, demonstrating awareness and ability levels; and ICT use, demonstrating actual usage of ICTs by the SIS stakeholders. Step 3: Verifying the prototype framework of CSFs The goal of this step was to verify the prototype framework of CSFs. In this step, using the Delphi method, the prototype CSFs were examined and verified. Thirty-four experts participated in the Delphi study. Experts were selected separately in the contexts of people, business, and public administration. They were selected to represent the knowledge and experience of scholars, researchers, and practitioners. They included: (1) sixteen managers of the local and state government, responsible for

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e-government in Poland; (2) six professors of Polish universities, who conduct studies and have empirical experience in the fields of information society, e-government, and enterprise information systems; (3) four IT managers, managing IT in four enterprises; (4) four managing directors of four enterprises; and (5) four people using ICTs in their personal and professional life and acting for digital inclusion. Ultimately, twelve experts participated in the Delphi study of CSFs in the context of people, twelve in the context of business, and twenty-two in the context of public administration, including four university professors who participated in the whole study on behalf of all stakeholders of the SIS. The Delphi process was conducted as a series of rounds. In the early rounds up to twelve experts participated, while in the last round all thirtyfour experts took part in the Delphi study. In each round, each expert filled out a questionnaire which was delivered to a researcher who organised the results and gave back to each expert a summary account of the whole group, together with the expert’s own opinions. A summary of opinions expressed by each expert made them aware of the range of positions and the reasons underlying those positions. The purpose of the Delphi study was to verify the set of CSFs and the assignment of all factors to the identified dimensions and stages. Step 4: Evaluating the prototype framework of CSFs The goals of this step were to gain greater and deeper evaluation of the prototype framework of CSFs and to weigh up each of the framework’s factors. For these goals, in the last round of the Delphi study the experts evaluated the strength of the influence of particular factors on the SIS. The experts had to answer these three questions: x On a scale of 1 to 5, state to what extent you agree that the following factors influence the SIS, i.e., ICT adoption by you as a learner, worker, consumer, and citizen? x On a scale of 1 to 5, state to what extent you agree that the following factors influence the SIS, i.e., ICT adoption by your enterprise? x On a scale of 1 to 5, state to what extent you agree that the following factors influence the SIS, i.e., e-government adoption by your government unit? A five-point Likert scale was used, as follows: 1 – disagree strongly, 2 – disagree, 3 – neither agree nor disagree, 4 – agree, and 5 – agree strongly.

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The experts marked the strength of each factor’s influence. Some of them also proposed certain changes in the prototype factors. The collected data was analysed statistically in order to verify and evaluate the framework of CSFs. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows and STATISTICA were utilised to show the CSFs’ descriptive statistics. The following statistical measures were employed: min, max, mean, median, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. To conduct reliability analysis, Cronbach’s coefficient alpha (Į) was used. The ranges of reliability suggested by Hinton et al. (2004) were adopted, i.e., the excellent range (0.90 and above), the high (0.70–0.90), the high moderate (0.50–0.70), and the low (0.50 and below). Step 5: Creating the final framework of CSFs The goal of this step was to create the final framework of CSFs for the SIS, which was established thanks to the statistical analysis carried out at the previous step. In addition, some changes proposed by experts at step 4 were taken into account. In order to make a decision about deleting, replacing, or adding new factors to the framework, the opinions of each expert were transferred to the other experts. By doing this, anonymity was ensured for every expert so as to eliminate any possible unfairness that might arise due to the positions held and experience acquired. Step 6: Creating the survey questionnaires on CSFs At this step, the survey questionnaires for people, enterprises, and government units were developed. Each questionnaire contained six sections: 1) The first section was designed to clarify who is in the study sample and who is not. It requested non-personal participation in the study. It comprised information about the research team, goals of the survey, reason for the survey, voluntary participation, and conveyed a willingness to provide a copy of the study results to the respondents if desired. Moreover, confidentiality was assured to eliminate potential bias and fears. In addition, an e-mail address and a phone number of a research team member were shown. The contact information was useful for respondents to ask questions, clear up any ambiguities about the questionnaire and its questions, and obtain assistance in completion of the questionnaire.

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2) In the second section, definitions and explanations of the main terms used in the questionnaire were provided, such as e-government, e-government services, e-business, ICTs, hardware, networks, and telecommunications. 3) The third section requested non-personal characteristics of respondents. The characteristics of people comprised age, gender, place of residence, and educational background. Those of enterprises embraced the number of employees, total annual turnover, geographical location, and economic sector. The characteristics of government units comprised the type of government unit (local or state), geographical location, and number of employees. At the end of this section respondents could provide their e-mail addresses to receive the findings of the study. 4) The aim of the fourth section was to examine all identified factors and to show a couple of factors, primarily influencing successful adoption of e-government. Each factor was listed and a question about its importance for the SIS was posted. This section was designed using the five-point Likert scale described in step 4. It is important to stress that some factors were explained by using a balloon, a small pop-up window that informs respondents of a factor and its nature in detail. 5) The fifth section collected data about the level of SIS development, i.e., ICT adoption by people, enterprises, and government units. The questions of the sections were closely related to the CSFs listed in the fourth section. For each factor at least one question was defined to measure the level of SIS development. Two types of scale were used to answer the questions: most used a five-point Likert scale, while a few questions required “Yes,” “No,” or “Neither yes nor no” answers. 6) At the end of the survey questionnaire, an acknowledgment for taking part in the study was sent to respondents. Additionally, a further request for an e-mail address was listed to receive the findings of the study. Applying the CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interview) method and employing the SurveyMonkey platform, the survey questionnaires for people, enterprises, and government units were uploaded to the website. Pilot studies were then conducted to verify the web survey questionnaires. In the pilot studies, some of the respondents who participated in step 4 examined these web survey questionnaires. Finishing touches were applied to it, especially of a formal and technical nature. No substantive amendments were required.

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Step 7: Defining the sample and the sample size After creating the final survey questionnaires, the next step was to decide about the respondents participating in the studies. The sample consisted of the SIS stakeholders, i.e. people, enterprises and government units. The designed sample size was: x 3,500 people, comprising people of different age, gender, and educational background, and living in different voivodeships in Poland; x 2,000 enterprises, comprising enterprises of different sizes and lines of business, and operating in different voivodeships in Poland; and x 2,711 government units, comprising about 81% of all local and state government units in Poland. Step 8: Collecting the data on CSFs The data collection took place over a four-month period of intense work. For the sample of government units, data collection occurred between 22 December 2013 and 15 April 2014, while for the samples of people and enterprises data gathering took place between 22 December 2013 and 30 April 2014. The final sample size included: x 751 correct and complete responses from people (a response rate of 21.46%); x 322 correct and complete responses from enterprises (a response rate of 16.10%); and x 409 correct and complete responses from government units (a response rate of 15.09%). The data was stored in two data formats: SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Step 9: Identifying CSFs for the SIS As the process of collecting data was completed and before subjecting it to detailed statistical analysis, its reliability was calculated to examine the internal consistency among items on the scale. For this Cronbach’s alpha was used. After examination of the internal consistency among items on the scale and the variability of items, the mean, median, standard

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deviation, and coefficient of variation were applied to identify CSFs for the SIS in Poland.

1.5.3 Categories of Critical Success Factors for the Sustainable Information Society The first five steps led to the final conceptual framework of CSFs for the SIS. The visual presentation of this framework is presented in Fig. 1.4 (overleaf). All the factors are considered in relation to the stakeholders of the SIS (citizens, enterprises, and public administration). In the SIS each stakeholder group has its own imperatives: x Public administration. Transition to e-government, which means improving government processes, providing government services electronically, improving democratic decision-making, and developing cooperation and partnerships between government stakeholders. x Enterprises. Transition to the growing role of the ICT sector and ICTs used by enterprises to effectively achieve their strategic business goals and improve effectiveness, productivity, innovation, creativity, competences, and competitiveness. x Citizens. Transition to the growing use of ICTs by citizens to effectively achieve a high quality of life and successfully fulfil personal goals in the areas of work, study, entertainment, personal life, etc. In the proposed framework of CSFs the factors are classified into four main dimensions: economic, social-cultural, technological, and organisational. First, the proposed conceptual framework examines the relationship between economic factors and the SIS. The economic factors are mainly related to national wealth, the economic well-being of the nation, the financial situation of government stakeholders, and the availability of economic endowments as well as economic benefits. Second, the framework predicts the potential success or failure of the SIS due to socio-cultural factors, for example the mentality and awareness of stakeholders, the digital divide, information culture, and digital culture. Third, technological factors influencing the SIS are explored, such as ICT innovations, innovative e-services and their maturity, open source software licences, integration of front- and back-office information systems, user-friendly information systems, standardisation of ICTs, competitive ICT professionals, and quality of ICTs. Fourth, the impact of

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organisational factors on the SIS is examined, for example leadership, rule of law, managerial innovation, and management of ICTs. People Enterprises Government units

People Enterprises Government units

Economic

ICT access (supply) Socio-cultural Technological

Examining relations

ICT competences ICT use (demand)

Organisational Examining relations

Identifying critical factors forecasting the success of the SIS

Figure 1.4. The proposed conceptual framework of CSFs for the SIS

Additionally, the proposed conceptual framework takes the following factors into account: x The technical and economic accessibility of ICTs (ICT access (supply) stage); x Competences and awareness related to the use of ICTs (ICT competences and awareness stage); x The usage of ICTs by government units, citizens, and businesses (ICT use (demand) stage). In summary, the unique character of the proposed framework appears through its holistic nature. The CSFs are related to the SIS stakeholders, and are reflected as economic, social-cultural, technological, and organisational issues. Moreover, the CSFs respond to the three stages of SIS development: ICT access, ICT competences and awareness, and ICT use.

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To identify the CSFs for the SIS, sets of factors for ICT adoption by people, enterprises, and government units were developed and tested. The set of CSFs for ICT adoption by people is described in section 2.4, for ICT adoption by enterprises in section 3.4, and for ICT adoption by government units in section 4.4.

CHAPTER TWO PEOPLE IN THE SUSTAINABLE INFORMATION SOCIETY EWA ZIEMBA, MONIKA EISENBARDT, AND TOMASZ EISENBARDT1

2.1 The Net Generation 2.1.1 The Digital Divide The sustainable information society is created by people who face the challenge of utilising ICTs in their private and professional life to enhance their own welfare and the welfare of present and future generations, building the wisdom of society, increasing participation in social life, and ensuring economic growth. Thanks to ICTs, people have access to information, sharing and using it to attain individual and group goals. Efficient and effective use of ICTs and information in the SIS is critical (Ziemba 2014), and this requires people to have the appropriate ICT competences. In addition, fast ICT development requires access to the newest technologies and determines the necessity of continuous improvement in ICT competences. In many regions of the world, digital exclusion is still a major barrier to SIS development. It is a problem faced by individuals, social groups, and even a considerable part of the population who face the digital divide (Cullen 2001; Mehra, Merkel, and Bishop 2004; Olszak and Ziemba 2010). The digital divide is “the troubling gap between those who use computers and the internet and those who do not” (Mehra, Merkel, and Bishop 2004, 782). It is a socio-economic dysfunction caused by a lack of access to ICTs, and is often connected with a lack of ICT competences. Some negative effects of the digital divide are: 1

Sections 2.1 and 2.2 written by Monika Eisenbardt and Tomasz Eisenbardt; Sections 2.3 to 2.6 written by Ewa Ziemba.

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x limited or complete lack of possibility of gaining and using information for private and professional needs; x limited possibility of performing work, learning, entertaining or creating interpersonal relationships and social networks; and x deepening of negative social phenomena, including social stratification and the perpetuation of negative attitudes among people. The creation or persistence of the digital divide is not only connected with access to ICTs. It may be a consequence of ignorance – a lack of knowledge and information – stemming from inadequate education. Other reasons for the digital divide include human attitudes and bias. On the one hand, there may be a fear of new technologies, resulting in a failure to use ICTs when the need arises; on the other, the problem may lie in people’s reluctance to share information and knowledge they possess. Other important issues are (Cullen 2001; Szewczyk 2006; Widawska, Wieczorek, and Wysocka 2014): x Socio-economic causes. The digital divide contributes to individual information poverty, and as a consequence, leads to the social exclusion. Today, finding oneself on the wrong side of the digital divide is almost tantamount to social exclusion. x Geographical causes. On a national scale, rural residents are more exposed to digital exclusion. On the global scale, the digital divide embraces whole countries regarded as poor. The inability of those countries to escape the vicious circle of poverty and underdevelopment is a problem. x Generationality. People from older generations find it difficult to keep up with the pace of continuously changing ICTs, leading to rejection, and they fail to adopt ICTs as they do not have appropriate support. x Disability. It appears from research that ICTs are not adjusted to the needs of disabled people and that prevents this group from using them in everyday life, thereby dooming them to involuntary digital exclusion. The above statements are backed up by the statistics for Poland. In 2011, the problem of digital exclusion mostly concerned the oldest people and rural residents (CBOS 2011). Two factors visibly constitute the exclusion determinants: generation and geography. As far as people undergoing compulsory education are concerned, the phenomenon of the

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digital divide is almost non-existent among them, and it is marginal where better-educated city dwellers are concerned. These are the people who value access to ICTs and use them effectively to gain information and knowledge. Their competences allow them to adopt ICTs to achieve various personal goals and objectives (CBOS 2011). The digital divide, and the related digital exclusion, still exist in most countries in the world. However, the intensity of this phenomenon is diminishing from year to year and this is proved by statistics and information society development indices. For example, Figure 2.1 presents historical data from the World Bank on internet users per 100 inhabitants for the period between 1990 and 2013. The data was limited to ten selected countries of diverse per capita GDP. The country selection means that the graph accounts for over half of the world’s population in 2013. For comparison, Poland was plotted into this graph. The legend of Figure 2.1 accounts for the GDP value per capita for the selected countries. The specified values correspond to the per capita GDP index expressed in US dollars per inhabitant. Statistical analysis proves that there is a strong positive correlation (0.857) between per capita GDP and the number of internet users per 100 inhabitants. There is a visible pattern, regardless of factors such as nationality, economic development of the country of residence, geographical location, or the wealth of inhabitants. The curves all have a similar shape and slope, indicating that the number of internet users is increasing from year to year. In the case of highly developed countries (the USA, Japan) the point from which the curve starts increasing sharply, and which indicates universal access to the internet in that country, is placed at the beginning of the curve (it corresponds to the early 1990s). For less developed countries this point shifts forward, sometimes even by as much as twenty years. It is worth pointing out that now, the level of internet access should be understood as almost synonymous with ICT access. To sum up, universal access to the internet – so in the broad sense, to ICTs – is increasing from year to year. Many world organisations and governments set themselves the goal of counteracting the digital divide. Their actions usually aim at the promotion of the information society and lifelong learning, providing access to broadband internet, supporting educational activities, and preventing unemployment. These are usually long-term activities, but they bring measurable effects. A common practice in preventing digital exclusion is personalisation and addressing these activities at demographically homogeneous groups.

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Figure 2.1. The change in the number of internet users per 100 inhabitants in the selected countries of the world between 1990 and 2013. Source: Own elaboration based on WB (2014).

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2.1.2 Generationality Activities preventing digital exclusion usually focus on specific social or demographic groups. One of the digital exclusion determinants is the generational affiliation of individuals who may be affected by this exclusion. Taking into account people’s level and type of ICT use, and their risk of digital exclusion, the literature specifies the following generations: Baby Boomers, X, Y, Z, Alpha, and, less clearly set in the time frame, Generation C (McCrindle 2014). Each of the generations mentioned differs from the previous one significantly. Differences in access to ICTs and various types of information resources are of particular importance in this context, as well as the historical, socio-economic, and cultural background of their lives. There are also clear differences in attitudes towards such fundamental issues as consumption, work, education, and ways of gaining information and knowledge. Baby Boomers are people born after World War II, between 1946 and 1964. The next group is Generation X, which includes people born between 1965 and 1979, when the main information media were television and the first computers. (Asthana 2008; McCrindle 2014). The members of both generations can be described as digital immigrants. These are the groups most affected by digital exclusion. Researchers have set different final dates for Generation X, so establishing the timeframe of the next generation, Generation Y, is less straightforward. It is assumed that people born between the mid 1970s and mid 1990s belong to this generation (Gardner 2006). The authors of this study assume, following McCrindle (2014), that Generation Y is made up of people born between 1980 and 1994, whereas those in Generation Z were born between 1995 and 2009; people born since 2010 belong to Generation Alpha (McCrindle 2014). Generation Y, also called “net generation” or “net kids” (Tapscott 2009), are people brought up in the era of globalisation and economic growth. Generation Y skilfully uses ICTs and has constant access to the internet thanks to computers and smartphones. Net kids use ICTs in a flexible manner, are active on the internet, and share information and knowledge, creating extensive networks of informal relationships which are enormously important to them. This generation is not a passive receiver of information, as it spends time on searching, reading, analysing, and organising it, and eagerly undertakes collaboration on a partnership basis. It is characterised by speed of action and openness. Quoting Tapscott (2009), the net generation is characterised by:

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x fascination with freedom, liberty, and unhindered self-expression in both private and professional life; x customisation that allows adjustment of products and services to individual needs and preferences; x searching online for information before making a decision (finalising a transaction or taking up employment with a particular employer); x willingness to collaborate in order to improve products and services (trying and testing prototypes, participation in consumer surveys etc.); x combining duties with passion and entertainment; x anticipation of quick service and professionalism; and x innovativeness and the use of state-of-the-art ICTs (the latest phones, iPods, or games consoles). Generation C is either marked out as a separate generation or is included in Generation Y. The letter C here is associated with such words as connected, communicating, content-centric, computerised, communityoriented, always clicking (Friedrich et al. 2010). Generation C comprises people who not only use ICTs, but are permanently connected to the internet through various types of mobile devices. They can be described as “digital natives,” who apart from real life also lead a virtual existence, and whose entire life is dominated and shaped by ICT adoption (Bodzioch 2011; Tapscott 2009). It is assumed that Generation C are people born in the 1990s. Estimates indicate that by 2020 representatives of Generation C will constitute 40% of the societies of developed and developing countries, and 10% of the societies of other countries. This will make it the most numerous consumer group in the world (Friedrich et al. 2010). The next generation, Generation Z, was born and grew up in the times of internet development and universalisation. This generation eagerly spends time online, relocating many activities to the internet world, including those connected with socialising. Due to the popularity of touchscreens among this generation they are sometimes called screenagers (Tapscott 2009). The youngest group described, Generation Alpha, embraces people born since 2010. There are numerous speculations and forecasts over how different this generation is (and will be) in comparison to previous generations. So far, however, this remains in the realm of conjecture. To conclude this discussion on the nature of recent generations and the level of ICT adoption by them, the main categories that characterise them are identified and presented in Table 2.1.

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Table 2.1. Dominant features of recent generations Representatives of older generations – Baby Boomers and Generation X Generation characteristic

Results

After school education quickly Quickly started families at the expense of own started professional life. interests and own generational identity. Their basic communication media are the radio and television.

Spend much more leisure time than younger people watching television and listening to radio programmes. It stems from the fact that for their generation television was the medium that triggered the communication revolution.

Trust advertising messages.

Vulnerable to advertising messages and various need-creating techniques.

Characterised by a reluctance towards lifelong learning.

Reluctance to learn from younger and less professionally experienced people.

Have fears connected with the necessity of using new technologies.

Lack of ICT confidence and inability to deal with even minor problems result in the rejection of new technologies and, as a consequence, in their marginal use in everyday life.

Have unsatisfactory competences connected with ICT utilisation.

Lack of ICT competences is a hurdle in the use of e-services and e-products provided by public administration and enterprises.

Representatives of younger generations – Y, Z, and Alpha Generation characteristic Value highly freedom and liberty of choice.

Results Through longer education and starting professional work at a later age they have time to develop their own generational culture. Are not afraid to provide personal information via various ICTs.

Want to adjust products to own needs and preferences.

Enterprises have to react quickly and in a flexible manner to changes and, in addition, account for consumers’ expectations and preferences that are presented by them via ICTs.

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Have propensity for acting collectively. Favour a dialogue. Evaluate co-workers and enterprises. Assisted dependence. Require creditability.

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Enterprises are forced to shift from the process of gaining consumers to retaining and collaborating with them via ICTs. Have defined career path conceptions. Have high expectations towards employers, both financial and as regards work organisation and employment forms, including teleworking. TV advertising is ineffective. Attach great value to the freedom of speech, with a concurrent deep reluctance to submit to any regulation. The authority of superiors, co-workers, or public persons results from information and knowledge they possess, not the position they hold.

Want to learn continuously Routine and a lack of opportunities for further and have fun at the same time, development are good reasons for looking for even at work. new employment. Have problems with focusing attention. Quick pace is a norm for them.

Can work under time pressure, performing several tasks simultaneously. Approach problems in a pragmatic way.

Innovativeness, including technological innovativeness, is an integral part of their lives.

Do not submit to standards. Broadly use new ICTs in business, professional work, education, and everyday life. Prefer to solve problems in a virtual way.

Source: (BadziĔska 2011; McCrindle 2014; Tapscott 2009).

From the perspective of ICT implementation and use, what differentiate the representatives of various generations are their preferences in choosing technology and using communication media, and their ways of gaining information and knowledge. The US Digital Consumer Report points out the quantitative differences in the proportion of users of such devices and media as television, online video, social networks and blogs, tablets, and smartphones. The report shows that older generations (Baby Boomers and X) prefer traditional print newspapers and television, whereas younger ones (Y, Z, Alpha) choose new technological solutions (Nielsen 2012).

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To sum up, ICTs currently dominate human life and have found application in many spheres, such as consumption, work, and education. Generationality and internet access determine the behaviour and attitudes of people as consumers, employees, and participants of various forms of education. They are one of the important elements that determine consumption models, new consumer attitudes, and new models of work or education.

2.2 New Models of Consumption, Work, and Education 2.2.1 New Models of Consumption In economic theory, and, in particular, in rational choice theory, the term “consumer” refers to an individual who consumes and creates demand (BadziĔska 2011; Gaertner 2009; Manzini and Mariotti 2009; Zalega 2012). In this model, a consumer is understood in a traditional way, as a purchaser; but this way of addressing consumers and consumption has changed recently (Dennis et al. 2009; Izvercianu, Seran, and Buciuman 2012; Prahalad and Ramaswamy 2004; Zhou, Siu, and Wang 2010). Contemporary consumption means seeking exciting experiences, feelings, and sensations. Generationality, as described in section 2.1.2, has a significant influence on its evolution. Consumption is strongly influenced by a new generation of consumers who use ICTs to search for products, finalise transactions, communicate, and criticise reality. Contemporary consumers can select from a wide range of goods and services which, on the one hand, satisfy their needs and, on the other, allow for individual expression of personality, pursuit of dreams, and development of interests (Mróz 2013). This gives rise to the adoption of a new model of consumption and fosters the development of new consumer attitudes. One of the reasons for the creation of new consumption models is the fact that the contemporary consumer is highly demanding as regards purchasing products and spending financial resources to that end (Ziemba 2011). Hence enterprises face the challenge of satisfying consumer needs in a flexible, quick way, adjusted to individual preferences. The change in attitude towards consumption, with consumers’ unlimited access to information and knowledge and their willingness to get involved in various initiatives provided by an enterprise, especially through the use of ICTs, creates the underlying background that allows the contemporary consumption model to be crystallised in the term prosumption, with the contemporary consumer dubbed a prosumer (Bylok

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2013; Lebiejko 2011; Ritzer and Jurgenson 2010; Xie, Bagozzi, and Troye 2008). The notions of prosumption and prosumers were created by the American sociologist and futurologist Toffler (1980). According to his theory, prosumption meant shifting selected tasks performed by an enterprise onto a consumer, pursuant to the “do-it-yourself” principle. Increasing consumer engagement was based on encouraging them to perform less complex tasks that had previously been accomplished by employees of an enterprise, such as the self-assembly of furniture. With this, a consumer became a “co-creator” of the final product. Since Toffler’s time the essence of prosumption has evolved considerably, a tendency caused on the one hand by the expansive development of ICTs, and on the other by a new spreading consumption model. Prosumers, who are mostly representatives of Generation Y (Ziemba and Eisenbardt 2014b), are intellectually and manually active. Moreover, they are innovative and creative, as well as informed and demanding. They voluntarily engage in interactions with an enterprise where they can design and reconfigure products on their own. As a result they may receive a final product that meets their expectations (Lebiejko 2011; Tapscott and Williams 2006; Ziemba 2013). All this causes enterprises to change their attitude towards prosumers. Enterprises cannot perceive contemporary consumers as passive recipients of their products and services. On the contrary, they need to concentrate on the effective utilisation of consumers’ willingness to collaborate to create innovation and co-create value (Prahalad and Krishnan 2010). Today, prosumption is inherent in the business and image creation activities of an enterprise. An increasing number of enterprises notice that prosumption creates opportunities for development, attracts active consumers into collaboration, provides an exit from standard modes of functioning, and, at the same time, offers a new, unconventional promotional tool (Ziemba and Eisenbardt 2015). On the other hand, prosumption can be used by prosumers as a weapon against dishonest and unreliable enterprises. At present, a consumer can easily search for information on an enterprise and “screen” it in different ways, using various ICTs. A fundamental example, in this case, is web browsers. Frequently, after writing a name of an enterprise in a browser window its official website is displayed as one of the search results. At the top there are other sites which contain information, not necessarily positive, on an enterprise and its activities. Such a situation is one of the reasons why enterprises place importance on the knowledge coming from prosumers –

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both the positive one, creating added value, and the negative one, pointing out defects and weaknesses in their operations. Until recently, enterprises concentrated on gaining information and knowledge exclusively on consumers (Smith and McKeen 2005; Tiwana 2003). This allowed them to build consumer profiles and adjust their offer to them. Now, it is believed that knowledge coming from prosumers represents an important asset for an enterprise (Rowley 2002; Ziemba 2011). It allows enterprises to develop, to modernise products and strategy, and to look at their actions from the perspective of the recipients, prosumers. New consumption models are based on the strategy of openness in the enterprise–prosumer relationship. This is implemented through sharing with prosumers or providing them with appropriate knowledge. The form and scope of provided knowledge and the use of ICTs should stimulate prosumers’ interest; the aim is to achieve willingness on the part of prosumers to engage and share their knowledge and ideas with an enterprise. These ideas are very often non-uniform or visionary, and many times they go well beyond the framework and standards adopted in an enterprise. The positives that result from openness take the form of financial benefits for an enterprise, but first of all they enable it to build its prestige and project a consumer-friendly image (Mróz 2013). Prosumption brings many benefits for prosumers. Apart from the key benefit of adjusting products to their own expectations, often the underlying reason for sharing knowledge and ideas with an enterprise is gaining a certain respect in the peer group of enthusiasts and hobbyists (Lilley, Grodzinsky, and Gumbus 2012). Prosumption thrives in communities that share some interests and work together on a solution to a problem, for example using ICTs to upgrade a product or service. With the advent of the Web 2.0 era and the emergence of tools enabling collective work and co-sharing of ideas, prosumption entered the stage of dynamic development (Bylok 2013). Web 2.0, which is the second generation of the internet, is an approach to building network solutions, based on the use of the internet as a platform for services and group collaboration. Collaboration and collective content co-creation are the crux of Web 2.0, and in consequence they create social relationships (O’Reilly 2005). The static role for internet users has changed into a dynamic one (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010). Increasingly, the universally available ICTs resemble those used by professionals. Everyone with the appropriate skills and knowledge can use them to create a new concept, service, or product (Tapscott 2009). Because of this, prosumers can be encouraged to collaborate and participate

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through various events, initiatives, and competitions, based on the use of tools and software associated with Web 2.0. These include social networks, blogs, forums, file co-sharing and exchange portals, and other tools (often individually implemented and developed by interested enterprises), where the possibility of collaboration and communication among users plays the ultimate role (Ritzer and Jurgenson 2010). When such initiatives take place, prosumers can analyse products and services, and even experiment with them with a view to adjusting them to individual needs. They can submit their ideas to an enterprise, present their opinions, and discuss with other interested users (Ziemba and Eisenbardt 2014a). As a result, an enterprise obtains knowledge and innovative ideas directly from them, while for their part, prosumers have an influence over the final product or service that they can then use. There are many examples of the practical applications of prosumption with relation to various processes, industries, and enterprises. It takes place in many relationships, for example between enterprise and consumer or between public administration and consumer. In the enterprise– consumer relationship, a good showcase is the co-creation of the Linux operating system by social networks of programming fans. Linus Torvalds, a creator of the Linux kernel, used the large online community of programmers to develop and improve a new operating system at that time. Other examples are dedicated websites where prosumers can share knowledge and ideas with an enterprise, for instance Bank Pomysáów (Bank of Ideas) of Bank Zachodni WBK,2 a website that encourages bank customers to present their own ideas for improvements to bank services. Another illustration of this solution is MyStarbucksIdea, a website of the Starbucks chain of coffee shops,3 which collects ideas and opinions, and encourages the brand community to engage in discussion. In the public administration–consumer relationship, good showcases are initiatives which give prosumers the opportunity to co-decide on issues related to the improvement of public administration services. Examples from Poland include a project dedicated to consumer satisfaction assessment to set qualitative targets in the Marshal Office of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship (Winkler 2011), or an EU-financed survey on customer satisfaction, expectations, and perception of services rendered by the offices of the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship (Markowicz 2012). An interesting idea for utilising the openness and potential of prosumers is crowdsourcing websites, for example MillionYou,4 2

https://bankpomyslow.bzwbk.pl https://twitter.com/MyStarbucksIdea 4 http://millionyou.com 3

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InnoCentive,5 or NapkinLabs,6 where interested users share ideas, opinions, or even ready products in response to an enterprise’s enquiries. A crowdsourcing event organiser can choose, from the ideas provided, those that best match the assumed expectations. The multitude of prosumer proposals, interesting improvements, ideas for modernisation of existing products, and even prototypes of new solutions make these websites highly popular among enterprises. Public administration takes to them as well, and even public benefit organisations. Through crowdsourcing initiatives, enterprises can count on wide public perception, gaining interesting ideas and promoting themselves at the same time. Prosumers eagerly engage in activities that allow them to express their own opinion and demonstrate ingenuity while taking part in a creative community. An interesting and novel example of the use of prosumer ideas by a public administration is the “Otwarta Warszawa.pl” (Open Warsaw) project, in which the city residents were provided with an opportunity to co-decide on things that should be changed in the capital. The most interesting proposals stand a chance of being implemented, improving the standard of living in Warsaw. Elsewhere, the “Polska za 20 lat” (Poland in twenty years’ time) project was organised by the MillionYou website with sponsorship from a public benefit organisation, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. The project was devoted to the expression of people’s feelings regarding the future of Poland, and the best concepts were presented to an audience of several thousand at the Woodstock Festival in Poland organised by the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. The winning film was published on the internet where it gained great popularity and drew the attention of the media, first of all television and radio.7 Summarising the discussion, it is worth noting that prosumption mainly refers to the net generation. The research conducted by Ziemba and Eisenbardt (2014b) shows that 76.7% of people involved in prosumption are aged between nineteen and twenty-four, hence they are representatives of Generation Y, and, increasingly, Generation Z. It needs to be stressed that the net generation, and therefore prosumers, are people who value opportunities to keep up-to-date with the latest developments with regard to almost every aspect of life. These people want to share information and gain knowledge from others, mainly through ICT use, in order to be regarded as competent and well-informed. This statement is supported by reports on mobile technologies and the universality of their use in the day5

http://www.innocentive.com http://napkinlabs.com 7 http://marka.millionyou.com/pl/case-studies 6

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to-day operations of contemporary enterprises and prosumers (Ericsson 2014; Ericsson 2013; Kuczmara 2013). Moreover, willingness on the part of young prosumers to follow know-how and to get involved in initiatives is proved, on the one hand, by the number of people interested in initiatives offered by enterprises on Facebook, and, on the other, by the phenomenon of enterprises moving part (or all) of their informationpromotion activities onto Facebook. Enterprises often organise temporary promotional events exclusively for Facebook fans. All this requires continuing learning and knowledge broadening – both by enterprises and prosumers.

2.2.2 New Models of Work Knowledge workers gain particular importance in the SIS: these are employees who perform most of their work through intellectual rather than physical effort, supported by knowledge and experience (Davenport 2005; Drucker 1954; Morawski 2003; Porat 1998; Toffler 1980). They use advanced ICTs in their work, are characterised by a high level of specialist knowledge, have a thorough education or experience, and work performed by them requires creation, distribution, and application of knowledge (Davenport 2005). It is assumed that in countries with a knowledge-based economy, which is inherent in the information society, the number of knowledge workers accounts for more than half of the entire workforce (Mládková 2011). Some of these workers are employed in the ICT sector. The report on PKPP Lewiatan study, dated 2011, indicates that in Poland – as in the whole world – the ICT sector mainly focuses on young people, showing trends in increasing production and employment, and, at the same time, displaying limited reliance on economic business cycle fluctuations. Work in the ICT sector requires a high level of formal knowledge and a lifelong learning mindset (Sztandar-Sztanderska et al. 2010). Unfortunately, due attention to knowledge in the continuing development of employed workers is not paid in other sectors, which creates a major obstacle in building the SIS; in many industries, a lack of enterprise pressure on employees’ educational development is a serious limitation (SztandarSztanderska et al. 2010). Contemporary employees function in new social, technological, and economic realities, and their work is included in other than existing models. The role of human capital has already increased in the information society, and it cannot be overvalued in the SIS. Enterprises increasingly use their employees’ knowledge as a resource that determines

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competitiveness, and require from employees creativity, competence, interdisciplinarity, an ability to cooperate in a multicultural environment, quick adaptiveness, and a propensity to retrain quickly or even change profession (Olszak and Ziemba 2010). It is worth noting that meeting all those criteria should be strongly supported by an appropriately adjusted education system. A contemporary employee deals with a new vision of business and must adapt to this vision, as business is dominated by ICTs, including the internet network, and increasingly comes to resemble it. Collaboration in the network plays a prominent role. Tapscott and Williams (2006) called this contemporary mass business collaboration “wikinomics,” which they characterise by openness, partnership, global-scale operations, and cosharing of resources. The openness of enterprises operating in the wikinomics reality manifests in the acquisition of human and intellectual capital from many sources, including external ones. Tapscott and Williams (2006) stress the fact that the speed and complexity of the changes taking place at present are so big that no enterprise alone can manage to work out all the innovative solutions that are essential for effective competition. The focus on partnership, global-scale operations, and co-sharing of resources have, in actual fact, much in common with outsourcing. However, this new outsourcing has no barriers related to the geographical location of subcontractors. The above-mentioned attributes of new business are the driving force of the revolution in organisational structures and relationships among employees. Contemporary employees must find their place in the new reality and function within it. It should be noted that those representing the largest working age population today are representatives of Generation Y. They are characterised by mobility, a sense of constant change, and an awareness of job insecurity, with a simultaneous great attachment to enjoyment and self-fulfilment derived from the work performed. Relationships based on authority are less important to them than those based on competence. Generation Y contributes unconventional attributes and norms to an organisation. Its principles (including the use of advanced technologies, creativity, social connectedness, speed, freedom, openness, innovativeness, mobility, partnership and collaboration, authenticity, selffulfilment, and enjoyment) can form the basis of a restructured and innovative work culture (Tapscott and Williams 2006). It can be expected that the representatives of Generations Z and Alpha will be the natural followers of such an attitude to work.

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As noted earlier, it is the development of the SIS that determines the development of increased competences. It is particularly visible in industries connected with ICTs, but not only there (Antal 2013). Competence development carries a risk of labour market segmentation, that is, the coexistence of employees with adequate competences (including ICT competences) with employees who do not have such competences. Such stratification is often connected with digital exclusion. It is certainly true that some employees cannot keep up with the pace of change on the labour market. Under the current economic conditions, it is necessary to account for interim periods of unemployment imposed by the need for retraining. Undoubtedly, the problem of unemployment is still not a marginal issue, even in wealthier countries (BE 2011). The segmentation of the labour market can be avoided by the implementation of the flexicurity model, promoted by the Lisbon Strategy and successfully put into practice in Denmark (Zakrzewska 2011). The word flexicurity is derived from “flexibility” and “security”; it is an integrated strategy of simultaneous increase in flexibility and labour market security, and it includes the following components (COM 2013): x flexible and foreseeable terms and conditions of employment contracts gained thanks to modern labour law, collective bargaining, and work organisation; x complex lifelong learning strategies; x effective and active labour market policy, fostering adaptability to quick changes, reducing periods of unemployment, and assisting changes of job; and x modern social security systems. Apart from the changes taking place in the labour market, enterprise management models are changing too. Competitive pressure imposes the need to make enterprises “leaner.” On the other hand, there is a trend to change the hierarchical management structure and gradually step out from the traditional models in this respect. Among the contemporary concepts of organisation and management models, the following can be mentioned: knowledge management, outsourcing, lean management, network organisations, virtual organisations, and learning organisations (Bernais, Ingram, and KraĞnicka 2007). These models can be seen to have a serious approach to openness, partnership, networking, and global collaboration as the determinants of success. Taken together, all these aspects determine the style of work and employee competence requirements.

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Some of the proposed organisational solutions have a dispersed structure and less visible hierarchy, very often based on collaborative partnership. An effective collaboration in this type of enterprise requires good self-discipline and a sound work culture on the part of employees. Credibility and trust become of high importance as they are a key bond in contemporary business (Evans 2005). Naturally, leadership functions are transformed, and as a consequence structure-building competences are exchanged with trust and relationship-building competences (Gobillot 2008). Today, leadership can be defined as leading an organisation towards attaining its goals and objectives through influence over behaviour based on supporters’ trust (Grudzewski et al. 2010). In the case of virtual and network organisations, along with those that have implemented teleworking, one of the key leadership roles is that of leader integrator. A leader integrator takes on the risk of achieving a vital goal and provides motivation, encourages action, and interacts with others in order to accomplish it (Gobillot 2008; Grudzewski et al. 2010). Contemporary employees use web-based information on a regular basis, and at the same time become “new Alexandrians,” that is, the users and co-creators of the global digital library. Some employees participate in voluntary knowledge sharing, such as creating various types of wiki, contributing to online encyclopedias, or developing open source software. Employees are the users of diverse participation platforms (such as mashups, social networking websites, networking service websites, and e-tailing websites). They can offer their creativity and ability to foster innovativeness through ideagoras – places on the internet that gather people and the business world, acting as global innovativeness markets. The twenty-first-century employee is a part of a networking organisation that accomplishes common goals. Participation and collaboration, initiated by the activities mentioned, begin to translate into the manufacture of tangible goods. Contemporary employees are becoming members of a global production hall where geographical distance ceases to matter (Tapscott and Williams 2006). Technological changes cause the disappearance of some professions while new ones emerge. This can lead to the undesirable effect of structural unemployment and other difficulties of a socio-economic nature. However, such a change is usually gradual and sustainable, in particular when the change affects working tools or processing technologies. Adaptability on the part of an individual to new surrounding conditions therefore translates into their professional success, while a lack of this adaptability can mean failure and long-lasting unemployment.

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As a rule, new professions require much greater theoretical knowledge than those performed in the past. Certain professions that were very popular in the past have recently lost their importance or become niche trades with the shift to mass production or automation. This mainly refers to those professions that depend on the utilisation of limited natural resources, or those that are tightly connected with technical solutions which have been superseded by novel, better, and more economically efficient solutions. A separate issue is the influence of ICT development on working tools. The Web 2.0 concept is also reflected in enterprises and new working models. In this context, the concept of “Enterprise 2.0” can be characterised as the application of social networking ICTs in the business environment (Kania 2010). The ICTs of Enterprise 2.0 are the following (Konowrocka 2008): x x x x x x

wiki services, blogs, RSS channels; full-text search engines; folksonomies; group planning software; tools for creating social networks; mashup services (putting together contents coming from various sources); and x ICT-enabled forecasting and risk identification.

The changes taking place in the labour market also refer to the forms of work performance. ICTs allow for effective work without the necessity of leaving one’s home, and employees are increasingly accepting work on the teleworking basis. Teleworking (also known as telecommuting or telework) is “a work flexibility arrangement under which an employee performs the duties and responsibilities of such employee’s position, and other authorised activities, from an approved worksite other than the location from which the employee would otherwise work” (GPO 2010, 3165). Telecommuting offers many advantages: flexible working time, good productivity, working conditions that match personal preferences, savings generated by non-commuting to the place of work. However, it also has disadvantages, such as difficulty in eliminating the influence of work over family life, blurring of boundaries in the work–life balance, limitations in socialising, lack of opportunities for dynamic career development, stagnation, lengthening working time (Skies, Mason, and VonLehmden 2011; Teh et al. 2013). Research shows that in 2012 about 20% of the entire world workforce admitted that they often work remotely,

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while 10% indicated that they telecommute daily. Teleworking is very popular in the Middle East, South America, and Asia, and relatively less popular in the United States (Reaney 2012). A professional career within a single enterprise is rare in the information society. Research carried out in the United States contains discrepancies in the estimated number of workplace changes throughout a professional career, resulting, for instance, from differing ideas of how workplace change should be interpreted. As Rosenberg McKay (2011) states, the number given by various experts oscillates between three and seven, although these are opinions rather than research results. The Bureau of Labor Statistics research carried out among people born between 1957 and 1963 showed that these people – from early adulthood to forty-six years of age – changed jobs on average about eleven times (BLS 2012). A PKPP Lewiatan report indicates that on average, Polish people change their jobs seven times in the course of their careers. However, in one workplace they stay an average of ten years, and only the third place of work is indicated as the most satisfying (Lewiatan 2011). To sum up, contemporary employees must recognise the need to change jobs, and they must be prepared for such a necessity both mentally and substantially. Such a change will often require complete retraining, gaining new knowledge and skills, including new ICT knowledge. These conditions impose a great burden of responsibility on the education process, to allow for the teaching of future employees who are characterised by great flexibility and skilful adjustability to new tasks.

2.2.3 New Models of Education As presented above, the ICTs that are the driving force of SIS development change the consumption patterns, work, and everyday life of an individual. Contemporary citizens need to be adequately prepared in order to properly function in the current socio-economic reality. In this context, the central role of education needs to be stressed, education that should form the backbone of the SIS. The World Bank also points to education and training as one of the SIS pillars (WB 2011). Research clearly demonstrates that education considerably influences levels of economic development by increasing employees’ awareness, boosting productivity, facilitating new ICT absorption, and generally increasing human capital (Becker 2009; Przybyszewski 2007). An attempt to identify and characterise the contemporary beneficiaries of the education process should begin by separating the participants of (formal) school education and the participants of (informal) out-of-school

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education. School education, to a great extent, is an obligatory process lasting many years. It plays a fundamental role in determining the professional status of young people, starting their careers. Out-of-school education, on the other hand, results from people undertaking voluntary action, whether to facilitate the development of their own career, to become a specialist, to gain professional promotion, or even to maintain their existing professional status. A continuous upgrade of expertise poses a real challenge, especially in professions which are subject to frequent technological changes or which evolve in the scientific sense. In the SIS, out-of-school education is gaining in importance as it bolsters the lifelong learning idea, which is discussed in a further part of this study. The age of the learners is an important issue from the educational point of view, influencing their predisposition to participation in the education process. Providing access to both school and out-of-school education to all people from each generation mentioned in section 2.1.2 is an enormous challenge for the SIS. Contemporary education must deal with the diversity of predispositions among learners, and their preferences in terms of ways of acquiring knowledge. Special attention has to be paid to adjusting education to the needs of Generations Y and Z. These are people who use the internet on an ongoing basis and are open to multichannelling and virtualisation of the message. Technological changes and the transformation of civilisation force revisions in the perception of education in the SIS. Table 2.2 compares the characteristics of traditional education with that of the SIS. The widespread use of technology, stepping away from the concept of school education in order to lengthen the education process to the entire human lifespan, and focusing on the learner instead of on the teaching institution are all noticeable trends in the contemporary education process. Modern education is characterised by multimedia, flexibility, partnership, and the use of the internet. The contemporary outlook on education is not likely to awake negative feelings among representatives of the younger generations (Y and Z). However, Baby Boomers and Generation X people can sometimes resist such education or be sceptical towards it. The information society is inseparably connected with the lifelong learning process. Lifelong learning (LLL) is described as combining all learning activities undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills, and qualifications for personal, social, and professional reasons (Tissot 2004). The lifelong learning formula enhances the role of informal teaching and andragogy, treating continuing learning as a natural human state in the contemporary reality. Lifelong learning, apart from the

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school stage, takes many forms, such as postgraduate studies, employee training, third age universities, coaching and mentoring, self-training, and increasing competences on one’s own. It needs to be pointed out that the dissemination of the lifelong learning idea lies at the heart of the biggest and most important international organisations, including the EU, the OECD, UNESCO, and the World Bank (Mandal 2012). For LLL is, as has been mentioned, an important element of information society creation policies. Table 2.2. Former and contemporary education associations Industrial society

Sustainable information society

Focus on the teacher

Focus on the learner

Content reasoning

Subject-oriented

Content assimilation Knowledge accommodation, knowledge selfreaching Task-oriented

Focus on facts

Focus on problems

Theory

Practice

Education of reproducers

Education of creators

Individual work

Teamwork

Self-sufficiency

Partnership / peer support

Rigid implementation of curriculum Fixed curriculum

Individualisation of curriculum according to the learner’s predispositions and capabilities Flexible / open curriculum

Technology as an addition

Multimedia centre

One-time education

Lifelong learning

At one place

Global network Building wisdom and welfare of present and future generations, ensuring economic growth, increasing participation in social life

Declarative knowledge

Building wisdom and welfare of individuals

Source: (Miliszewska 2006; Ziemba and Eisenbardt 2013; Ziemba 2004).

ICT expansion has led to great diversification in the ways of gaining current, necessary knowledge. For this reason a prominent role is played by types of lifelong learning that can be facilitated by e-learning.

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E-learning is always connected with the utilisation of ICTs in the education process (Bernthal, Weaver, and Wellins 2003; Clarke 2007; Hyla 2005; Mischke 2005; Penkowska 2010; Selim 2005; Tynjälä and Häkkinen 2005; WoĨniak 2009). As with all ICTs, it is a subject to evolution and development. Contemporary e-learning is transforming into a form that might be described as e-learning 2.0. In its existing form (1.0), e-learning has been connected with Learning Management Systems (LMS) – the systems that enable the provision and administration of electronic training and the management of the training process itself (Waükowski and Chmielewski 2007). In other words, LMS is software which automates the management, monitoring, and reporting of events occurring in the course of the education process (Ellis 2009). These systems are regarded as gateways to the use of e-learning 2.0 (Kerres 2006). The term e-learning 2.0 was proposed by Downes (2007), who described it by means of the following phrases: “learner centered,” “immersive learning,” “connected learning,” “game-based learning,” “workflow (informal) learning,” “mobile learning.” The basic approach of e-learning 2.0 is substituting the former, standardised education environments with new ones, Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) (Downes 2007). PLEs are systems that help learners to personalise their individual education process, providing them with support in establishing their educational goals, managing the educational content and learning process, and communicating with others. As a result, PLEs enable the attainment of learning objectives in a way that is adjusted to the learner’s needs (van Harmelen 2006; Ehlers 2009). Downes (2007) states that the learning environment is changing thanks to rapid development of multimedia, mobile technologies, and threedimensional networks (virtual worlds, constituting real world models in the digital space, e.g., Second Life). Other new solutions and directions of the e-learning evolution that are worth describing in detail and may be important for SIS development are mobile learning, OER, webcasts, and social e-learning. Mobile learning (m-learning) is the transfer of e-learning onto mobile devices. M-learning is characterised by improved accessibility and greater flexibility than traditional e-learning, thanks to such devices as smartphones, tablets, or laptops. It should be noted that the mobile education market in the United States was estimated at $1 billion in 2010, and it is anticipated that revenues will double by 2015 (Adkins 2011). Mobile technology is universalising at a breathtaking rate. According to the CISCO company report, Global Mobile Data Traffic Update 2011– 2016, the number of connected mobile devices in the whole world was ten

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billion in 2012, accounting for more than the whole human population (7.3 billion), and in 2016 internet traffic generated by mobile devices will increase eighteenfold in comparison to that recorded in 2011 (Cisco 2012). According to the Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker (IDC 2014), the worldwide smartphone market grew 28.6% year-to-year in the first quarter of 2014. Smartphones accounted for 62.7% of all mobile phone shipments in the first quarter of 2014, up from 50.7% in the first quarter of 2013. The Polish mobile solutions market is characteristic amongst developing countries: the number of mobile internet users in 2015 is estimated at 31% of the population (Chmielak 2012). Another trend in e-learning is Open Educational Resources (OERs). OERs are defined as “technology-enabled, open provision of educational resources for consultation, use and adaptation by a community of users for non-commercial purposes” (UNESCO 2002, par. 3; Koohang 2013, 347). Today, the co-sharing of resources is increasingly used, hence the growing popularity of webcasting, podcasts and vodcasts, and various websites for file exchange between users. Webcasting uses streaming technology, namely the streaming transfer of audio-visual materials across the IT network. Webinars operate on a similar basis, and apart from communication known from videoconferencing they also offer desktop sharing and exchange and real-time editing of files. There also emerged a trend of Learning Object Repositories (LORs). To some extent LORs resemble digital libraries and are usually built in such a way as to use open educational resources. They function as repositories of entire e-learning courses or their parts. Hence LORs are the systems enabling the storage, discovery, and downloading of metadata or electronic objects, stored at the local or dispersed level (Monge, Ovelar, and Azpeitia 2008). There has been a massive increase in interest in social networking websites in recent years, a fascination that has translated into education. Social e-learning is based on the social learning theory by Bandura (1977). The beginnings of the implementation of social e-learning can be traced as far back as discussion groups distributed by e-mail, which gathered experts in a given field and gave a forum for experience exchange. Today, a significant number of websites, services, and communication media are available in this field to be used as tools that foster social collaboration and social e-learning (Hart 2009). In addition, dedicated social e-learning platforms can be specified, for example, Elgg, SocialText, and Mzinga (Ziemba and Eisenbardt 2012). Virtual words are a new quality in education enhanced by ICTs. These are simulations of reality in which an avatar facilitates learning through action (learning by doing). Another educational solution is r-learning, in

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which educational robots support or substitute a teacher. Such solutions are already used in South Korea and are implemented in language learning as well as in pre-primary (Movie01 2012) and primary education (Han 2010). The above considerations on education in the SIS lead to the following conclusions: x education must adapt to fast-paced technological changes, in particular to changes in the ICT sector, through flexible adaptation of curricula and the adoption of ICTs in the education process; x education must be facilitated by e-learning, which currently is undergoing a profound transformation from e-learning 1.0 to e-learning 2.0. It should be noted that some characteristics of e-learning 2.0 perfectly fit the contemporary education paradigm. The focus on the learner seems to be particularly important in this respect, as almost all attention is shifted to this side. Networking, flexibility, and multimedia are used to satisfy the beneficiaries of the education process, enabling them to achieve the best possible results and attain complex educational goals. To sum up, it should be noted that education is an important pillar of the SIS. It is based on evolution triggered mainly by ICT development and as a consequence adjusting education to new ICTs and learner expectations. Moreover, it should be stressed that lifelong learning is an inherent form of education in the SIS. Such education should be adjusted to the learner in order to provide effective acquisition of new knowledge and competences and, therefore, enable professional as well as personal development.

2.3 Methodology of Research on Critical Success Factors for and Level of ICT Adoption by People 2.3.1 Research Questions and Steps of Research Methodology The conceptual framework of a methodology for identifying CSFs for the SIS is presented in section 1.5. This methodology embraces building and employing in practice the framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people, enterprises, and public administration in the context of the challenges and goals of the SIS. The methodology was further extended to evaluate the level of ICT adoption by the SIS stakeholders in view of the identified CSFs.

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The methodology for identifying the CSFs for and the level of ICT adoption by people should give answers to the following research questions: x What is the framework of CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people? x What are the CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people in reality, in Poland? x What is the level of adoption of ICTs by people in reality, in Poland? The answers to these questions required a multi-step approach. The research methods included a critical review of literature, the Delphi method, brainstorming, collaboration, logical reasoning (both deductive and inductive), and statistical analysis. The following steps were taken: 1) Identifying CSFs for ICT adoption by people based on the existing studies; 2) Defining the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people; 3) Verifying the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people; 4) Evaluating the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people; 5) Creating the final framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people; 6) Creating the set of questions about the level of ICT adoption by people; 7) Creating the survey questionnaire; 8) Defining the sample and the sample size; 9) Collecting the data on the CSFs and the level of ICT adoption by people; 10) Identifying CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people; and 11) Evaluating the level of ICT adoption by people. The first six steps led to the final framework of CSFs and the set of questions about the level of ICT adoption by people. The next five steps gave the CSFs for and the level of ICT adoption by people in Poland.

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Step 1: Identifying CSFs for ICT adoption by people based on the existing studies A review of the literature was conducted to identify CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people. It began with five bibliographic databases: Ebsco, ProQuest, Emerald Management Plus, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Scopus. Open access papers and empirical studies were also examined. The search was conducted using a relevant set of keywords and phrases such as “critical success factors,” “CSFs,” “success factors,” “success,” “ICT,” “adoption,” “usage,” “sustainability,” “sustainable,” “information society,” “net generation,” “citizens,” “people,” “digital society,” and “society,” in all possible permutations and combinations (taking into consideration the logical AND and OR as appropriate). Step 2: Defining the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people The goals of the second step were to compare the identified CSFs based on the literature to the Polish reality, and define the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people. Therefore, CSFs in the Silesian Voivodeship (Poland) were indicated on the basis of collaboration with the Silesian Centre of Information Society in Katowice, especially while working on the strategy for information society development in the Silesian Voivodeship. After brainstorming sessions and logical reasoning, the prototype set of CSFs was determined. The identified factors were assigned to the appropriate dimensions (economic, socio-cultural, technological, organisational) and stages (ICT access, ICT competences, and ICT use). Step 3: Verifying the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people Using the Delphi method, the framework of CSFs was evaluated and further developed. The Delphi process was conducted as a series of rounds. Four experts participated in the rounds, all professors of Polish universities who conduct studies and have empirical experience in information society fields. The result of the Delphi study was to verify the set of CSFs and to assign all factors to the identified dimensions and stages.

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Step 4: Evaluating the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people In the last round of the Delphi study, eight experts took part. They included the four professors of Polish universities who participated in the previous rounds and four people who use ICTs in their personal and professional life and act for digital inclusion. The experts evaluated the strength of the influence of particular factors on ICT adoption by people by answering this question: “On a scale of 1 to 5, state to what extent do you agree that the following factors influence the SIS, i.e. ICT adoption by you as a learner, worker, consumer, and citizen?” A five-point Likert scale was used, as follows: 1 – disagree strongly, 2 – disagree, 3 – neither agree nor disagree, 4 – agree, and 5 – agree strongly. The collected data was analysed statistically in order to verify and evaluate the framework of CSFs. SPSS for Windows and STATISTICA were utilised to show the descriptive statistics of the CSFs. The following statistical measures were employed: min, max, mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. To conduct reliability analysis, Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was used. Step 5: Creating the final framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people Thanks to the statistical analysis carried out at step 4, the final framework of CSFs was built. This framework also took into account some changes proposed by the experts. The changes mainly involved the assignment of some factors to the dimensions and stages, adding new factors to the framework, deleting some existing factors, or replacing some factors by others. Finally, the framework of CSFs included forty-one factors influencing the adoption of ICTs by people. Step 6: Creating the set of questions about the level of ICT adoption by people At this step, the set of questions for measuring the level of ICT adoption by people was defined. For each CSF at least one question about the level of ICT adoption was set. Four experts participated in this step. Research methods included a review of literature, brainstorming, and logical reasoning.

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Step 7: Creating the survey questionnaire At this step, the survey questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire consisted of six sections described in depth in section 1.5.2: 1) The invitation to respondents to participate in the research on ICT adoption by people. 2) Definitions and explanations of the main terms used in the questionnaire, i.e. e-services, e-government services, ICTs, hardware, networks and telecommunications, software. 3) The set of questions about the non-personal characteristics of respondents, i.e. age, gender, place of residence, educational background, and e-mail address for receiving the findings of the study. 4) The set of CSFs with a five-point Likert scale to evaluate the strength of their influence on ICT adoption by people. 5) The set of questions with a five-point Likert scale and a three-point scale (“Yes,” “Neither yes nor no,” and “No”) to evaluate the level of ICT adoption by people. 6) The acknowledgment to respondents for taking part in the study. Applying the CAWI method and employing the SurveyMonkey platform, the survey questionnaire was uploaded to the website. Then, the pilot study was conducted to verify the web survey questionnaire. In the pilot studies, six experts who participated in step 4 examined this web survey questionnaire. Finishing touches were put into it, especially of a formal and technical nature. No substantive amendments were required. Step 8: Defining the sample and the sample size After creating the final survey questionnaire, the sample size was defined. The designed sample size included 3,500 people, comprising people of different age, gender, and educational background, and living in different voivodeships in Poland. Step 9: Collecting the data on the CSFs and the level of ICT adoption by people Data collection took place between 22 December 2013 and 30 April 2014, with 1,037 responses gathered from the respondents. The response rate was 29.63%. After screening the responses and excluding outliers, there

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was a final sample of 751 usable, correct, and complete responses. Therefore, the final response rate was 21.46%. The data was stored in two data formats: SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Step 10: Identifying CSFs for ICT adoption by people As the process of collecting data on CSFs was completed, and before passing on to detailed statistical analysis, its reliability was calculated to examine the internal consistency among items on the scale. For this Cronbach’s alpha (Į) was used. After that the min, max, mean (M), median (Mdn), mode (Mo), standard deviation (SD), and coefficient of variation (CV) were used to identify the CSFs for ICT adoption by people. Then, the ten critical factors with the highest means, medians, and modes were indicated for successful adoption of ICTs by people in Poland. Step 11: Evaluating the level of ICT adoption by people The frequencies and percentages of the answers were used to identify the level of ICT adoption by people. This level is presented in the context of the ten CSFs for ICT adoption by people defined in step 10.

2.3.2 Details of the Final Sample During the research 751 correct responses were gathered from respondents who expressed their thoughts about the CSFs for and the level of ICT adoption. Descriptive analysis was undertaken to examine the characteristics of the sample and the data generated through the responses. The summarised features of respondent profile and related data are described in Table 2.3 (overleaf). The respondents were diverse as regards their characteristics (i.e., their gender, educational background, age, and place of residence). With regard to gender, 491 (65.38%) respondents were female and 257 (34.22%) were male. This study recommends age ranges defined by McCrindle (2014). According to him, “A generation refers to a cohort of people born within a similar span of time (15 years at the upper end) who share a comparable age and life stage and who were shaped by a particular span of time (events, trends and developments)” (McCrindle 2014, 2). As indicated, 360 (47.94%) respondents were in the range of 21–35 years old, and 150 (19.97%) were 36–50 years old. With regard to education, 507 (67.51%) of the respondents completed higher education, and 238

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(31.69%) completed secondary school. With regard to place of residence, 499 respondents (66.44%) lived in the Silesian Voivodeship and 252 (33.56%) were from other voivodeships in Poland. Table 2.3. Demographic analysis of the data sample (N=751) Characteristics

Frequency

Percentage

Gender female

491

65.38%

male

257

34.22%

3

0.40%

21

2.80%

n/a Age above 65 years old (Builders) 51–65 years old (Boomers)

87

11.58%

36–50 years old (Gen X)

150

19.97%

21–35 years old (Gen Y)

360

47.94%

99

13.18%

34

4.53%

higher education

507

67.51%

secondary education

238

31.69%

1

0.13%

less than 21 years old (Gen Z) n/a Educational background

training education primary education

2

0.27%

n/a

3

0.40%

the Silesian Voivodeship

499

66.44%

other voivodeships

252

33.56%

Place of residence

2.4 Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by People 2.4.1 Reliability and Validity Tests Cronbach’s alpha was calculated for each construct of questions based on the score of the answers provided. The validity of the question was also tested. The greater the Cronbach’s alpha, the larger the correlation with the

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questions under the same construct and the higher the internal consistency. Hinton et al. (2004) believe that a reliability of anything above 0.5 is acceptable, giving a range from the excellent (0.90 and above), the high (0.70–0.90), the high moderate (0.50–0.70), to the low (0.50 and below). The results of the reliability analysis are presented in Fig. 2.2 and Table 2.4. Cronbach’s alpha for each construct is no lower than 0.900, i.e. it is excellent. Moreover, the removal of some constructs would not lead to the improvement of internal consistency among the constructs on the scale. Only the removal of one construct would lead to a minimal improvement in Cronbach’s alpha, i.e. X6 – changes of 0.000147 (Fig. 2.2). In addition, Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension and stage is between 0.715 and 0.848, i.e. it is high (Table 2.4, overleaf). Overall, since all the reliability values are above 0.700, these constructs report good reliability and internal consistency. Table 2.4. Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension and stage Number of items

Cronbach’s alpha coefficient

Economic

13

0.773

Socio-cultural

8

0.715

Technological

13

0.848

Organisational

7

0.751

Total dimensions

41

0.910

ICT access (supply)

14

0.770

ICT competences

8

0.766

ICT use (demand)

19

0.826

Total stages

41

0.910

Dimensions/Stages

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Figure 2.2. Cronbach’s alpha for each construct

Additionally, the variability of constructs was examined (Tables 2.5 to 2.8). The coefficient of variation stays in the range from 15.90% to 34.38% and all factors have enough variability to be useful (above 10%). These findings show that all identified factors affect the adoption of ICTs by people.

2.4.2 Framework of Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by People The conducted research allowed the final framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by people to be proposed. It includes forty-one factors. Tables 2.5 to 2.8 contain the names of these factors and their categories. The factors are classified into four main dimensions: economic, social-cultural, technological, and organisational. They are related to ICT supply and demand as well as the ICT competences of people. The factors play different roles in ICT adoption, from great importance down to small importance. The statistics of the identified factors are presented in Tables 2.5 to 2.8. The calculated means for forty-one factors are in the range from 3.33 to 4.49, using a five-point Likert scale. The means of nineteen factors exceed 4.00. For five factors the medians achieve the highest value (namely 5) and the means for those factors are higher than the means for the other factors (namely in the range from 4.37 to 4.49). Tables 2.5 to 2.8 show the ranking of all factors, and the extracted factors are discussed in the following subsections.

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Economic factors related to ICT adoption by people This group of factors includes economic issues connected with the economic accessibility of ICTs, competences and awareness related to the adoption of ICTs, and ICT usage by people (Table 2.5). People’s financial situation, ICT costs, and the economic benefits for people arising from ICT adoption are of paramount importance. These three critical factors are described in section 2.4.3.

SD

749

1

5

3.99

4

0.91

22.70%

745

1

5

3.97

4

0.87

21.83%

747

1

5

4.18

4

0.84

20.00%

743

1

5

3.98

4

0.94

23.69%

743

1

5

3.95

4

0.84

21.35%

751

1

5

4.41

5

0.80

18.14%

N

Max

Critical success factor

Min

No.

Mdn

Table 2.5. Economic success factors for ICT adoption by people

M

CV

Stage: ICT access X1

X2 X3

X4

X5

X6

Public outlay on hardware, networks, and telecommunications Private outlay on hardware, networks, and telecommunications Competition in the ICT market Public outlay on e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration Private outlay on eproducts and e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration Financial situation of people

Stage: ICT competences X7

X8

Public and private outlay on ICT education for people Outlay on creating ICT competence centre for people

745

1

5

4.16

4

0.89

21.45%

745

1

5

3.69

4

0.94

25.53%

SD

748

1

5

4.20

4

0.81

19.22%

750

1

5

4.37

5

0.83

19.12%

748

1

5

3.62

4

0.95

26.39%

748

1

5

3.59

4

0.96

26.81%

750

1

5

4.03

4

0.86

21.32%

N

Max

Critical success factor

Min

No.

Mdn

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M

CV

Stage: ICT use X9

Economic benefits for people arising from ICT adoption

X10 ICT costs Public outlay on ICT promotion Private outlay on ICT X12 promotion Differentiation of service and product charges due to X13 processing – electronic or traditional X11

Other factors affecting ICT adoption by people mainly relate to competition in the ICT market and to public and private outlay on ICTs. Competition leads to a decrease in ICT prices, making them more accessible for people. In addition, the differentiation of service and product charges due to processing – electronic or traditional – is conducive to the adoption of ICTs by people: lower prices of e-services and e-products influence people to use these services and products. Public and private financial outlay on ICTs and ICT competences also influence the successful adoption of ICTs by people. Public outlay includes state and local government expenditure on improvement of ICT competences, ICT infrastructure (mainly networks and telecommunications), e-government, e-business, e-education, and e-health. In Poland and other European countries, these expenditures can be funded by the EU; for example, the improvement of ICT competences can be financed by the European Social Fund. Private outlay embraces expenditure made by people on ICT purchases, usage, and education, in particular. There is also expenditure on the part of enterprises, for example on hardware, front- and back-office software, and improvement of employees’ ICT competences. The least important economic factors influencing ICT adoption by people are public and private outlay on ICT promotion and the creation of ICT competence centres for people, which may take the form of knowledge databases, ideas and concepts, forums, portals, and online counselling.

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Technological factors related to ICT adoption by people This research confirmed that technological factors affect the adoption of ICTs by people (Table 2.6). Foremost among these are the technological availability of ICTs, open source software licences, ICT security, and people’s ICT competences. They are described in section 2.4.3.

N

SD

1

5

4.49

5

0.71

15.90%

1

5

4.17

4

0.82

19.64%

1

5

4.22

4

0.87

20.62%

Max

Critical success factor

Min

No.

Mdn

Table 2.6. Technological success factors for ICT adoption by people

M

CV

Stage: ICT access Technological availability 750 of ICTs Availability of innovative X23 747 ICTs Open source software X24 749 licences X22

X25 Standardised ICTs

745

1

5

3.93

4

0.89

22.63%

X26 ICT training and e-training

748

1

5

3.84

4

0.99

25.73%

Stage: ICT competences X27

ICT use facilitators (leaders)

748

1

5

3.78

4

0.94

24.90%

X28

People’s ICT competences

745

1

5

4.29

4

0.77

17.96%

Stage: ICT use Quality of e-services and eproducts delivered by X29 746 enterprises and public administration

1

5

4.17

4

0.82

19.65%

X30 ICT security

747

1

5

4.20

4

0.89

21.25%

Maturity of e-services X31 delivered by enterprises and public administration

746

1

5

3.96

4

0.89

22.49%

X32 Electronic signature

749

X33 E-voting

749 747

Electronic public consultation

SD

CV

3

1.14

34.38%

3.56

4

1.12

31.35%

3.54

4

1.10

31.02%

Max

N

X34

Critical success factor

Min

No.

Mdn

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M

1

5

3.33

1

5

1

5

A high quality of ICTs, especially e-services and products, determines their adoption by people. For people the functionality, usability, and security of ICTs (Ziemba, Papaj, and Descours 2014) are particularly relevant. Functionality means the ability of ICTs to provide functions and operations which are required to fulfil people’s stated and implied needs. Usability refers to the extent to which ICTs are easy to use, learnable, and understandable. Security of ICTs means that the personal information is secured and its unauthorised usage is not possible. In addition, innovative ICTs are readily used by people. The factors affecting ICT adoption by people also relate to the maturity of ICTs, especially of e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration. E-services can be delivered at various levels of maturity, and those levels reflect how people can interact, communicate, and cooperate with enterprises and government units. In addition, they reveal the degree of technological sophistication and organisational transformation in government units and enterprises. A model developed by Capgemini is used in the EU countries to assess the maturity of e-government sophistication (Ziemba and Papaj 2013). It can also be employed to assess the maturity of e-services delivered by enterprises. This model includes: x Level 1 (information). People can obtain online information about products and services delivered by enterprises and public administration. x Level 2 (one-way interaction). People can download and electronically fill in documents delivered by enterprises and public administration. x Level 3 (two-way-interaction). People can electronically download and fill in documents delivered by enterprises and public administration, and then return them by the same means to enterprises and public administration.

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x Level 4 (full electronic). People can download, fill in, and return documents electronically to enterprises and public administration, and also pay fees electronically; for digital products people can obtain products and services electronically. x Level 5 (personalisation). People can obtain full electronic products and services, and additionally the products and services are personalised for them. The highest levels of maturity often require interoperability and standardisation of ICTs. Generally, interoperability means information exchange between various ICTs, whereas standardisation relates to technical specifications that support the development of open and competitive ICT markets for the benefit of both consumers and enterprises. The least important technological factors influencing ICT adoption by people are e-voting and electronic public consultation. Unfortunately, people tend to underestimate e-signature, although it is an essential part of using some e-services, especially those delivered by public administration. Socio-cultural factors related to ICT adoption by people Socio-cultural influences may also manifest themselves in attitudes towards ICT supply, demand, and competences (Table 2.7). People’s ICT awareness is the most important factor for successful ICT adoption by them. It is described in section 2.4.3. Competence flexibility and new socio-cultural competences are also necessary to achieving success in ICT adoption. Knowledge sharing, openness, teamwork, ability to work in cross-cultural teams, trust building, interpersonal relationship building, and also adjusting knowledge and skills to the changing labour market, education, and consumption, are all considered very important to equip people with the necessary skills and tools to use ICTs efficiently in their day-to-day activities. These allow people to understand how ICTs should be used and what benefits can be achieved from them. Personal mastery is, therefore, greatly appreciated. Simply put, this is the readiness and willingness to continue learning, upgrading skills and investing in personal development. Self-improvement is not an end in itself, art for art’s sake, but its aim is the practical implementation of acquired knowledge and skills in everyday private and professional life.

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N

SD

1

5

3.99

4

0.84

21.03%

1

5

4.01

4

0.92

22.83%

Max

Critical success factor

Min

No.

Mdn

Table 2.7. Socio-cultural success factors for ICT adoption by people

M

CV

Stage: ICT access Encouraging an individual to use ICTs through X14 promotions and advertising 749 of enterprises and public administration Assuring availability of work, products, services, X15 and education to 749 individuals at risk of digital and social exclusion

Stage: ICT competences X16 Personal mastery

748

1

5

3.65

4

0.94

25.77%

New socio-cultural competences of people

745

1

5

3.93

4

0.85

21.57%

X18 Competency flexibility

747

1

5

3.93

4

0.84

21.45%

X17

Stage: ICT use People’s awareness of 747 ICTs Consumers’ participation in creating and designing X20 products and services 748 (electronic and nonelectronic) – prosumption X19

X21 Demographic changes

750

1

5

4.28

4

0.77

18.01%

1

5

3.56

4

0.93

26.09%

1

5

3.82

4

1.02

26.79%

The adoption of ICTs by people is less determined by demographics. A growing number of people of various generations actively use ICTs and easily adapt to new models of life, education, consumption, and work. However, prosumption is still not appreciated by people; in their opinion it marginally affects the adoption of ICTs.

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Organisational factors related to ICT adoption by people There is no doubt that the organisational factors listed in Table 2.8 have a significant influence on the success of ICT adoption by people. The need to make people’s lives easier and their satisfaction with the e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration are of paramount importance, among other factors, for the adoption of ICTs and their use in everyday life by people. These factors are described in section 2.4.3.

N

Mdn

Critical success factor

SD

CV

4

0.92

24.41%

3.91

4

0.92

23.59%

Max

No.

Min

Table 2.8. Organisational success factors for ICT adoption by people

M

3.78

Stage: ICT access X35

Legal support for ICT adoption

751

1

5

Stage: ICT competences X36 New model of education

748

1

5

Stage: ICT use Remote performance of official duties Obligatory use of ICTs at schools, universities, X38 workplaces, in contacts with authorities by people Need to make people’s X39 lives easier People’s satisfaction with e-products and e-services X40 delivered by enterprises and public administration X37

X41 Globalisation

744

1

5

4.10

4

0.87

21.18%

750

1

5

4.13

4

0.89

21.57%

748

1

5

4.47

5

0.77

17.24%

750

1

5

4.39

5

0.76

17.27%

744

1

5

4.05

4

0.89

22.01%

The remote performance of official duties by people, and the obligatory use of ICTs at schools, universities, workplaces, and in contact with the

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authorities, ensure their acceptance of and readiness for the usage of various ICTs. In addition, globalisation and the possibility of purchasing, studying, or working in different places in the world very often encourage the utilisation of ICTs. Furthermore, new models of education such as lifelong learning and elearning allow people to obtain the knowledge and skills needed for the successful adoption of ICTs. Their adoption is also determined by the rule of law, especially legal regulations concerning intellectual property, digital signatures, data protection, e-purchase, electoral law, and so on.

2.4.3 Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by People in Poland The results of statistical analyses allow the set of ten CSFs which are of greatest importance for the adoption of ICTs by people in Poland to be validated and recommended. They embrace economic, technological, socio-cultural, and organisational factors connected with the technical and economic accessibility of ICTs, competences and awareness related to the adoption of ICTs, and ICT usage by people. Table 2.9 gives an overview of the CSFs with a focus on their ranking. They are presented in descending order of the mean. The means of these factors are the highest of all forty-one factors, and are equal to or greater than 4.20. Additionally, they exceed the mean of all forty-one factors, which is 3.99. The medians of the first five factors are all 5, and they are the highest of all forty-one factors. The medians of the remaining five factors are 4. For all ten factors, the value that occurs most frequently in the population is 5, except for the factor X9.

Mo/ N

SD

5

5/437

0.71 15.90%

4.47

5

5/447

0.77 17.24%

4.41

5

5/416

0.80 18.14%

M

5

4.49

748 1

5

751 1

5

N

Min

Max

Mdn

Table 2.9. CSFs for ICT adoption by people

No.

Critical success factor

X22

Technological availability of ICTs

750 1

X39

Need to make people’s lives easier

X6

Financial situation of people

CV

People in the Sustainable Information Society

M

Mdn

Mo/ N

People’s satisfaction with e-products and eX40 services delivered by enterprises and public administration

750 1

5

4.39

5

5/393

0.76 17.27%

X10 ICT costs

750 1

5

4.37

5

5/404

0.83 19.12%

No.

Critical success factor

N

Min

Max

113

SD

CV

X28

People’s ICT competences

745 1

5

4.29

4

5/333

0.77 17.96%

X19

People’s awareness of ICTs

747 1

5

4.28

4

5/333

0.77 18.01%

X24

Open source software licences

749 1

5

4.22

4

5/337

0.87 20.62%

X9

Economic benefits for people arising from ICT 748 1 adoption

5

4.21

4

4/356 5/292

0.81 19.22%

5

4.20

4

5/321

0.89 21.25%

X30 ICT security

747 1

Mean score of all 41 factors

3.99

The CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people in Poland include: x Financial situation of people. The possibility of financing the purchase and usage of ICTs (e.g., computers and mobile devices, various software, e-services and e-products, internet access) and improving people’s ICT competences positively affect ICT adoption. x ICT costs. Lower costs of purchasing and using ICTs positively influence their adoption by people (e.g., costs of purchasing and servicing hardware and software); lower costs of training and education increase opportunities for improving ICT competences. x Economic benefits for people arising from ICT adoption. Perceived ICT costs can also be viewed from two perspectives: the costs involved in adopting ICTs, and the cost savings that will be achieved by people through the use of ICTs; the use of ICTs can be the source of time savings, savings in various materials, and greater efficiency in performing housework and professional duties.

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x Technological availability of ICTs. The availability of appropriate hardware and software delivered by enterprises and public administration to people and which responds to their vital needs has an impact on the adoption of ICTs (computers, tablets, smartphones, broadband and next generation access networks (NGA/NGN), applications for computers and mobile devices, e-services and e-products, etc.). x Open source software licences. This software can be freely used, modified, and shared, and may be quite easily adopted by people. x ICT security. Ensuring security during ICT usage enhances people’s confidence in using them (e.g., the use of masked passwords, encrypted connections with the web, anti-virus software, firewalls, etc.). x People’s ICT competences. A minimum of the ICT User level of competence described in section 1.4.6 is essential for successful ICT adoption, i.e., the level required to use ICTs to carry out simple personal and professional tasks. x People’s awareness of ICTs. People’s awareness of the uses of ICTs in life influences the spread of digital culture. x Need to make people’s lives easier. ICTs change people’s personal and working life. However, they have both advantages and disadvantages; a belief that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages tends to encourage the use of ICTs; ICTs can make some tasks easier (e.g., shopping, learning, dealing with official matters, communicating with family and friends); ICTs can have positive effects on well-being and make people happier. x People’s satisfaction with e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration. Satisfied people usually purchase e-products and e-services again and again, and in addition they tell other people about their experiences and encourage them to adopt ICTs and use e-products and e-services. The collected data indicates that organisational factors connected with ICT usage play a critical role in the adoption of ICTs by people in Poland. Among the ten CSFs, as many as two factors are directly related to organisational issues. Moreover, the mean and median of all organisational factors are the highest of all categories, and equal 4.12 and 4.14 respectively (Table 2.10). The next critical factors are reflected in economic issues. Three factors are directly related to the economic issues of ICT access and usage. The mean of all economic factors equals 4.01, and the median is 4.00. Technological factors are other CSFs that affect

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the adoption of ICTs by people. Among the ten CSFs, four factors are directly related to technological issues of ICT access, competences, and usage. Success in the adoption of ICTs also requires the appropriate sociocultural environment for ICT usage by people. Table 2.10. Categories of CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people Category of critical success factor

N

Min

Max

xࡄ

Med

SD

CV

Economic

751

2.15

5.00

4.01

4.00

0.46

11.39%

Socio-cultural

751

1.25

5.00

3.90

3.88

0.52

13.25%

Technological

751

1.08

5.00

3.96

4.00

0.55

13.91%

Organisational

751

1.00

5.00

4.12

4.14

0.55

13.26%

ICT access (supply)

751

1.47

5.00

4.05

4.07

0.43

10.68%

ICT competences

751

1.25

5.00

3.92

3.88

0.55

13.98%

ICT use (demand)

751

2.16

5.00

3.97

4.00

0.45

11.38%

Overall, the factors crucial for ICT adoption by people in Poland are of a many-sided nature. Economic well-being, the cost of purchasing and using ICTs, and the economic benefits for people all have an impact on the adoption of ICTs. In parallel, the technological availability of ICTs is flagged as an important factor. It determines how e-services and e-products can be delivered to people and used by them. Moreover, the appropriate ICT competences are required. In particular, for the development of the SIS, advanced competences demonstrating mastery and innovation are particularly valuable to solve complex and unpredictable problems in the ICT fields of work, study, or life. Finally, life environment and culture are regarded as the last piece of the puzzle. The need to make people’s lives easier, their satisfaction with e-products and e-services, and their awareness of ICTs are important success factors in this respect. Identifying and understanding these success factors of ICT adoption by people has significance for the overall reliable and effective adoption of the SIS. The most important challenge to overcome in this respect is to realise that there is no one solution to fit every situation. The countries of Europe and the world are characterised by vastly different political, economic, social, and cultural contexts, requiring different approaches.

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The proposed framework of CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people is easy to adjust quickly to new conditions.

2.5 Measuring ICT Adoption by People in Poland The basis for measuring the adoption of ICTs by people in Poland was the identified CSFs described in the above section. Each identified CSF was illustrated by at least one indicator describing the adoption of ICTs.

2.5.1 The Economic Dimension of ICT Adoption by People As previously outlined in section 2.4, the adoption of ICTs is determined by economic factors, especially by the financial situation of people and their households. This situation is illustrated very well by the level of people’s wealth, their financial capability of adopting ICTs, and the expenditure incurred by them in adopting ICTs. Fig. 2.3 shows the level of Polish people’s wealth. Only 19.2% of respondents described their wealth level as rather or strongly high. More than half the respondents did not describe their wealth level clearly (neither high nor low), and according to 26.7% of respondents their wealth level was rather or strongly low. This shows that people may not have sufficient financial means for the purchase and use of ICTs, in particular the newest and most innovative ones.

Strongly high

1.3%

Rather high

17.9%

Neither high nor low

54.1%

Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

23.3% 3.4% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 2.3. Level of people’s wealth (N=743)

The level of people’s wealth affects their purchase and usage of ICTs. This correlation is clearly visible in comparing data in Figures 2.3 and 2.4.

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Only 33.2% of respondents described their financial capabilities for adopting ICTs as rather high or strongly high. According to 25.4% of respondents, their financial capabilities for adopting ICTs were rather low or strongly low. The other respondents identified their financial capabilities for adopting ICTs as medium. This shows that a large number of people are at risk of digital exclusion, and, as a result, of social exclusion.

Strongly high

5.1%

Rather high

28.1%

Neither high nor low

41.5%

Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

21.6% 3.8% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Figure 2.4. People’s financial capabilities for adopting ICTs (N=745)

The actual annual expenditure on the purchase and usage of ICTs by respondents is presented in Fig. 2.5. This concerns the year 2013 and includes expenditure on computers, smartphones, tablets, software, internet access, phone subscription fees, and so on. It is expressed in Polish zloty (PLN). Annually, almost half of respondents (47.4%) spent at least PLN 1,000 on ICTs. At the very most, such expenditure could cover the purchase of internet access and phone subscription fees. This shows that the expenditure on ICTs is at an insufficient level, and does not guarantee access to the newest and most innovative ICTs.

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500 and below

27.8% 19.6%

501 - 1,000 PLN 1,001 - 2,000 PLN

23.6% 20.0%

2,001 - 5,000 PLN 5,001 - 10,000 PLN

3.6%

10,000 and above PLN

1.1%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

Figure 2.5. Expenditure incurred by people in adopting ICTs (N=718)

Apart from people’s financial situation, the adoption of ICTs is determined by economic benefits for people arising from it. Over 50% of respondents reaped benefits from adopting ICTs (Fig. 2.6) which they would not have obtained without their purchase and usage. And less than 10% of respondents described the economic benefits as negligible. This shows that a large proportion of people are aware of the various economic benefits resulting from the adoption of ICTs, for example money and time savings, savings in various materials, and greater efficiency in performing housework and professional duties. These kinds of benefits may encourage people to adopt ICTs.

Strongly high

10.5%

Rather high

43.7%

Neither high nor low

36.4%

Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

7.9% 1.5% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

Figure 2.6. Economic benefits for people arising from ICT adoption (N=749)

50.0%

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119

2.5.2 The Technological Dimension of ICT Adoption by People As previously outlined in section 2.4, the adoption of ICTs is determined by technological factors, especially: x x x x

the technological availability of ICTs; open source software licences; the security of ICTs; and ICT competences.

The technological availability of ICTs was described by the constraints of ICT adoption and the usage of various ICTs by people, for example broadband networks and e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration. Fig. 2.7 shows that due to certain technological constraints, people were prevented from making full use of e-services and e-products delivered to them by enterprises and government units. Over 60% of respondents encountered various obstacles. And only 30.9% of respondents confirmed that there were no technological obstacles in place that would prevent an effective use of e-services and e-government.

Yes

Neither yes nor no

60.1%

9.1%

No 0.0%

30.9% 20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

Figure 2.7. Technological constraints of ICT adoption by people (N=751)

One of the main barriers to the usage of ICTs, especially of e-services and e-products, is the speed of internet connection. Fig. 2.8 shows that roughly 33% of respondents could be reached by broadband (i.e., an internet speed of 30Mb/s or higher). Over 6% of respondents used internet connectivity with speed of 2Mb/s. This shows that some people may have problems with access to and the right use of certain e-services and e-products.

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Above 100Mb/s

9.5%

30Mb/s - 100Mb/s

24.2%

2Mb/s - 30Mb/s Below 2Mb/s

48.3% 6.2%

I don't know

11.8%

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

Figure 2.8. Speed of internet connection used by people (N=745)

The use of e-services is often determined by using e-signature technology, and e-services delivered by public administration in particular require an e-signature. Unfortunately, the vast majority of respondents (almost 90%) did not use such a signature, and only 17.7% of respondents used qualified and unqualified signatures (Fig. 2.9). This shows that people may have some problems with the usage of e-services delivered by public administration, especially at higher levels of maturity than level 1 (information).

17.7%

Yes Neither yes nor no

1.5%

No 0.0%

80.8% 20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Figure 2.9. Usage of e-signature (N=751)

Fig. 2.10 shows various kinds of e-services and e-products used by people. Most often respondents used e-banking (92.5%), e-commerce (84.7%), and e-entertainment (79.4%). The smallest proportion of respondents used e-exchange (19.6%) and e-health (34.1%). This shows that the usage of e-banking, e-commerce, and e-entertainment generally stands at a good level. But the use of e-learning and e-training, e-government, e-health, and e-work is not satisfactory and needs some improvement.

People in the Sustainable Information Society

4.4%

e-exchange

e-work

1.2%

e-entertaiment

1.8%

19.6% 76.0% 19.9% 78.8% 79.4% 18.9% 34.1%

4.0%

e-health

121

Yes 61.9% Neither yes nor no

e-government

2.0%

e-learning

1.5%

e-banking

0.7% 6.8%

e-commerce

1.5%

0.0%

63.0% No

34.9% 58.9% 39.6% 92.5%

84.7% 13.8% 20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Figure 2.10. ICT usage by people in relations with enterprises and public administration (N=737)

Fig 2.11 shows the purposes of ICT usage, especially internet usage in relations with enterprises. Over 91% of respondents used ICTs to obtain information about enterprises and their offers, and for purchasing products and services via the internet. Moreover, many respondents used ICTs to order and reserve products and services (85.5% and 82.0% respectively). The smallest proportion of respondents used ICTs for teleworking (19.9%) and applying for a job (49.7%). Similarly, a low percentage of respondents used ICTs for prosumption (roughly every fourth respondent proposed modifications in products and services, and every second respondent expressed their opinion on enterprises and their products). This shows that generally e-services delivered by enterprises are used by a significant proportion of people. But the use of some services is not satisfactory and needs some improvement, for example teleworking, applying for a job, consultancy, and prosumption.

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Teleworking

1.2%

Applying for jobs

1.2%

Consultancy (advice, complaints, enquiries)

1.6%

Proposing improvements in products and services

1.5%

Expressing opinions on products and servises

1.3%

Purchasing products and services

19.9% 78.8% 49.7% 49.1% 64.6% 33.8% 23.9% Neither yes nor no

59.3%

No

39.4% 91.3%

0.7% 8.0%

Reservation of products and services

0.7%

Ordering products and services

0.5%

Obtaining information on enterprises and their offers

82.0% 17.3% 85.5% 13.9% 91.6%

0.8% 7.6%

0.0%

Yes

74.6%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Figure 2.11. Purpose of ICT usage by people in relations with enterprises (N=744)

People also use ICTs in relations with public administration. Fig 2.12 shows that on average every third respondent used ICTs for contacting government units and dealing with various official matters. The respondents most often used e-government services related to enrolment for studies, schools, and kindergartens (65.2%), and for the submission of tax reports (64.2%). The smallest proportion of respondents used ICTs for dealing with official matters connected with various agricultural, huntingforestry, and fishing permissions (5.2%). The same was the case for population registers (7.5%), for example registering births and deaths; but these two kinds of official matters are relatively rare in personal life. On the other hand, the government services widely used by citizens are those related to the use of libraries, healthcare, or municipal utility services. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of respondents used those services via the internet: 58.4%, 37.3%, and 24.4%, respectively. This shows that generally e-services delivered by public administration to citizens are seldom

People in the Sustainable Information Society

Agriculture, forestry, hunting, angling

Environment protection

5.2% 3.0%

2.6%

91.7%

15.1% 82.3%

7.5% 2.2%

Births, marriages, deaths

Transport and communication

90.3% 57.9%

1.2%

Municipal utility services

Business activity

73.4% 28.1%

2.0%

2.3%

Registration of residence

2.3%

Identity documents

1.6%

Public libraries

1.5%

Health care

1.9%

Looking for jobs

1.9%

Social assistance

1.9%

Enrolment for the studies, schools and kindergartens

1.3%

Elections

2.2%

Public consultation

40.8% 24.4%

2.2%

Real estate, residential and commercial premises, construction, architecture, urban planning, geodesy, cartography

69.8% 35.6% 62.1% 16.7% 80.9% 35.2%

Customs declarations

Taxes and charges

Yes 63.1%

Neither yes nor no

58.4%

No

40.1% 37.3% 60.8% 55.5% 42.6% 14.0%

2.0%

Statistical reporting

2.4%

84.1% 65.2% 33.4% 36.0% 61.8% 35.0% 63.0% 31.4% 66.1%

6.0% 2.4%

1.5%

0.0%

123

20.0%

91.6% 64.2% 34.4% 40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Figure 2.12. Purposes of ICT usage by people in relations with public administration (N=734)

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used. In short, the use of e-government services is not satisfactory and needs some improvement. E-services can be available for people at the five different levels of maturity (Fig. 2.13). Nearly all respondents (98.8%) used information e-services. E-services for one-way-interaction (level 2) were used by 80.8% of respondents, and e-services at the full electronic level (level 4) by 75.8% of respondents. This shows that people use e-services at the different levels of maturity, and the improvement of e-services at the personalisation level is required.

Level 5 (personalisation)

Level 4 (full electronic)

51.9%

5.9%

1.3%

42.2% 79.3% 19.4% Yes

Level 3 (two-wayinteraction)

0.4%

Level 2 (one-way interaction)

0.4%

75.8%

Neither yes nor no

23.8%

No

80.6% 19.0% 98.8%

Level 1 (information)

0.3% 0.9%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Figure 2.13. Maturity levels of e-services used by people (N=746)

As previously outlined, the adoption of ICTs by people is determined by their quality; particularly relevant is the security of ICTs, but also their functionality and usability. Fig. 2.14 shows how people evaluate ICT quality, including that of e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration. The vast majority of respondents confirmed that they had access to very high or rather high quality e-services, including such measures of quality as security, functionality, and usability. The lowest marks were given for security (61.2% of respondents evaluated it as rather or strongly high, 7.3% of respondents rather and strongly low, and 31.5% of respondents favoured a different approach). This shows that both the security of ICTs and people’s awareness of ICT security should be improved.

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Strongly high

15.9% 45.3% Security

Rather high

31.5%

Neither high nor low

6.1% 1.2%

Rather low Strongly low

28.4% 55.9% Functional suitability

13.5% 1.9% 0.3% 32.9% 54.9%

Usability

10.4% 1.5% 0.3%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

Figure 2.14. ICT security vs. other quality attributes of ICTs (N=749)

Open source software may be quite easily adopted by people. Its use does not require a financial outlay, and it can be modified and customised. The availability of this kind of software therefore influences the adoption of ICTs by people. Fig. 2.15 illustrates that over 50% of respondents used open source software, and roughly every fourth respondent did not use it (Fig. 2.15). This shows that the usage of this kind of software should be increased.

Yes

51.0%

Neither yes nor no

25.4%

No 0.0%

23.6% 20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

Figure 2.15. Usage of open source software licences by people (N=751)

An important obstacle to the adoption of ICTs is the lack of ICT competences. Fig. 2.16 shows 43.4% of respondents confirmed that the lack of ICT competences caused constraints in ICT adoption. Less than

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47% of respondents had no problems in adopting ICTs due to deficiency in competences.

Yes

43.4%

Neither yes nor no

9.9%

No

46.7%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

Figure 2.16. Constraints of ICT adoption by people caused by the lack of ICT competences (N=751)

Fig. 2.17 shows that only 27.1% of respondents described their ICT competences as rather high or strongly high. Approximately 50% of respondents evaluated their competences as neither high nor low, and all other respondents (22.2%) had the competences at rather low or strongly low levels. This shows that over 20% of people do not have the basic ICT skills referred to as ICT User competences, and they must enhance them to use ICTs effectively and without obstacles.

Strongly high

5.2%

Rather high

21.9%

Neither high nor low

50.7%

Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

17.2% 5.0% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 2.17. ICT competences of people (N=639)

A mentor can help people adopt ICTs; he or she can give less experienced individuals help and advice, and encourage people to use ICTs in their private life and for building their welfare. Fig. 2.18 shows that 36% of respondents were mentors of ICT use. In Poland, the so-called

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Lighthouse Keepers of Digital Poland actively operate; these are mentors promoting digital literacy among people from the fifty-plus age group (Boomers and Builders, Generation X). The Lighthouse Keepers are people who went through training and go on to operate in the local community, helping the over-fifties to overcome the barrier of using ICTs. They teach for free their relatives, neighbours, and friends computer and internet skills, and show them how to use e-services and e-products delivered by enterprises and public administration. This shows that the number of ICT mentors should be increased.

Yes

36.0%

Neither yes nor no

9.3%

No

54.7%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

Figure 2.18. Mentors of ICTs (N=751)

2.5.3 The Socio-Cultural Dimension of ICT Adoption by People As previously outlined in section 2.4, the adoption of ICTs is determined by socio-cultural factors, mainly by people’s awareness of ICTs and their usage. Fig. 2.19 shows that respondents were aware of the need to adopt ICTs and spread digital culture. This was confirmed by 92.5% of respondents. And only 2.7% were not aware of adopting ICTs.

92.5%

Yes

Neither yes no nor

No

0.0%

4.8%

2.7%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

Figure 2.19. People’s awareness of the need to adopt ICTs (N=751)

90.0%

100.0%

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2.5.4 The Organisational Dimension of ICT Adoption by People As previously outlined in section 2.4, the adoption of ICTs is determined by organisational factors, especially by the need to make people’s lives easier, and their satisfaction with e-products and e-services. Respondents confirmed that the usage of ICTs made their lives easier (Fig. 2.20): according to 93.8% of respondents, the usage of ICTs made their lives strongly or rather easier.

54.8%

Strongly major 39.0%

Rather major Neither major nor minor

5.2%

Rather minor Strongly minor

0.8% 0.1%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 2.20. Significance of ICT adoption in making everyday personal and professional life easier (N=715)

Fig. 2.21 shows in which areas and to what degree people’s ICT use contributed to changes in and facilitated their personal and professional lives. Almost the entire group of respondents (96.8%) confirmed that the usage of ICTs made the acquisition of daily information rather or strongly easier for them; for 91% of the respondents, contact with family and friends was rather or strongly easier; and shopping was rather or strongly easier for 88.7% of respondents. The usage of ICTs contributed to changes in the ways of performing work to the smallest extent, including teleworking (36.9%) and business meetings (29.3%). The management of everyday objects connected with the Internet of Things, meanwhile, had the least impact on people’s lives. This shows that ICT use is not appreciated in the transformation of the ways of work performance or management of everyday objects, so awareness on this issue requires raising.

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12.2% 16.0% 19.2% 26.8% 25.8%

M anagement of everyday objects

13.5% 15.9% 13.5%

Business meetings

27.7% 29.5%

22.0% 15.0% 12.9% 25.1% 25.1%

Professional work

Acquisition of prefessional information

10.0% 8.9% 4.6%

Dealing with official matters

6.6% Use of various experts advices

1.9% Leisure activities

Strongly major

23.7% 34.8% 15.9% 19.1%

Rather major Neither minor nor major Rather minor

38.9% 39.2%

Strongly minor

38.7% 34.0%

13.0% 12.4%

30.9%

9.6% 13.2% 3.8%

42.5%

32.7%

4.9% 4.9% 1.6%

55.9%

23.0% 21.6% 14.9% 28.9% 11.6%

Social meetings

Contacts with family and friends

48.9%

27.6%

11.2% 9.1% 1.6%

Learning and training

Shopping

129

63.2%

27.8%

3.3% 4.5% 1.1%

77.9% Acquisition of daily information

2.1% 0.7% 0.4%

0.0%

18.9%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

Figure 2.21. Facilitation of everyday professional and personal life arising from ICT adoption (N=742)

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The adoption of ICTs by people is determined by their satisfaction with e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration. Fig. 2.22 shows that 92.9% of respondents had strongly high or rather high satisfaction levels with e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises. Only 1.4% of respondents expressed rather or strongly low satisfaction. Satisfaction levels were worse for e-services delivered to people by public administration. Only 57.5% of respondents had strongly high or rather high satisfaction levels with these services, and 11.9% of respondents had rather or strongly low satisfaction, while as much as 30.5% of respondents could not describe their satisfaction. This shows that people’s satisfaction with e-services and e-products delivered by enterprises is at a high level, but their satisfaction with e-government services should be improved.

Strongly high

10.1% 47.4%

e-services delivered by public administration

Rather high

30.5%

Neither high nor low

9.3% 2.6%

Rather low Strongly low

17.9% e-services and eproducts delivered by enterprises

75.0% 5.6% 1.3% 0.1%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

Figure 2.22. People’s satisfaction with e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration

2.6 Implications for the Adoption of ICTs by People The research findings lead to the conclusion that economic, technological, socio-cultural, and organisational issues connected with ICT accessibility, competences, awareness, and usage may play direct roles in levels of ICT adoption among people. The CSFs for ICT adoption by people in Poland include: x economic factors such as people’s financial situation, ICT costs, and the economic benefits for people arising from ICT usage;

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x technological factors such as the technological availability of ICTs, open source software licences, ICT security, and people’s ICT competences; x socio-cultural factors such as people’s awareness of ICTs and their usage; and x organisational factors such as the need to make people’s lives easier and to improve their satisfaction with e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises and public administration. The findings of this study show that in Poland: x the average wealth of some people does not guarantee their ability to purchase and use ICTs, in particular the newest and most innovative ones, which in consequence may lead to the risk of digital exclusion of some people; x most people are aware of different economic benefits resulting from the adoption of ICTs, for example money savings, time savings, savings in various materials, and greater efficiency in the performance of household and professional tasks; x due to technological obstacles such as a low internet connection speed and lack of an e-signature, some people may have problems with access to and the right use of some e-services and e-products; for example an e-signature is required for the usage of e-services delivered by public administration, especially at higher levels of maturity than the information level; x the usage of e-banking, e-commerce, and e-entertainment generally stands at a good level; however, the usage of e-learning, e-training, e-government, e-health, and e-work is not satisfactory; x e-services delivered by enterprises, such as obtaining information, and the purchase, ordering, and reservation of products and services are used by most people; however, teleworking, applying for a job, consultations, and prosumption are seldom used by people; x e-services delivered by public administration are used by a small proportion of people; x e-services are provided at different levels of maturity, from the information level to the personalisation level, and people most frequently use e-services delivered at the information level, followed by the one-way interaction (transaction) level and the two-way interaction level; e-services at the personalisation level are used by a small percentage of people; x some people are not confident about ICT safety;

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x the lack of ICT User levels of competence constrains ICT adoption, and some people must enhance their ICT knowledge and skills to use ICTs effectively and without obstacles; x nearly all people are aware of the need to adopt ICTs and disseminate digital culture; x people are aware of the changes in their lives and benefits arising from the adoption of ICTs; people most often mentioned the ways in which ICTs facilitate and benefit them in the acquisition of daily information, contact with family and friends, and shopping, whereas they rarely saw the benefits of ICT use in social meetings, leisure activities, learning and training, doing work, and managing everyday objects; x nearly all people evaluate their satisfaction with e-services and e-products delivered by enterprises very highly, but peoples’ satisfaction with e-government services is evaluated by them at a far lower level. The above discussion leads to a better understanding of the ICT adoption process by people in the context of the SIS. Essentially, the successful adoption of ICTs by people (as well as by businesses and public administration, as described in Chapters Three and Four respectively) is a critical precondition for adopting the SIS. Only the employment of multiple stakeholder perspectives for adopting ICTs may constitute the basis of SIS adoption. The process of ICT adoption by people is driven predominantly by technological and economic issues that are still striving to overcome the digital divide and foster economic growth by means of ICTs. However, human-centred and socio-culturally sensitive approaches are also needed to ensure the well-being of present and future generations, and to increase participation in social life and build the wisdom of society. The SIS requires the right balance to be struck between building sufficient ICT infrastructure and creating conscious people who can use this infrastructure effectively. People should make informed decisions about the specific ways in which they want to use ICTs. This demands the appropriate ICT competences and awareness. Only when people have such knowledge and understand the individual and social implications of ICTs will they be able to make informed and effective choices about their adoption. Further, public administration should create the social, political, scientific, and cultural conditions for the adoption of ICTs by people. Both public administration and enterprises should offer various ICTs including

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e-products and e-services to make people’s professional and private lives easier and to ensure their welfare. This chapter unveils the main issues and concepts connected with people as the major stakeholders of the SIS – the net generation, the digital divide, prosumption, flexicurity, teleworking, knowledge workers, lifelong learning, e-learning, and so on. Next, it provides a framework of CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people, and investigates the CSFs for their adoption by people in Poland. It then shows the level of ICT adoption by people in Poland in the context of the defined CSFs, thereby providing a deeper insight into issues that influence the success of various projects aimed at the adoption of ICTs by people. Further, as mentioned above, such adoption by people, businesses, and public administration is a critical precondition for the emergence of the SIS, and thus this research should be seen in close conjunction with the research on ICT adoption by business (Chapter Three) and public administration (Chapter Four).

CHAPTER THREE BUSINESS IN THE SUSTAINABLE INFORMATION SOCIETY EWA ZIEMBA AND JANUSZ WIELKI1

3.1 Trends in Business Transformation Enterprises are one of the three main actors and stakeholders of the SIS. The social, economic, and technological changes taking place in the information society strongly affect the functioning of enterprises. ICT development and the increasing role of information, along with emerging new different business models and concepts, may become a source of increasingly effective management in enterprises and their smooth operation. However, ICT implementation in enterprises requires the execution of changes concerned with business re-design so as to take advantage of ICT capabilities to attain business goals, because business alignment to ICTs can only have a positive impact on the continuing and flexible development of enterprises, and as a result contribute to economic growth and build the welfare of present and future generations. Hence it is so important for enterprises to follow the trends emerging with the development of the information society, and transform business in line with those trends. The most important trends and phenomena shaping business in the SIS era are: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 1

Network infrastructure. Automation and robotisation of business processes. Decreasing amount of work. “Demassification” processes. Prosumption.

Sections 3.1 and 3.2 written by Janusz Wielki; sections 3.3 to 3.6 written by Ewa Ziemba.

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6) Wikinomics. 7) Internet of Things. 8) Cloud computing. 9) Mobile access to the internet. 10) Virtualisation processes. 11) Growth in the number and diversification of enterprise stakeholders. 12) Collection and processing of increasing amounts of data. 13) Digital exclusion phenomenon. 14) Need for lifelong learning. Network infrastructure Undoubtedly, the key trend and stimulus of the changes taking place in business and the economy is the fast development of network infrastructure, both fixed and mobile. The rate of data and information transfer due to the universalisation of broadband internet connections is increasing dynamically. These types of connections allow for the transfer of high quality images, watching television and films, organising teleconferences, or using various types of advanced internet services. They are associated with the use of such technologies as those from the xDSL family, cable TV networks, satellite links, or wireless connections via 3G modem or 3G handset (GUS 2013). With network infrastructure development and the increase in speed that it offers, the proportion of enterprises using it rises. As far as Polish enterprises are concerned, in 2013, 93.6% of them had access to the internet, of which 82% had broadband internet (compared to less than 60% in 2008). The proportion of enterprises using mobile connections is growing, with every second Polish company using this type of internet connection in 2013 (GUS 2013). Automation and robotisation of business processes Another highly important trend, tightly linked with network infrastructure development and spreading through all sectors of enterprise operations, is automation, and also, in the case of the manufacturing industry, the robotisation of processes. Automation and robotisation began to develop in the 1970s when computer aided manufacturing systems were implemented in production processes (Penzias 1995; Brynjolfsonn and McAfee 2014). Next, the beginning of the 1990s brought another phase of

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automation connected with the service sector. Currently, automation and robotisation are used in such services as retailing (Metro Group 2008), petrol stations (Athale 2007), auctions (Ilowiak 2009), stock exchange (Goodman 2014) and foreign currency exchange services, investment funds management (Hyde 2013), banking services (Olanrewaju 2014), air services, and language translation. Automation was also implemented in a service that is popular today, call centres (Brynjolfsson and McAfee 2011). Automation is also spreading into areas which quite recently seemed too difficult to imagine, for example driving a car – such vehicles are described as self-driving or autonomous cars, and are unmanned cars controlled by a computer. They are capable of performing ordinary transport functions without human participation, recognising the environment and conditions in which they are moving, and navigating themselves (Brynjolfsonn and McAfee 2014; Markoff 2010; Thrun 2010). It is worth noting that the growing automation processes in almost all sectors of the economy are only made possible by ICTs. Thanks to invisible automated processes taking place in the background on an enormous scale between millions of computers and servers spread all over the world, linked by wired and wireless networks, it is possible for the entire electronic economy to function. This highly complex background infrastructure of today’s economy of which its end-users are not aware is described by Arthur (2009, 2011) as “the second economy.” Decreasing amount of work The next trend shaping contemporary business results from the growth in automation and robotisation, and that is the decreasing amount of work to be performed. This phenomenon was already foreseen in 1930 by Keynes, who called it technological unemployment (Keynes 2012). Many years later this idea was developed by Rifkin, pointing to the fact that the decreasing amount of work, connected with technological progress, is a phenomenon to be faced by the information society. He indicated the development of ICTs as the main factor bringing society closer to a situation described by him as a “near-workerless information society” (Rifkin 1996). This view is shared by Arthur, who stresses that with the digital transformation of the economy, the last “repository” of work is shrinking, namely the service sector. He refers back to the processes of the disappearance of the workplace in agriculture, followed by the manufacturing sector, and its “transfer” to the service sector, where it is also beginning to disappear. In addition, he highlights that the socio-

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economic system will have to adjust to the new conditions, although it is not yet known through which processes it will take place (Arthur 2011). “Demassification” processes Another important trend visible in the information society and affecting business transformation are “demassification” processes. As the functioning of the industrial economy was based on the system of mass production (Pine 1993), its consequence was the creation of mass society, functioning in mass markets and consuming mass-produced products. Along with the breakdown of the paradigms underlying mass production, demassification processes started to take place in almost all economic sectors (Dyson et al. 1994). As early as the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, the breakdown of the effectiveness of mass marketing and its underlying paradigms could be clearly discerned in the United States. More and more often the need for individualisation of enterprises’ marketing operations was stressed (Peppers and Rogers 1993). At the same time, the need to replace mass production (and services provided on the mass scale) with products and services based on mass customisation was indicated, substituting them with those manufactured or rendered according to individual requirements, but at the cost of mass-produced products (Pine 1993). With the advent and development of the internet, and social media in particular, demassification processes have only deepened. A graphic example of demassification is mass media and their increasing problems in the new information reality (Bard and Söderqvist 2002; Jurkowitz, Ii, and Rosenstiel 2012; Jurkowitz 2014). The mass audience is vanishing, and we are increasingly dealing with “networked individualism,” whose chief characteristic is people functioning more frequently as connected individuals, and less and less as “rooted” members of a specific group. This is true of both the private and the professional sphere of work. In this context, Rainie and Wellman use the notion of the new social operating system, which they describe as a new way in which people connect and communicate with each other and exchange information (Rainie and Wellman 2012). It is worth noting that the so-called “mass customer” is vanishing in almost all economic sectors, even where such seemingly “mass” industries as brewery are concerned. In this case the most common phenomenon among consumers in Poland is looking for specific beers that differ from those mass-produced by large beer companies. Hence the dynamic development of small local breweries offering this type of beer (so-called

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“craft beer”) and increasing demand for their products, despite the fact that they are often several times more expensive than the beer companies’ mass-produced products. Prosumption The next characteristic trend of the information society is prosumption, discussed more broadly in section 2.2.1. The development of the internet, and with it the networking of the economy, lead to the universalisation of prosumption and to a rapid increase in the number of prosumers actively operating in different sectors of the economy. Undoubtedly, they are most visible in those sectors of the economy which are connected with ICTs, for example on the open-source software market, collaborating on such projects as Linux, Mozilla, or Apache (Benkler 2006; Cook 2008; Hamm 2005). Prosumption spread even further in the second development phase of the internet (Web 2.0), when the active participation of internet users creating an increasing amount of content became the basis for the development of such services as Wikipedia or YouTube. Benkler (2006) describes such trends as peer production or social production. At the same time, the trend of wide collaboration via the internet and sharing knowledge in a spirit of open source is increasingly present in relation to tangible products. Hence the development of so-called “open hardware,” which occurs within the phenomenon described as the maker movement, namely something that can be described as a networked version of Do-It-Yourself (DIY). The maker movement is based on three principles (Anderson 2012): x The use of personal computers and software to design new products and make their prototypes. x The cultural norm connected with sharing created projects and collaboration with others within online communities. x Application in the design process of universally used standard file records allows, if necessary, the transmission of projects to commercial manufacturers and the manufacture of the designed product in any quantity. In the design and production process the following tools are used: computer aided design (CAD) software, laser cutters, computer numerical control (CNC) equipment, and 3D scanners or increasingly cheaper and more often used 3D printers (Terdiman 2011). 3D printers, which allow the “printing” of physical objects at home, are commonly regarded as

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technology that will shortly revolutionise production and retailing (Karlgaard 2009; de Bruijn and de Jong 2013; Chui et al. 2013). With reference to a wider application of such solutions, Rifkin (2014) talks about switch-over processes from mass production to production by masses. Wikinomics Prosumption aligns itself fully with the new economic philosophy described by Tapscott and Williams, wikinomics. These researchers define wikinomics as the science and art of developing innovativeness through mass collaboration. With the application of the internet, mass collaboration is regarded as the basis of innovativeness in the SIS. For this reason, Leadbeater (2009) changes the famous saying of Descartes, “I think, therefore I am,” to “We think, therefore We are,” noting that such a view best characterises the new economic reality that is on the way. As far as the pillars of wikinomics are concerned, the following can be mentioned: openness, peering, resource sharing, and acting globally (Tapscott and Williams 2006). At the same time, Tapscott and Williams (2010) emphasise the spread of wikinomics principles into all spheres of social life and its institutions. They refer to this phenomenon as macrowikinomics (Tapscott and Williams 2010). It should be noted that crowdsourcing and crowdfunding are an inherent part of wikinomics. Crowdsourcing is connected with an ad-hoc search for business partners with the intention of their performance of a specific task, that is, solving particular problems, whereas crowdfunding refers to “social” fundraising for various purposes, for example innovative projects. All sorts of internet platforms are used in both cases (Dziuba 2012, 2012a, 2013). Internet of Things The developing global economy does not solely concern firms or people. With the growing number of devices connected to the internet, the number that communicate among themselves without any human intervention is increasing rapidly. The Internet of Things (or IoT, also described as the Cloud of Things) occurred in this context (Anderson and Rainie 2014). The following technologies are the pillars of the Internet of Things: IPv6 protocol, (Internet Protocol Version 6), RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (Brewin 2002), NFC (Near Field Communication) (Nikhila

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2012), 3G/4G, and wireless sensors. The connections among devices can take place in a limited area (known as the Intranet of Things) or in the public area (Internet of Things) (CEC 2009). According to a Pew Research Centre report, the years to come will be a period of dynamic development of the Internet of Things. It will be clearly visible in production and services, but also in all sorts of other places, such as the human body, residential buildings, communities, or the natural environment. In the case of production and services, it refers to the use of different types of electronic sensors in enterprises and in the supply chain to ensure proper and more precise functioning (Anderson and Rainie 2014). The development of the Internet of Things clearly increases the automation mentioned above. At the same time, there is ever-increasing talk about the Internet of Everything, that is, the networked connection of people, processes, data, and things (Bradley et al. 2013). Cloud computing A clear trend of recent years is the development of cloud computing and its application in business. The emergence of cloud computing is tightly connected with the world wide web, which is a “cloud” of data, software, and equipment, and these components can be “mixed” in various ways and used online (Maciejewski 2012b; Sullivan 2009). There are four types of “clouds”: public clouds, private clouds, community clouds, and hybrid clouds (Grance and Mell 2011). Cloud computing is connected with three services used in business: software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS). SaaS means that an enterprise uses online software, and the company that provides it ensures continuity of its operation and provides security. Sample solutions of this type are office packages (Google Apps and Google Docs), CRM software by SalesForce, and Big Data tools (Amazon Elastic MapReduce). As far as the settlement of SaaS costs is concerned, it is done on the basis of a subscription fee for the number of users of the SaaS (Dubey and Wagle 2007). In the case of IaaS, an enterprise uses such devices as servers, storage capacity, or network infrastructure and costs are usually settled on a peruse basis (Rouse 2010). Examples of such services are Amazon Web Services S3 (storage capacity), Amazon Web Services EC2 (resizable computing capacity), and Amazon Work Spacer (virtual work space).

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In the case of PaaS, an environment is offered allowing customers to develop, run, and manage web applications (Grance and Mell 2011), for example the Google App Engine, Microsoft Azure, or BlueMix. Cloud computing is projected to develop exceptionally rapidly over the next few years. According to a recent Cisco report there will be a sixfold increase in the global traffic of data processing in the “cloud” (Cisco 2012). At the same time the European Commission accepted “the acceleration in cloud computing utilisation” as one of seven priorities in its Digital Agenda (Tomkiewicz 2012). Mobile access to the internet Another important trend in business and its models is the dynamic development of mobile internet technology. It is connected with the increasing penetration of the mobile telephony market, which is measured by the market penetration rate, defined by the percentage of the population using a product or service. In Poland, the nominal penetration was 131.2% at the end of June 2012, which means that the nominal number of SIM cards was over 50.5 million at this point in time (UKE 2012). At the same time, more universal use of smartphones and tablets can be seen, as well as interim solutions, mobile devices that combine the form of a smartphone and a tablet, that are referred to as phablets (Hamblen 2012c). In 2011, 22.5% of the total population in Poland used mobile internet, and in 2015 this proportion is due to grow to 50.4% (GoldenSubmarine 2011). This is an important fact for enterprises, from the point of view both of the products and services they offer and the distribution channels they use. It should be noted that the increasing interest in the mobile internet (Ericsson 2012) is largely connected with the development of cloud computing described above. Mobile internet technology provides ample access opportunities for data, content, and software in the cloud. They can be used flexibly, at any place in the world and any time, for private as well as professional purposes (Adobe 2010; The Economist 2011a, 2011b). The use of the mobile internet, mobile devices, and cloud computing for professional purposes is connected with the “consumerisation” of ICTs. This is the growing tendency to use mobile devices, which first occurred and spread within the consumer devices market, in the work environment. A dual use of mobile devices can be observed here, namely private and professional (Moschella 2004), and its direct consequence is the use of personal mobile devices in the work environment, a trend known as bring-your-own-device (BYOD) (Faas 2012; Hamblen 2012a; Maciejewski 2012a; Hamblen 2012b).

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Virtualisation processes Virtualisation is another trend that determines how enterprises function, and is connected with the widespread substitution of their material resources with intangible resources (information in a digital form). This kind of virtualisation, which can be described as virtualisation in a physical dimension, can be divided into two types: internal virtualisation and external (market) virtualisation. Internal virtualisation refers to changes taking place inside an enterprise, in design or prototype creation and testing processes. For example, the development of simulation software allowing for virtual engine construction and testing leads to elimination of the need to build physical engine models and test them in the real world (McAfee 2006). External virtualisation, on the other hand, is connected with market processes, substituting physical objects with their counterparts existing in the e-space (Wielki 2012). Examples are virtual shops, virtual shopping precincts (Chmielarz 2001), or virtual banking (Chmielarz 2005). The development of such business models is connected with the universalisation of online sales and distribution at the expense of traditional forms, and with the displacement of material products by their intangible counterparts. The last example refers to products which are easy to “transform” into digitisable products. Rifkin speaks here about the creation of the zero marginal cost society, which means that the cost of producing another item is close to zero (Rifkin 2014). As Shapiro and Varian note, “information is costly to produce but cheap to reproduce” (Brynjolfsonn and McAfee 2014). These phenomena mainly refer to the sectors in which digital products exist, namely music, film, publishing, press, banking, or the air transport market. External virtualisation is also connected with the dynamic development of many virtual goods. Virtual goods are either digital versions of real goods (e.g., virtual jeans, virtual sports shoes) or such things as game weapons (e.g., virtual swords) (eMarketer 2009). Their widespread use is connected with the development of virtual worlds (Artz 2009) such as Second Life and the World of Warcraft games. Growth in number and diversification of enterprise stakeholders Another important trend connected with the changes taking place in the SIS is the increase in the number and diversification of stakeholders with whom an enterprise and its employees interact on a daily basis. This includes both traditional external stakeholders of an enterprise, such as

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customers, suppliers, business partners, and competitors, and internal stakeholders such as employees. A new type of stakeholder is currently emerging, tightly connected with the development of the electronic space and functioning within it. Search engines should undoubtedly be included here, and one of them in particular: Google. Search engines are becoming a common stakeholder for most enterprises, and can potentially have an impact on each of them (Wielki 2008a). Entities connected with cybercrime, which may affect an enterprise in destructive ways, are increasingly relocating to the electronic space (Wielki 2012). At the same time, the stakeholders with whom an enterprise interacts are becoming increasingly diversified due to the networked and globalised character of the contemporary economy. This diversification refers to race, gender, religion, views, or individual preferences (Coleman, Gulati, and Segovia 2011). This makes enterprises face new challenges, in particular those connected with the most important stakeholder group for any enterprise, customers. Having wider unlimited access to any information needed, customers are becoming more demanding and less loyal than ever. They can obtain required information through a variety of stationary and mobile devices. Simultaneously, the possibilities of their influence over an enterprise are expanding, both individually and within ad-hoc groups of customers operating in the electronic space (Wielki 2012). Such groups are referred to as smart mobs by Rheingold (2002). These processes have seen the bargaining power of customers grow considerably (Porter 2001). Taking into account the above considerations, it is necessary to widen the traditional definition of enterprise stakeholders. Enterprises should perceive stakeholders as groups or individuals who can influence or be affected by any type of activity undertaken by an enterprise in attaining the set business goals. Stakeholders can both foster the functioning of an enterprise and its realisation of goals, and influence these processes in a different, destructive way (Wielki 2012). Collection and processing of increasing amounts of data Data and information is of central importance in the information society. Enterprises face the challenge of collecting, processing, and analysing a dynamically increasing amount of data. For example, in sectors such as banking or retail, data resources increment at a rate of 40% annually (Bitner 2012). Companies are collecting more and more precise data related to their functioning (Brown et al. 2011), frequently multimedia data. At the same time, the volume of data generated in the electronic space cumulates very quickly. According to Siegel’s estimates, 2.5 trillion

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bits of data are added every day (Hayashi 2013). It is also stressed that the amount of data generated in the electronic space doubles every forty months (Brynjolfsson and McAfee 2012), and while 75% of it is created by individual users, enterprises bear some responsibility for 80% of data in the electronic space in different phases of its digital life (Gantz and Reinsel 2011). The widespread use of social media contributes significantly to the growth of data generated in the electronic space. An important source of data volume increment is also the use of the Internet of Things, in particular the use of RFID, smart appliance technologies (Castle 2012), or different types of electronic sensors (Brown et al. 2011). In this context of enormous data resources, the notion of “Big Data” has developed and is becoming more and more popular. This refers to the large data resources which enterprises increasingly have to deal with, whose processing is not possible with the use of conventional database tools; new approaches are required for the management of such data volume and its analysis (Brown et al. 2011; Kusnetzky 2010). Thus, the application of solutions allowing for multidimensional business analytics is necessary (Wielki 2013). Digital exclusion phenomenon The rapid development of ICTs and the processes connected with it, such as networking, informationalism, and globalisation (Castells 2009), cause a whole range of socio-cultural challenges with which enterprises have to deal. One of the most serious of these is that of digital exclusion, also referred to as the digital divide, discussed in section 2.1.1. Generally speaking, digital exclusion is connected with the division of society into two groups: those who use ICTs, and those who, for various reasons, do not. This situation has its social consequences, such as the development of netocracy, namely the creation of a new dominant global class whose strength and position stem from ICT competences (Bard and Söderqvist 2002), whereas from the enterprises’ point of view two issues are of paramount importance. The first refers to the ICT competences of employees and their ability to use ICTs to further improve their work, while the other issue refers to an enterprise’s offer, which cannot not reach the digitally excluded, who might otherwise become potential customers.

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Need for lifelong learning The above-described trends connected with the development of the information society are linked to the challenge of lifelong learning. This refers to individuals, as discussed in section 2.2.3, and enterprises too. The need for lifelong learning is connected with the dynamics of changes taking place in the economy and the enterprises that function in it, and the continuing need for employees to acquire new knowledge and skills (Molinsky et al. 2012). At the same time, globalisation leads to cultural changes in the system of values, attitudes, behavioural patterns, or lifestyle. The consequence of this is the formation of a global culture connected with the unification of behaviour, which influences the actions of enterprises as well as those who manage them (Molinsky et al. 2012).

3.2 New Concepts and Models of Business 3.2.1 Forms of Enterprise Activities Responding to the deep changes taking place in the information society, enterprises in developed countries started to redefine the existing concepts and business models as early as the 1980s. This gave rise to “modern management concepts,” for example TQM (Total Quality Management) and Six Sigma in the 1980s, and business process improvement and reengineering (business process reengineering) in the 1990s. Simultaneously, the last one became the first concept highlighting the key role of the dynamically developing ICTs in business transformation at this point in time. The changes taking place in enterprises in the 1990s generally concerned organisational structures, boundaries, and processes (Fig. 3.1). These changes are discussed in section 3.2.4. Alongside the changes taking place in business structures and processes and organisational boundaries, the solutions allowing for the creation of electronic links between business partners grew increasingly important. They became crucial for stimulating the development of interorganisational processes and thereby the close cooperation of all entities performing a specific role in the business ecosystem (Moore 1996). It is true that the origins of such enterprise operations date back to the 1960s (Wielki 2012), but only the emergence in the early 1990s of the internet allowed enterprises to have at their disposal a real-time communication and collaboration tool that was open to all. The internet allowed for the global connection of buyers, sellers, and other business partners. At the

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same time, it often required a profound and even radical redefinition of existing ways of operating. STRUCTURES

Decentralization

Delayering

Horizontal and vertical forms of communication

Investments in ICT

PROCESSES

New practices in HR

Organizing based on project forms

Downscoping

Outsourcing

Development of strategic alliances BOUNDARIES

Figure 3.1. Basic trends and phenomena influencing the business sphere. Source: (Pettigrew et al. 2003).

As far as the internet’s influence over the changes taking place in enterprises is concerned, how it is used is important. Two main directions of the activities of enterprises can be discerned in this respect. On the one hand, enterprises use the internet and internet-based solutions to move various operations, up to now conducted in the real world, to the electronic space; on the other, there are newly created enterprises that operate exclusively in the electronic space, on the basis of various, sometimes completely new business models. From the point of view of internet use by enterprises, therefore, three main categories can be distinguished: x enterprises exclusively operating in the electronic space; x enterprises connecting operations in the real world with different forms of electronic space use; and x enterprises exclusively operating in the real world.

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The enterprises of the first group, referred to as dot-coms (Spiegel 2000), are those for which the internet is the only channel of customer contact. In order to conduct their business activity in the electronic space, they have to own some, albeit minimal, material resources (Warner and Witzel 2004), for example offices, computer equipment, or warehouses. However, from the customers’ perspective, the only manifestation of their “existence” is their more or less developed internet portal. At the same time, customers do not have any opportunity for physical contact with an enterprise. As far as the second category is concerned, the vast majority of enterprises operating in the market can be classified here. Enterprises noticing the business opportunities of the internet and electronic space move selected areas of their operations there. Since they function in such a way, “mixing,” in different ways and proportions, the material (bricks) and intangible (clicks) elements of their activities, they are referred to as brickand-click companies (Spiegel 2000) or hybrid companies (Tiernan 2001). Initially, this group of companies was composed of large corporations such as Dell, Federal Express, or General Electric. With the passage of time, an increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (including the smallest ones) started to function according to this formula. In this group of enterprises attention should be paid to those regarded as the most important and future-proof in the SIS. These are small enterprises operating on the global scale thanks to the internet and referred to as micro-multinationals (unlike big international concerns, which are referred to as macro-multinationals). They include, for example, manufacturing companies connected with robotics and operating in the micromanufacturing spirit, but also software companies supplying the global market with different types of software (Varian 2011; Mettler and Williams 2011). The third category of enterprises consists of companies operating exclusively in the traditional way, known as brick-and-mortar companies (Tiernan 2001). Such a situation takes place for various reasons, for example a lack of tangible benefits of internet use in their business activity, lack of adequate knowledge, or, more rarely, lack of technical possibilities.

3.2.2 New Business Models Based on Utilisation of the Internet As far as the internet’s influence on business models is concerned, it has a dual effect. On the one hand, it is connected with the creation of new

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business models in the electronic space, and on the other, it also relates to the real world. There are six basic types of business models that enterprises use to operate in the electronic space, and their development and evolution is tightly linked with internet development phases. These include (Wielki 2010; Wielki 2012): 1) Models based on the reflection of business models characteristic of the real world, using the virtualisation of physical enterprise infrastructure. In these models, the physical elements of enterprise functions are substituted with their counterparts in the electronic space. Examples are various types of internet shops, electronic shopping malls (e-malls), internet banks, or virtual travel agencies. This type of business model emerged at the early stage of internet use in business, i.e., Web 1.0. 2) Models based on the reflection of business models characteristic of the real world, through virtualisation of both physical infrastructure and products. These models are connected with what are referred to as digitisable products. In the publishing, music, or film sectors, along with the development of the internet, product digitisation processes took place and the digital equivalents of material products started to spread, for example e-articles, e-books, mp3 files, or e-tickets. 3) Models based on the reflection of business models characteristic of the real world, through physical infrastructure and product virtualisation, together with the simultaneous application of novel solutions. These business models are characterised by the fact that despite reflecting the real world they still utilise new possibilities offered by internet use, for example the business models of such internet giants as Amazon and eBay. In both cases, they were created as copies of solutions existing in the real world, but modified (and even further developed over time) by novel solutions available in the electronic space only. In the case of Amazon this comprises comprehensive information on particular books, posting and viewing readers’ opinions and comments on books, book reviews provided by specialist periodicals, an advanced recommendation system, and the system of thousands of virtual bookshops, called Amazon Associates, cooperating with it, all created from the beginning of the company’s existence. 4) Entirely new models which are specific to the virtual world only. They embrace new models that were exclusively created in the electronic space, for example comparison shopping websites.

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5) New models based on the concept of the “long tail” that take advantage of the possibilities generated by the second phase of internet development, Web 2.0. These models use the “long tail” concept created by Anderson which is based on the assumption that the sales of many, less popular products can generally generate higher income than more popular products sold on the mass scale (Anderson 2004; Anderson 2006). 6) New models based on the use of social media and the engagement of their users. Two categories can be distinguished within these models. The first category uses the involvement of internet users in the creation and supply of an increasing range of content and the so-called freemium approach. This approach means that a customer receives the basic product or service for free, whereas the premium version needs to be paid for additionally (Anderson 2009). This business model is widely used by various types of social networking sites (e.g., Flickr which allows the sharing of photographs). The portal provides all users with limited storage for their photographs, while users paying a subscription fee have access to unlimited disk space. Another dynamically developing category of business models is represented by the so-called intermediaries who act as agents between the users of social networking sites and between portal users and companies; examples here are social lending (Hulme 2006) and group buying (Patel 2010). The internet’s influence on business models is not just limited to the models mentioned above and used in the electronic space only, or to hybrid solutions. It is largely connected with the creation of new business models in the real world. An innovative business model introduced by the Zipcar company falls into this category. Car sharing aims to meet automotive needs through many people sharing the same cars. The launch of this business model would not have been possible without an advanced IT system based on broadband and wireless internet (Griffith 2009). In Poland, this type of model, referred to as “paczkomaty,” has been used by InPost, a private courier company that delivers goods ordered on the internet to this purpose-built facility (paczkomat – package station). Customers can collect goods from a “paczkomat” at any time of the day.

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3.2.3 Enterprise Relationships with Stakeholders The changes which have taken place in enterprise functioning along with internet implementation caused a complete redefinition of the value creation process and a divergence from its linear course (Pastuszak 2007). For an increasing number of enterprises the course of the value creation process is multi-directional (Holweg and Pil 2006), and is accompanied by a clear change of roles and positions in the value creation process – customers, business partners, and suppliers (Wielki 2008b; Wielki 2008c). At the same time, the widespread application of the internet prompted enterprises to start using the virtual value chain apart from the physical value chain (Rayport and Sviokla 1995). Thus, it is crucial to perceive the value creation process as a dynamic and nonlinear phenomenon which is simultaneously based on the participation of an enterprise and its customers, suppliers, and business partners who enter into relationships of various types and depths with it (Wielki 2012). Enterprise–customer relationships Among the deep changes taking place in the relations between enterprises and their key stakeholders, customers, those connected with marketing and sales processes that are tightly linked to sales and after-sales service processes are particularly noticeable. These changes are related to all components of the marketing mix but, also thanks to incremental access to the growing amount of data and information, they increasingly influence the functioning of marketing of information systems (MkIS). As far as MkIS is concerned, the development of the internet provided enterprises with previously unavailable opportunities for gaining better knowledge of customers’ expectations and preferences. This is connected with ample new modes of primary and secondary data collection and analysis, allowing innovative marketing research to be conducted. For example, this is the case with various types of online surveys (Batagelj, Manfreda, and Vehovar 2002), the use of online panels, or log file analysis (Wielki 2007). Moreover, forums, discussion groups, mailing lists, and blogs have become a source of relevant marketing information. At the same time, the internet’s entry into its social phase gave enterprises access to new data and information sources in the form of social networking sites, which give great opportunities for creating and testing new product or service ideas but also for carrying out surveys in an innovative way (IQSQQ 2007; Hof 2006).

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New opportunities have also opened up for enterprises with regard to marketing interviews. The availability of various internet search engines and other specialist tools – for example Google Alerts (free of charge) and Brand24 (paid) – allows manual and automated monitoring of customer behaviour and their opinions on products and services (Scott 2008; Wielki 2014). The last example refers to “weak signals” and the use of Big Data tools for their analysis (Harrysson, Sarrazin, and Métayer 2014). Weak signals are opinions on a company and its products expressed by consumers on discussion forums and social networking sites that are picked up in order to be used in designing and implementing product changes or adjusting a marketing campaign. ICT development is a source of profound changes in the use of marketing mix tools. In the case of the first component, a product, there are a few important trends: x product digitisation; x online product saturation, with all types of information along with a clear division of the product itself from information about it; x customisation of offered products; and x prosumption, i.e. consumer participation in product creation, selection, and testing. As far as prosumption (discussed in more detail in section 2.2.1) is concerned, it may be adopted in different ways. It can be quite “loose,” without the use of ICTs. An example of such a form of customer involvement in a product creation process is the selection of a particular product design or concept for production implementation through online voting (Cook 2008; Neff 2007). Another form of engaging consumers in product creation uses tools dedicated to this purpose, for example software used for designing different types of digital or tangible products. This type of solution is used in the food industry, the plastics sector, or in the software market; for example, the Bush Boake Allen (BBA) corporation, a global supplier of aroma ingredients for the food industry, developed and provided its customers with an internet tool, based on giant sensorial profile databases, that allows them to create their own project on the website and send it to a purpose-built automation facility that produces samples of flavours within minutes. After testing them, a customer has the opportunity for further trying and testing until a desired final effect is achieved. Meanwhile IBM provides, at a cost of US$49 million, tools for creating software that operates in the Linux environment, in the public domain (Thomke and Von Hippel 2002).

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Consumers participate in the process of product creation through their improvement and modification (Von Hippel 2005), and they also increasingly take part in product testing, especially in the ICT industry: mainly software, but sometimes equipment as well (Cook 2008; Thomke and Von Hippel 2002). New opportunities in this respect have been opened with the launch of virtual worlds such as Second Life, which fairly quickly were used by enterprises as tools for the virtual testing of products and their concepts, and as tools for generating new product concepts (Gaudin 2008; Hof 2006; Kzero 2007). As far as the second component of the marketing mix – the price – is concerned, three new essential elements can be pointed out which are becoming increasingly important in the customer–enterprise relationship: price transparency; product price individualisation for customers; and lower product prices. With regard to price transparency, it has appeared with the breakthrough of the internet into the economy. The development of shopping bots, which are an example of comparison shopping, undoubtedly contributed to progress in this respect. Price individualisation is mainly connected with the development and spread of product “configurators” in different industries. Thanks to them, customers are able to configure a product in any desirable way by selecting the materials from which it is to be made, material characteristics, product parameters, and so on, all of which ultimately determine the product price. At the same time, the changes advancing in many industries (for example the music industry) lead to the development of such forms of online price individualisation where a customer decides how much they want to pay for a specific product. This experimental form of customer price individualisation was successfully applied by the band Radiohead (Boucher and Lee 2007). With regard to the influence of ICTs, and that of the internet in particular, on the decrease in product or service price, it stems from many factors which are also highly sector-diversified, two of which seem to be of paramount importance. The first factor is a completely different model of functioning of online enterprises in comparison with traditional enterprises, based on the minimisation, and often even elimination, of any warehouse inventories. The other factor playing a key role in the process of decreasing of online product prices is the development and widespread use of electronic distribution channels. Their application considerably affects price levels, in particular on the intangible product market and with some types of services.

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With regard to the attractiveness of the internet as a distribution channel, the key factors in this respect are: no time limits, a potentially global reach, and in many cases a reduction in product delivery time to the customer. The use of the internet in the process of the physical delivery of products relates to intangible products such as music files, films, or e-books, which can be made available to customers just after settling the payment in any place in the world. On the one hand this increases customer satisfaction, and on the other, it gives enterprises an opportunity to cut distribution costs sharply (OECD 1998). At the same time, the internet is becoming an increasingly important distribution channel for banking, insurance, or touristic services. The use of the internet triggered changes in almost all instruments of the promotional mix as companies began to take advantage of it in advertising, sales promotions, personal selling, or public relations. In the first phase of the internet, Web 1.0, this was connected with the use of electronic mail and internet services and solutions dedicated to them, for example mailing lists, electronic bulletins, autoresponders, banners, and instant messaging by enterprises. Very quickly, an essential element of customer support became a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) webpage and other web-based tools for customers to solve problems by themselves, individually or in groups. Enterprises therefore began to create discussion groups that allowed customers to exchange opinions and jointly solve problems. These activities were related to the fact that enterprises realised that under the new conditions they were able to pass part of the activities previously performed by their own employees onto customers. In this context Toffler and Toffler (2006) use the term “third job” (apart from a paid professional job and unpaid work at home). A significant revolution in the promotional mix was accomplished with the development of the second phase of the internet, Web 2.0. Increasingly, companies started to reach for new tools, for example nextgeneration search engines (used in paid promotion and positioning by natural search engine optimisation), blogs and microblogs, RSS (Rich Site Summary), podcasts and videocasts, virtual worlds (Hemp 2006), and social-networking websites. They also started to use different types of games on the internet, created both for typically commercial reasons as well as in social marketing (Wielki 2012). In order to build and manage relationships with customers, enterprises today increasingly use customer relationship management (CRM) systems. These systems are rooted in the sales force automation systems (SFA) developed in the late 1980s. Their initial goal was to improve the productivity of “sales” staff and allow individual sellers to document their

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activities and manage their customer contacts. However, completely new possibilities emerged in this field with the entry of the internet into the economy, hence the widespread interest of companies in CRM (Wielki 2012). Their potential deepened further with the development of Web 2.0, in particular social networking websites or microblogs. They extended the capabilities of CRM systems, especially when it comes to communicating with customers, monitoring customer activity in the electronic space, and collecting knowledge about them (Maciejewski 2009). The effect of combining the CRM concept with social media is referred to as social CRM (Budek 2012; Greenberg 2009). Apart from CRM systems, also growing in importance is customer knowledge management (CKM), which belongs to the category of knowledge management systems (Laudon and Laudon 2012). These systems are used by enterprises to acquire knowledge from their customers that might be crucial in introducing changes to its operations. Enterprise–supplier relationships ICTs and the internet also determine the relationships of enterprises with suppliers and business partners, although to a lesser extent than with customers. When it comes to supply chain management and the ensuing collaboration with suppliers, enterprises use SCM (Supply Chain Management) systems. They are one of the types of inter-organisational systems to automate the flow of information across the organisational boundaries of entities involved in the supply chain (purchasing enterprises, suppliers, distributors, logistics companies) (Laudon and Laudon 2012). In supply chain management, two main trends related to the development of the internet can be identified: x extending the possibilities of the existing solutions related to the use of ICTs; and x creation and implementation of new solutions based on the use of ICTs. The first trend is based on the application by enterprises of tried and tested solutions which were already used in the pre-internet era, such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). In both cases, the development of the internet has given enterprises new opportunities when it comes to the extension of the scope and manner of their use. In the case of EDI, this refers to solutions such as mail-based EDI or Web-EDI; in the case of ERP, to ERP II systems. Through the use

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of internet technologies, the latter have become open to external stakeholders and integration-oriented, and it has therefore become possible to exchange data and information freely between suppliers and recipients with this class of systems based on the use of a web browser (Adamczewski 2004; Lech 2003). As Hammer (2011) emphasised, as the 1990s was a period of pulling down “walls” within an organisation, so the next decade was a time of “wall” removal between enterprises. In the first case, the changes were facilitated by the development of ERP systems, and in the second by ERP II. In the context of removing walls between enterprises, the idea of an “extended enterprise” emerged (Post, Preston, and Sachos 2002). As to the second trend of change, the development of the internet, this has led to a number of completely new solutions within supply chain management systems. One of them is the creation of electronic platforms for managing relationships between suppliers and enterprises. They are a kind of local electronic market, typically based on the use of an intranet or extranet, controlled either by buyers (buy-side systems) or by sellers (sell-side systems). An example of a buy-side system, implemented at the early stages of internet development, is SPIN (Supplier Purchasing Network Interface). It completely “unified” different systems in such a way that the data and information could flow freely between the different headquarters of Chrysler and its suppliers. As a result, the system gave the company an opportunity to employ much more efficient supply chain management, and particularly inventory management, co-sharing of sales forecasts, and optimisation of supplies (Giunipero and Sawchuk 2000). In addition, enterprises do not have to create their own platforms for collaboration in the supply chain, but they can use those that already exist on the internet. Examples are e-commerce platforms operating on the basis of a catalogue model: enterprises selling products place their offers in the directory, and the buyer then scans it according to certain criteria (category of product, industry, keyword, etc.) (Mazur and Wáodarczyk 2002; Wielki 1999). Another form of supply chain collaboration is based on the use of various types of procurement platforms or online bidding sites (Tully 2000; Giunipero and Sawchuk 2000). In the case of standard goods purchase, they allow enterprises to compare their prices easily, and their important effect is the elimination of long-term price dominance (Schary and Skjøtt-Larsen 2001). For the use of these solutions, it is very important to integrate EDI and ERP II systems with electronic purchasing platforms, as well as RFID and NFC technologies.

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The implementation of the solutions presented above has become a source of significant improvement in the performance of enterprises (Davis et al. 2010). However, the impact of the internet on the supply chain is much deeper. The widespread use of internet technology in the supply chain, together with the increasing complexity of products, the shortening of their life cycles, and increasing market pressures, lead to even closer relations between enterprises and their suppliers. This has resulted in the transformation of the latter; they have evolved from “ordinary” suppliers, producing and supplying the semi-finished products ordered by an enterprise, to business partners. Their task is to collaborate with an enterprise as early as at the design stage of semi-finished products which are to be subsequently produced and delivered. As a result, a situation in which an enterprise only leaves at its disposal the organisation and coordination of the product design process and the final assembly of semi-finished products supplied and designed by business partners is more and more common. Companies such as Ford and Boeing are good examples in this context (Hammer 2001; Tapscott and Williams 2006). This model of business cooperation with suppliers is increasingly gaining in importance, because in many sectors of the economy it is virtually impossible for enterprises to create and provide to the market proper quality, competitive new products in a timely and independent fashion. Some enterprises go even further by having the entire production of their products commissioned to external partners (Brynjolfsson and McAfee 2011; Tapscott 2001; Tapscott and Williams 2006). These developments are a continuation of previously initiated processes to limit the scope of the business (downscoping) and focus attention on those areas that are considered their core competences. In addition to the above-demonstrated changes in corporate relations with business partners, the development of the internet has led to the emergence of new forms of search for business partners and collaboration with them. An important solution frequently used by enterprises in this field is crowdsourcing. This form of action, based on an ad-hoc appeal to the undefined group of people who function in the electronic space, is more and more often employed by enterprises, including the largest ones. These groups perform certain tasks traditionally taken on by the employees of enterprises (Howe 2006; McAfee and Raman 2009; Stephens 2007). Enterprises seek potential partners independently or with the help of intermediaries such as InnoCentive (Carmel et al. 2013; Tapscott and Williams 2006). At the same time, enterprises are increasingly using an approach connected with crowdsourcing, microsourcing. In this approach, an enterprise using direct relationships

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(one-to-one relationships) commissions, via the internet, the performance of certain small tasks to individuals (people) or small suppliers (Carmel et al. 2013). In the latter case, enterprises involved in micro-manufacturing have great development potential, because they are able, in a fast, cheap, and flexible way, to make any small series of a product, and deliver it anywhere in the world, according to an online project sent to them. An example of such a company may be New Zealand’s Ponoko.com portal, which offers various types of laser-cut products (Mettler and Williams 2011; Ponoko 2013). Enterprise–employee relationships The internet determines profound changes in the way of work. Many types of work, especially those related to the processing of information and knowledge, have become possible to carry out “remotely” and offsite. Therefore, enterprises make increasing use of telecommuting and, as part of it, the services of so-called freelancers performing specific tasks for them, particularly to increase flexibility in the functioning of an enterprise. This is associated with the instability and unpredictability of the business environment, which makes a consequent decrease in the level of full-time employment for this type of personnel increasingly important. At the same time, thanks to the internet, access to a variety of micro-specialists from different parts of the world allows enterprises to take advantage of the “ondemand” services of people with highly specialised knowledge. This is extremely important in the context of increasing product complexity and the hyperspecialisation of knowledge workers (Johns, Malone, and Laubacher 2011). Thus, a model referred to as “talent-as-a-service,” implemented in the context of the above-mentioned crowdsourcing or microsourcing, becomes more attractive for enterprises (Carmel et al. 2013; Gratton and Johns 2013 ; Mettler and Williams 2011; WladawskyBerger 2012). The above trends related to the remote work processes of knowledge workers lead to a decrease in demand for office space, hence the environment referred to as “third space” is developing alongside corporate offices and the home working environment. An example is a model called coworking, in which knowledge workers pursuing independent projects work in common, dedicated office space (Dixon and Ross 2010; Gratton and Johns 2013; Miller 2007). All this causes changes in processes related to hiring, developing, and retaining effectively working employees – that is, human resource management. The influence of the internet is clearly visible in virtually all

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functions of human resource management. This applies equally to the recruitment and selection of employees, and the improvement of their knowledge and competences (Chamorro-Premuzic 2012; GUS 2010; Shein 2010; Wallace 2004; Vijayan 2013; Wielki 2014).

3.2.4 Enterprise Management Management 2.0 The discussed changes taking place in enterprises necessitate a deep redefinition of management paradigms. Those used for many decades were formulated in the industrial economy, in general a stable environment. Therefore, paradigms such as the strict division of labour, clearly defined roles between managers and employees, narrow specialisation, farreaching control of employees, the creation of organisational structures based on narrow functional division, and organising the entire work around traditional functional departments are no longer geared to the information society and the SIS in particular. As Breen and Hamel (2007) argue, management paradigms based on the industrial era – that is, Management 1.0 – virtually exhausted their possibilities, and a completely new look at this issue became necessary. Stretching the analogy to the development phases of the internet, they refer to this look as Management 2.0. This is not accidental, as the internet in the first phase of its development (Web 1.0) was clearly hierarchical and institutionalised, with passive users at large, in a similar vein to the way enterprises of the industrial era functioned and were managed. Breen and Hamel’s expectations in relation to Management 2.0 tend to assume that second-generation management will in many ways be characterised by features typical of Web 2.0, including strong decentralisation, collective decisions, self-defining communities, individuals with a stronger position through access to information, resources that follow emerging opportunities, ideas competing on an equal footing, the expression by everyone of their own opinion, and the presence of a natural hierarchy only (Breen and Hamel 2007). In many enterprises – for example the Linux Foundation, the Mozilla Foundation, or the Apache Software Foundation – and in many projects implemented by them, the characteristics of Management 2.0 have been adopted. These are primarily a lower formalisation level of employee activities and a lack of clearly defined roles, decentralisation, work based on specialised teams appointed for a particular purpose (adhocracy) (Travica 1999), and the positioning of individual group members

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depending on their competence and talent (meritocracy) (Young 2008). It should be noted that this type of organisational change taking place in enterprises is also increasingly reflected in the physical infrastructure. An example is the new approach to business location. In the case of enterprises such as Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, their newly built headquarters are quite different from the prevailing powerful multistorey high-rise buildings constructed to highlight the enterprise’s character and functional hierarchy. The new offices are flat, wide, custom forms. This highlights visually their creativity and a new mode of action (Schulz 2013). It remains an open question how much and how deeply the typical features of Web 2.0, which are deeply ingrained in Management 2.0, will actually penetrate into large corporations (apart from those that are most creative and already established in the era of the internet), and how they will change them. It should be noted that there are some attempts to combine the traditional outlook on the functioning of an enterprise with the spirit of Management 2.0, in the use by some enterprises of a “dual operating system.” This consists of the traditional hierarchical system, with associated business processes used in everyday routine activities together with an additional element in the form of the second “operating system,” with a networking structure and a very different set of processes. This second operating system is used to analyse the environment and the enterprise and respond to emerging opportunities and possibilities in a faster, more flexible and creative way than using the traditional system (Kotter 2012). Sustainable enterprises The development of the SIS requires a different type of enterprise, that functions and is managed in a substantially different manner. The key paradigm on which they should base their activity is agility, also called sustainability by many researchers. Such a concept is used by Grudzewski et al. (2010), who refer to it as a megaparadigm of modern enterprises. The authors further indicate the fundamental abilities by which sustainable enterprises should be characterised, namely the ability to learn and adapt, with development, revitalisation, reconstruction, and reorientation. With these capabilities an enterprise will be able to respond quickly to emerging changes and challenges, redefining its operations and adjusting business models and, consequently, offering an above-average value to buyers today and in the future. As a result, these capabilities lay the foundations

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for an enterprise’s firm and distinctive position in the market, while balancing the interests of different groups. In Sull’s (2009) view, agility is the ability of an enterprise to identify and use emerging market opportunities more quickly than competitors. He distinguishes its three dimensions (Sull 2009): x strategic agility – associated with perceiving and “grabbing” emerging opportunities; x portfolio agility – related to the appropriate allocation of resources; and x operational agility – related to the ability to use opportunities within a selected business model. Effective management of flexible, “agile,” and sustainable enterprises requires innovative approaches and management of different types of innovations. An example of the use of innovative approaches is the application, by enterprises operating in the emerging markets, of the concept referred to as frugal or reverse innovation. Instead of “tampering” with their existing product offer and providing trimmed product versions on the emerging markets, or completely ignoring these markets, such enterprises use an entirely different approach. They begin all activities with an analysis of these markets’ real customer needs, and on this basis draw up a simplified product concept which is durable and easy to use. The entire production process and business models are subject to real rethinking and redesigning (Dehoff, Sehgal, and Panneer 2010; The Economist 2010). Management of enterprise stakeholders Enterprises have to face a number of challenges with respect to the management of employees. One of them is their use of an external, highly specialised workforce that is available “on-demand” via the internet. This is connected with the phenomena discussed above, such as crowdsourcing and microsourcing. Their use requires new models and skills for managing the human cloud. Most often, enterprises cooperate with such employees through the use of various kinds of online platforms which are active online intermediaries between knowledge workers offering their services and enterprises benefiting from these services. There are four basic types of intermediaries – facilitator, arbitrator, aggregator, and governor – and they are diverse in terms of the conditions of work and pricing, coordinating the work of service “providers,” quality control, risk

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management, and intellectual property. Therefore, the use of their services requires various decisions in the area of management (Carmel et al. 2013). At the same time, the choice of the type of work that should be outsourced is becoming very important in the context of the increasingly wide use of external knowledge workers (Dewhurst, Hancock, and Ellsworth 2013). Such decisions are one of the more often utilised elements of knowledge management in an enterprise (Davenport and Prusak 1998; Jashapara 2006; Kowalczyk and Nogalski 2007). Enterprises increasingly need to manage highly diversified employees when it comes to their origin. Very often it is necessary to reconcile the four types of cultures: the culture of the country in which an employee gained their education, that of the country where they work, the enterprise’s organisational culture, and the culture of professional groups (Grudzewski et al. 2010). Therefore, one of three core competencies of managers today is referred to as “cultural code-switching” (Molinsky et al. 2012). This refers to the managers’ ability to modify their behaviour in certain situations in order to adapt themselves to different cultural norms. Under conditions of deepening cultural diversity in enterprises (crosscultural contexts), this issue has risen to become one of the most important aspects of effective management. The second important competence of managers is the ability to use online tools to build online networks, and their application to facilitate the completion of tasks by employees. The third, however, is to adjust their own activities with regard to working conditions, which is necessary due to continuous divisibility of attention on different tasks and information coming in from different sources, which is referred to as “continuous partial attention” (Molinsky et al. 2012; Wielki 2009). Further challenges for management are associated with an enterprise’s external stakeholders. Dynamic changes taking place in the SIS, together with the growing strength of various special interest groups (SIGs), mean that enterprises are increasingly becoming the object of various campaigns on different aspects of their business for which previously they did not feel accountable (Phillips 2003; Freeman, Harrison, and Wicks 2007). Examples of this type of activity include a boycott of Nike products after a New York Times article about the mistreatment of workers by one of its suppliers in Indonesia, or expectations that pharmaceutical companies have to respond to the AIDS pandemic in Africa (Kramer and Porter 2006). These campaigns have intensified with the development of the internet and the new possibilities it offers of exerting influence on enterprises by SIGs, but also by individuals (Wielki 2012). It is not just the interest groups, however, but also governments and the media that have

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begun “critically reviewing” the social consequences of business activities (Porter and Kramer 2006). In this situation, it has become necessary to take into account broader social interests at the stage of formulating an enterprise’s strategy. Hence the emergence of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which refers to the concept of “sustainability” (Kramer and Porter 2006). In fact it relates to the need of enterprises, especially the largest ones, to be more transparent, open, and fair (Freeman, Harrison, and Wicks 2007). Furthermore, their business decisions and actions should at least partially anticipate their direct economic or technical interests (Colle et al. 2010). Enterprises and their stakeholders operate in the above-mentioned electronic space. In this respect, two basic types of management activities should be undertaken by an enterprise: prevention and protection activities on the one hand (those connected with the protection and broadly understood security of online operations), and pro-active activities on the other (those related to the active impact on the electronic space). When it comes to prevention and protection activities, these are either internal or external in nature. In the case of internal activities, the key task of an enterprise is to define the online security policy both at the companywide and individual levels. This is about precisely defining the rules and regulations on employees’ use of the electronic space, including tools used by them, and the level of monitoring of their online activity. External activities are related to the security and protection of online activities. This is about developing the enterprise’s policy regarding electronic space monitoring, management of electronic space knowledge, and the ways to react to certain events that occur in it. In addition to engaging in prevention and protection activities, every enterprise has opportunities for influencing and shaping the electronic space. This can be done on five basic levels: its own, industry, national, regional, and global. This is related to activities such as the launch of products and solutions into the electronic space (e.g., the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol developed by Netscape Communications Corporation, which encrypts communication channels between the server and the customer’s web browser). Another important form of influencing the electronic space is participating in the work of groups developing specific solutions that determine its shape and functioning (e.g., work on standards, ensuring the long-term growth and development of the multimedia part of the internet, namely the World Wide Web, conducted under the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C). A similarly influential type of activity is the participation of an enterprise, along with other entities, in the creation of products that affect the electronic space .

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globally. An example of this type of impact is the Open Compute Project (OCP 2011), initiated by Facebook, whose aim is to create a data centre based on its own servers, making it much cheaper and consuming much less energy. It is carried out in conjunction with other internet giants such as AMD, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Intel, and Skype. The project is openended, and its specifications will be made available to the internet community in order to be further improved (OCP 2011). The main task of enterprises is to develop pro-active policies and strategies on electronic space activities (Wielki 2011, 2012). Basic change directions in enterprise management The development of the SIS requires enterprises that function and are managed quite differently than those operating in industrial conditions. Agility and sustainability are becoming their key imperatives; this is their greatest possible flexibility and agility in operations, while taking into account the interests of their various stakeholders. Sustainable and flexible enterprises move away from centralised, hierarchical management structures in order to reduce the number of management levels (delayering) and flatten their organisational structures. An important element of the decentralisation process of enterprises has become the organisation of their operations around specific projects, with increasing use of cross-functional teams and cross-boundary teams. Work in these teams requires new social and cultural competences on the part of employees, such as openness, the ability to work in a group and share knowledge, confidence building, the ability to establish relationships with other employees, and building the appropriate network. At the same time, due to such phenomena as increasing product complexity, shortening life cycles, and a continuous increase in the level of quality, limiting the range of business activities (downscoping) is required, with a focus on areas directly related to enterprises’ core competencies. Under these conditions it has become more common to utilise various forms of outsourcing and to develop strategic alliances. The consequence of these processes is the evolution of traditional “pyramid” enterprises into ones without formal boundaries (borderless enterprise), acting as network enterprises, in which businesses are themselves networks. Pronounced changes are taking place in the business processes of enterprises, since under the development conditions of the SIS the resource most critical to its success is knowledge, and an essential skill in an enterprise is that of managing it. This in turn is closely related to data

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collection, as well as the flexible and fast flow and exchange of information. In this situation, it is necessary to intensify both the vertical and, more importantly, the horizontal forms of communication, with the use of ICTs. This also applies to information and knowledge flows associated with extending business processes within the individual departments of an enterprise (interpersonal business processes), crossing the boundaries of functional business (cross-functional business processes) and organisational boundaries (cross-organisational business processes) (Davenport 1993; Davenport and Short 1990; Harrington 1991). In the case of the first two types of business processes, electronic document circulation systems and automatic exchange of information within an enterprise are growing in importance. Processes crossing organisational boundaries, however, increase the role of automated data exchange with external stakeholders. At the same time, profound changes in business processes, particularly those crossing the functional and organisational boundaries of enterprises, have begun to require a completely new perception of employees and approach to the management of human resources. As a result, new practices in this respect have appeared, such as empowerment (the participation of employees in organisational changes), the use of telecommuting (teleworking), collaboration with independent professionals (freelancers) and various types of micro-specialists from different parts of the world, the utilisation of performance work systems, and recourse to various forms of crowdsourcing. Under the conditions of the SIS, and in order to adopt new business models and concepts, it becomes an imperative to implement new management concepts and support them with ICTs. These concepts include the process approach, knowledge management, risk and trust management, managing relationships with customers and business partners, human resource management, innovation management, virtualisation, or electronic space management. It is critical to implement appropriate ICTs that offer wide possibilities of obtaining, collecting, sharing, and using information and knowledge for management purposes, including, among others, the ERP, CRM, and SCM systems mentioned above. In addition, in this context, solutions belonging to the BI (business intelligence) category have proved to be significant: they give enterprises a whole range of new opportunities related to business analytics, particularly in relation to the aggregation and analysis of structured data (Capgemini 2012; Davenport and Harris 2007). At the same time ICTs play a crucial and increasingly important role when it comes to the smooth functioning of enterprise infrastructure,

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including activities in the field of general management, finance, accounting, legal services, and quality management, supporting an enterprise’s valuecreation process (Millar and Porter 1985). The development of the internet plays a significant and multidimensional role in this respect also. In areas such as finance, accounting, and legal services there are new opportunities associated with easy online access to the latest legislation, fulfilment of tasks related to the social security of employees, electronic money transfers, or an enterprise’s contacts with the public administration. The flow of information and functioning of business processes are increasingly supported by solutions such as intranets, teleconferencing systems, corporate portals, Big Data tools, and cloud computing (Abramowicz 2008; Adamczewski 2004; Lech 2003; Maciejewski 2012b; Ziemba 2007, 2009). Thanks to cloud computing, micro-multinational companies have the ability to use such resources (e.g., computing power), which, under standard business solutions, they would never be able to afford (Grance and Mell 2011; Hamm 2009; Rainie and Wellman 2012). On the other hand, Big Data tools provide completely new opportunities for business analytics, substantially extending those offered by the systems of a BI (business intelligence) class. This applies in particular to situations where data sets are becoming increasingly diverse, progressively unstructured, and highly “grainy,” change quickly over time, and are available in real time (Davenport 2014; Wielki 2013).

3.3 Methodology of Research on Critical Success Factors for and Level of ICT Adoption by Business 3.3.1 Research Questions and Steps of Research Methodology The conceptual framework of a methodology for identifying CSFs for the SIS is presented in section 1.5. This methodology embraces building and employing in practice the framework of CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by people, enterprises, and public administration in the context of the challenges and goals of the SIS. This methodology was further extended to evaluate the level of ICT adoption by the stakeholders in view of the identified CSFs. The methodology for identifying the CSFs for and the level of ICT adoption by business should give the answers to the following research questions: x What is the framework of CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises?

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x What are the CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises in reality, in Poland? x What is the level of ICT adoption by enterprises in reality, in Poland? The answers to these questions required a multi-step approach. The research methods included a critical review of literature, the Delphi method, brainstorming, collaboration, logical reasoning (both deductive and inductive), and statistical analysis. The following steps were taken: 1) Identifying CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises based on the existing studies; 2) Defining the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises; 3) Verifying the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises; 4) Evaluating the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises; 5) Creating the final framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises; 6) Creating the set of questions about the level of ICT adoption by enterprises; 7) Creating the survey questionnaire; 8) Defining the sample and the sample size; 9) Collecting the data on the CSFs and the level of ICT adoption by enterprises; 10) Identifying CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises; and 11) Evaluating the level of ICT adoption by enterprises. The first six steps led to the final framework of CSFs and the set of questions about the level of ICT adoption by enterprises. The next five steps gave the CSFs for and the level of ICT adoption by enterprises in Poland. Step 1: Identifying CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises based on the existing studies A review of the literature was conducted to identify existing CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises. It began with five bibliographic databases: Ebsco, ProQuest, Emerald Management Plus, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Scopus. In addition, open access papers and empirical

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studies were examined. The search was conducted using a relevant set of keywords and phrases such as “critical success factors,” “CSFs,” “success factors,” “success,” “ICT,” “adoption,” “usage,” “implementation,” “enterprises,” “e-commerce,” “e-business,” “ERP,” and “enterprise information system” in all possible permutations and combinations (taking into consideration the logical AND and OR as appropriate). Step 2: Defining the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises The goals of the second step were to compare the CSFs identified on the basis of the literature search to the Polish reality, and define the prototype framework of CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises. Therefore, CSFs in the Silesian Voivodeship (Poland) were indicated on the basis of collaboration with the Silesian Centre of Information Society in Katowice, especially while working on the strategy for information society development in the Silesian Voivodeship. After brainstorming sessions and logical reasoning the prototype set of CSFs was determined. The identified factors were assigned to the appropriate dimensions (economic, socio-cultural, technological, organisational) and stages (ICT access, ICT competences, and ICT use). Step 3: Verifying the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises Using the Delphi method, the CSF framework was evaluated and further developed. The Delphi process was conducted as a series of rounds. Four experts participated in the rounds, all professors of Polish universities who conduct studies and have empirical experience in fields relating to the information society. The result of the Delphi study was to verify the set of CSFs and to assign all factors to the identified dimensions and stages. Step 4: Evaluating the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises In the last round of the Delphi study, twelve experts took part. They included the four professors of Polish universities who participated in the previous rounds, four IT managers responsible for managing IT in four different enterprises, and four managing directors of four other enterprises. The experts evaluated the strength of the influence of particular factors on ICT adoption by enterprises, answering this question: “On a scale of 1 to

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5, state to what extent do you agree that the following factors influence the SIS, i.e. ICT adoption by enterprises?” A five-point Likert scale was used, as follows: 1 – disagree strongly, 2 – disagree, 3 – neither agree nor disagree, 4 – agree, and 5 – agree strongly. The collected data was analysed statistically in order to verify and evaluate the framework of CSFs. SPSS for Windows and STATISTICA were utilised to show the descriptive statistics of the CSFs. The following statistical measures were employed: min, max, mean, median, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. To conduct reliability analysis, Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was used. Step 5: Creating the final framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises Thanks to the statistical analysis carried out at step 4, the final framework of CSFs was built. This framework also took into account some changes proposed by the experts. The changes mainly involved the assignment of some factors to the dimensions and stages, adding new factors to the framework, deleting some existing factors, or replacing some factors by others. Finally, the framework of CSFs included fifty-two factors influencing the adoption of ICTs by enterprises. Step 6: Creating the set of questions about the level of ICT adoption by enterprises At this step, the set of questions for measuring the level of ICT adoption by enterprises was defined. For each CSF at least one question about the level of ICT adoption was set. Four experts participated in this step. Research methods included a review of literature, brainstorming, and logical reasoning. Step 7: Creating the survey questionnaire At this step, a survey questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire contained the six sections described in detail in section 1.5.2: 1) The invitation to respondents to participate in the research on ICT adoption by enterprises. 2) Definitions and explanations of the main terms used in the questionnaire, i.e., e-business, ICTs, hardware, networks, and telecommunications.

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3) The set of questions relating to the profile of the enterprises: number of employees, annual turnover, sector, voivodeship, and e-mail address for receiving the findings of the study. 4) The set of CSFs with a five-point Likert scale to evaluate the strength of their influence on ICT adoption by enterprises. 5) The set of questions with a five-point Likert scale and a three-point scale (“Yes,” “Neither yes nor no,” and “No”) to evaluate the level of ICT adoption by enterprises. 6) The acknowledgment to respondents for taking part in the study. Applying the CAWI method and employing the SurveyMonkey platform, the survey questionnaire was uploaded to the website. Then, the pilot study was conducted to verify the web survey questionnaire. In the pilot studies, six experts who participated in step 4 examined this web survey questionnaire. Finishing touches were put into it, especially of a formal and technical nature. No substantive amendments were required. Step 8: Defining the sample and the sample size After creating the final survey questionnaire, the sample size was defined. The designed sample size was 2,000 enterprises, comprising enterprises of different sizes, from various business sectors, and operating in different voivodships in Poland. Step 9: Collecting the data on the CSFs and the level of ICT adoption by enterprises The data was collected between 22 December 2013 and 30 April 2014, with 552 responses gathered from enterprises. The response rate was 27.60%. After screening the responses and excluding outliers, there was a final sample of 322 usable, correct, and complete responses. The final response rate was therefore 16.10%. The data was stored in two data formats: SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Step 10: Identifying CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises As the process of collecting data on CSFs was completed, and before moving onto detailed statistical analysis, its reliability was calculated to examine the internal consistency among items on the scale. For this, Cronbach’s alpha (Į) was used. After that, the min, max, mean (M),

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median (Mdn), mode (Mo), standard deviation (SD), and coefficient of variation (CV) were used to identify the CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises. The ten critical factors with the highest means, medians, and modes were indicated for successful ICT adoption by enterprises in Poland. Step 11: Evaluating the level of ICT adoption by enterprises The frequencies and percentages of the answers were used to identify the level of ICT adoption by enterprises. This level is presented in the context of the ten defined CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises.

3.3.2 Details of the Final Sample During the research, enterprises located in Poland, especially in the Silesian Voivodeship, were questioned, and 322 opinions were gathered from respondents who expressed their thoughts about the adoption of ICTs in their enterprises. The respondents were IT specialists, IT managers, general managers, and owners of enterprises. Practically all respondents participated in various projects aimed at ICT adoption in their enterprises. Only one respondent from each enterprise expressed their opinion about ICT adoption. The investigated enterprises included those of various sizes, operating in a variety of business sectors and voivodeships. Table 3.1 provides details about company size (defined in terms of the number of employees and annual turnover), business sector, and principal place of business. With regard to the number of employees, the largest group (44.41%) were micro enterprises employing fewer than ten persons, and the smallest group (14.60%) were large enterprises. As indicated, the annual turnover of 199 (61.80%) enterprises was less than PLN 2 million. With regard to business sector, 202 (62.73%) of the enterprises belonged to the ICT sector. As far as principal place of business is concerned, 261 (81.06%) of the enterprises were from the Silesian Voivodeship, and 61 (18.94%) were from other voivodeships.

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Table 3.1. Analysis of enterprise profiles (N=322) Characteristics

Frequency

Percentage

Number of employees 250 and above (large)

47

14.60%

50–250 (medium)

55

17.08%

10–50 (small) less than 10 (micro)

77

23.91%

143

44.41%

45

13.98%

Annual turnover PLN 10 million and above PLN 2 million to 10 million Less than PLN 2 million n/a Business sector ICT manufacturing ICT trade

71

22.05%

199

61.80%

7

2.17%

29

9.01%

42

13.04%

ICT services

131

40.68%

No ICT

114

35.41%

6

1.86%

Silesian Voivodship

261

81.06%

Other voivodeships

61

18.94%

n/a Principal place of business

3.4 Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by Enterprises 3.4.1 Reliability and Validity Tests Cronbach’s alpha was calculated for each construct of questions based on the score of the answers provided. The validity of the question was also tested. The greater the Cronbach’s alpha, the larger the correlation with the questions under the same construct, and the higher the internal consistency. For most fundamental research, Hinton et al. (2004) believe that a reliability of anything above 0.5 is acceptable, giving a range from

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the excellent (0.90 and above), the high (0.70–0.90), the high moderate (0.50–0.70), to the low (0.50 and below). The results of the reliability analysis are presented in Fig. 3.2 and Table 3.2. Cronbach’s alpha for each construct is no lower than 0.9499, i.e. it is excellent. Moreover, the removal of some constructs would not lead to the improvement of internal consistency among constructs on the scale. Only the removal of two constructs would lead to a minimal improvement in Cronbach’s alpha: X11, which would yield a change of 0.000075, and X27, with a change of 0.000178 (Fig. 3.2). In addition, Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension and stage is between 0.820 and 0.894, i.e. it is high (Table 3.2). Overall, since all the reliability values are above 0.949, these constructs report good reliability and the measurements have good internal consistency. Additionally, the variability of constructs was examined (Tables 3.2 to 3.5). The coefficient of variation stays in the range from 16.24% to 30.10% and all factors have enough variability to be useful (above 10%). These findings show that all identified factors affect the adoption of ICTs by enterprises. 0.9505

0.9500

0.9495

0.9490

0.9485

Cronbach's alpha when item deleted

Figure 3.2. Cronbach’s alpha for each construct

Cronbach alpha for all items

X51

X49

X47

X45

X43

X41

X39

X37

X35

X33

X31

X29

X27

X25

X23

X21

X19

X17

X15

X13

X9

X11

X7

X5

X3

X1

0.9480

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Table 3.2. Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension and stage Dimensions/Stages Economic Socio-cultural Technological Organisational Total dimensions ICT access (supply) ICT competences ICT use (demand) Total stages

Number of items 15 9 12 16 52 22 10 20 52

Cronbach’s alpha coefficient 0.854 0.833 0.842 0.894 0.950 0.890 0.820 0.889 0.950

3.4.2 Framework of Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by Enterprises The conducted research allowed the proposal of the final framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises. It includes fifty-two factors. Tables 3.3 to 3.6 contain the names of these factors and their categories. The factors are classified into four main dimensions: economic, social-cultural, technological, and organisational. They are related to ICT supply and demand as well as ICT competences. The factors play different roles in ICT adoption, from great importance to small importance. The calculated means for the fifty-two factors are in the range from 3.43 to 4.38, using a five-point Likert scale. The means of twenty-one factors exceed 4.00. For one factor the median achieves the highest value (namely 5). Tables 3.3 to 3.6 show the ranking of all factors, and the extracted factors have been discussed in the following subsections. Economic factors related to ICT adoption by enterprises The group of economic factors includes economic issues connected with the economic accessibility of ICTs, competences and awareness related to the adoption of ICTs, and ICT usage by enterprises (Table 3.3). Economic benefits for enterprises arising from ICT adoption, the financial situation of enterprises, and competition in the ICT market are of paramount importance for ICT adoption by enterprises. They are described in section 3.4.3.

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SD

322

1

5

3.82

4

0.97

25.33%

321

1

5

4.15

4

0.77

18.61%

319

1

5

4.18

4

0.82

19.59%

319

1

5

3.62

4

1.01

27.87%

319

1

5

3.96

4

0.88

22.18%

321

2

5

4.27

4

0.82

19.12%

N

Max

Critical success factor

Min

No.

Mdn

Table 3.3. Economic success factors for ICT adoption by enterprises

M

CV

Stage: ICT access X1

X2 X3

X4 X5 X6

Public outlay on hardware, networks and telecommunications Private outlay on hardware, networks and telecommunications Competition in the ICT market Public outlay on front- and back-office information systems for enterprises Private outlay on front- and back-office information systems for enterprises Financial situation of enterprises

Stage: ICT competences X7

X8

X9

Public and private outlay on ICT education for enterprises’ managers Public and private outlay on ICT education for enterprises’ employees Outlay on creating ICT competence centre for enterprises

320

1

5

3.97

4

0.89

22.38%

321

1

5

3.87

4

0.91

23.64%

319

1

5

3.61

4

0.88

24.21%

Stage: ICT use Economic benefits for X10 enterprises arising from ICT adoption Economic benefits for X11 enterprises arising without ICT adoption

320

2

5

4.38

5

0.71

16.24%

321

1

5

3.68

4

0.95

25.82%

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Mdn

Economic risk of ICT adoption in enterprises Public outlay on ICT X13 promotion Private outlay on ICT X14 promotion Differentiation of service and product charges due to X15 ways of processing – electronic or traditional X12

SD

CV

4

0.91

25.55%

3.47

4

0.99

28.52%

5

3.67

4

0.90

24.42%

5

3.91

4

0.87

22.26%

Max

Critical success factor

Min

No.

M

1

5

3.58

1

5

320

1

320

1

N 320 320

175

Financial outlay on ICTs and ICT competences, both public and from the enterprises themselves, influences their successful adoption of ICTs. Public outlay mainly includes state and local government expenditure on ICT infrastructure (e.g., networks and telecommunications), front- and back-office information systems, ICT innovations, e-business, ICT education, and improvement of ICT competences. In Poland and other European countries, this expenditure can be covered and funded by the EU. For example, the sources of public grants and subsidies are the Regional Operational Programmes such as the operational programme “Innovative Economy” financed by the European Regional Development Fund, or the operational programme “Human Capital” financed by the European Social Fund. Private outlay includes enterprises’ expenditure on hardware, front- and back-office software, and improvement of employees’ ICT competences. Private outlay also includes the expenditure of enterprises’ customers on ICT usage and education, in particular. The ICT readiness of enterprises, including both architecture and skills, is important, and clearly affects the adoption of ICTs. The least important economic factors influencing the adoption of ICTs by enterprises are the public and private outlay on ICT promotion, as well as the creation of ICT competence centres for enterprises, whether in the form of databases of knowledge, ideas and concepts, forums, portals, or online counselling. Economic risk also has a comparatively small impact on ICT adoption by enterprises.

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Technological factors related to ICT adoption by enterprises This research confirms that technological factors affect ICT adoption by enterprises (Table 3.4). These factors are, first and foremost, high quality and integration of front- and back-office information systems in enterprises, information security, and the ICT competences of employees. They are described in section 3.4.3.

SD

321

1

5

4.04

4

0.76

18.89%

322

1

5

4.05

4

0.88

21.67%

320

1

5

3.76

4

0.97

25.73%

320

1

5

3.95

4

0.74

18.70%

320

1

5

3.96

4

0.86

21.78%

N

Max

Critical success factor

Min

No.

Mdn

Table 3.4. Technological success factors for ICT adoption by enterprises

M

CV

Stage: ICT access X25 X26 X27

X28 X29

Innovative ICTs implemented in enterprises Open source software licences Technological constraints that prevent product and service digitalisation Standardised ICTs for enterprises Dedicated (personalised) ICTs for enterprises

Stage: ICT competences X30

ICT leaderships and visionaries in enterprises

321

1

5

3.83

4

0.86

22.46%

X31

ICT competences of enterprise employees

318

2

5

4.25

4

0.74

17.41%

Stage: ICT use Integration of front- and X32 back-office information systems in enterprises Quality of front- and X33 back-office information systems in enterprises

317

1

5

4.20

4

0.78

18.48%

320

1

5

4.25

4

0.78

18.44%

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X36 Electronic consultation

321 321 318

Mdn

Maturity of e-services X34 delivered by enterprises to customers Information security in X35 enterprises

N

SD

CV

4

0.77

18.59%

4.22

4

0.93

21.97%

3.43

3

1.02

29.83%

Max

Critical success factor

Min

No.

177

M

1

5

4.15

1

5

1

5

The factors affecting the adoption of ICTs by enterprises also relate to the maturity of e-services delivered by enterprises to their customers, and any open source licences or innovative ICTs they have implemented. Open source software can be freely and quite easily used, modified, and customised by enterprises. This kind of software may be used, for example, to create e-shops and deliver e-services at different levels of maturity according to customers’ needs (section 2.4.2). It is particularly important in adopting ICTs in micro, small, and medium enterprises. Implementation of innovative ICTs in enterprises is no less important for success in ICT adoption. These include, in particular, next generation network and access (NGN/NGA), cloud computing, ERP systems, and social media. The least important technological factors influencing ICT adoption by enterprises are dedicated and standardised software for enterprises, technological obstacles, and ICT leadership and visionaries in enterprises. Socio-cultural factors related to ICT adoption by enterprises Socio-cultural influences may also manifest themselves in attitudes towards the adoption of ICTs by enterprises (Table 3.5). ICT awareness on the part of management personnel is the most important factor for success in their adoption. It is described in section 3.4.3. The level of ICT adoption in enterprises is also determined by the ICT readiness of both enterprises and their customers, including the information culture and appropriate competences on the part of their employees and customers. An information culture is one in which the value and utility of information in gaining operational and strategic success is given paramount importance, where information forms the basis of organisational decision-making, and ICTs are readily exploited as an enabler for effective information acquisition, storage, sharing, and use. This culture requires appropriate employee competences, not only in ICT

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use, but also such characteristics as openness, knowledge sharing, ability to work in a team and a multi-cultural environment, relationship and trust building, and fostering change. To this end, an incentive system that promotes permanent competence improvement on the part of employees (especially in ICTs) is needed.

SD

321

2

5

4.19

4

0.78

18.57%

321

1

5

4.11

4

0.80

19.58%

321

1

5

3.95

4

0.80

20.37%

N

Max

Critical success factor

Min

No.

Mdn

Table 3.5. Socio-cultural success factors for ICT adoption by enterprises

M

CV

Stage: ICT access Management personnel awareness of ICTs Enterprise customer X17 awareness of ICTs E-services and e-products X18 absorption by customers X16

Stage: ICT competences

X19

X20

X21

X22

Incentive system promoting permanent competence improvement of enterprise employees External expert consultancy for enterprises in the field of ICTs New social and cultural competences of enterprises’ employees Customer competences to use e-services and eproducts delivered by enterprises

322

2

5

4.03

4

0.86

21.26%

321

1

5

3.87

4

0.85

21.99%

319

1

5

3.97

4

0.82

20.56%

320

2

5

4.09

4

0.74

18.00%

Stage: ICT use Information culture in enterprises Social exclusion of X24 enterprise customers X23

320

1

5

4.11

4

0.80

19.35%

320

1

5

3.51

4

1.06

30.10%

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Furthermore, the ICT awareness of customers, their ability to use the e-services and e-products delivered by enterprises, and take-up of eservices and e-products by customers all influence the adoption of ICTs by enterprises. The first two factors were also indicated by people as critical for the adoption of ICTs by them (see Table 2.9). The least important of the socio-cultural factors influencing ICT adoption by enterprises are external expert consultancy for enterprises in the field of ICTs, and social exclusion on the part of their customers. In comparison to people, they identified that the assurance of the availability of work, products, services, and education to persons who are at risk of digital and social exclusion affect their level of ICT adoption (Table 2.7). Organisational factors related to ICT adoption by enterprises There is no doubt that the organisational factors shown in Table 3.6 have a significant influence on the success of the adoption of ICTs by enterprises. Customer satisfaction with e-services and e-products delivered by enterprises, with top management support, are of paramount importance among other factors for ICT adoption by enterprises. These factors are described in section 2.4.3.

SD

321

1

5

3.64

4

0.87

23.84%

317

1

5

4.00

4

0.77

19.22%

320

1

5

3.55

4

0.96

26.89%

318

1

5

3.87

4

0.93

24.04%

318

1

5

3.74

4

0.84

22.49%

N

Max

Critical success factor

Min

No.

Mdn

Table 3.6. Organisational success factors for ICT adoption by enterprises

M

CV

Stage: ICT access X37 X38 X39

X40 X41

Coordination of public ICT investments Coordination of ICT projects in enterprises Public–Private Partnership in the field of ICTs Institutional support for the development of ICT infrastructure Coopetition in the ICT market

N

ICT benchmarking of 317 enterprises Approved business strategy X43 317 including ICT issues X42

X44 Rule of law

318

M

Mdn

Critical success factor

Max

No.

Min

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SD

1

5

3.72

4

0.86

23.04%

1

5

3.84

4

0.81

21.17%

1

5

3.92

4

0.94

24.04%

CV

Stage: ICT use X45 Top management support 322 Employee access to their X46 network resources (mobile workstation) in enterprises Enterprises are obliged by X47 public administration to implement ICTs Enterprises are obliged by other enterprises or own X48 corporate requirements to implement ICTs Adaptation of new X49 management models in enterprises Employees’ participation in X50 organisational changes in enterprises New ways of delivering X51 work by enterprises’ employees Customer satisfaction with e-services and X52 e-products delivered by enterprises

1

5

4.18

4

0.77

18.50%

318

2

5

4.08

4

0.80

19.65%

321

1

5

3.85

4

0.94

24.28%

320

1

5

3.88

4

0.80

20.58%

318

1

5

3.84

4

0.78

20.31%

320

1

5

3.81

4

0.79

20.80%

319

1

5

4.04

4

0.82

20.30%

319

1

5

4.25

4

0.82

19.30%

Other important success factors are related to using various networks for completing work tasks. These factors provide access for employees to their network resources and new ways of delivering work by employees, especially teleworking, task-based working time, and flexible working time systems.

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Another factor influencing the successful adoption of ICTs is the coordination of ICT projects in enterprises. Since such projects are usually complex, covering a combination of hardware, software, and organisational issues, effective coordination allows enterprises to plan, coordinate, and monitor various activities at different stages of projects. A clear and defined project plan including goals, objectives, strategy, scope, schedule, and similar issues facilitates success in ICT projects. All of these things require the setting up of an ICT project team including carefully selected, competent, and responsible employees who are actively involved in the tasks related to adoption. This factor is also closely related to another factor, that of an approved business strategy, including the issue of ICTs. The rule of law and institutional support for the development of ICT infrastructure are also relevant for achieving success in the adoption of ICTs. In particular, the legislative framework must be adequate to cover the use of ICTs in dealings between enterprises, people, and public administration, including, for example, regulations on e-invoicing, esignature, e-purchase, protection of personal data and privacy, intellectual property rights, public procurement, and so on. Next, institutional support for the development of ICT infrastructure is also central to the creation of the appropriate conditions for ICT infrastructure development, for example regulations concerning the construction of optical fibre networks through private land. Other factors refer to the obligatory use of ICTs by enterprises imposed by their contractors and government units, for example the obligation to submit statistical, insurance, and financial reports by means of the network. In addition to these factors, organisational changes are usually performed along with the adoption of ICTs; business processes are improved, and new management models are implemented. On the one hand, new models of management and business are supported by ICTs, and on the other, the adoption of ICTs very often requires various organisational changes. Hence adapting new management models along with ICTs allows enterprises to achieve success in adopting them. Of particular interest here are models and approaches such as business process management, knowledge management, risk management, trust management, human resources management, customer relationships management, virtual enterprises, network enterprises, and so on. Employee participation in organisational changes increases the success of enterprises adopting these models and supporting them with ICTs. The least important of the socio-cultural factors influencing ICT adoption by enterprises are coopetition in the ICT market, ICT

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benchmarking of enterprises, coordination of public ICT investments, and public–private partnership in the field of ICTs.

3.4.3 Critical Success Factors for ICT Adoption by Enterprises in Poland The results of statistical analyses allow us to validate and recommend the set of ten CSFs which are of greatest importance for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises in Poland. They include economic, technological, sociocultural, and organisational factors, and are connected with the technical and economic accessibility of and competences and awareness relating to ICTs and their usage by enterprises. Table 3.7 gives an overview of the CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises in Poland with a focus on their ranking. They are presented in descending order of the mean. The means of these factors are the highest of all fifty-two factors, and are equal to or greater than 4.18, as well as exceeding the mean of all fifty-two factors, which is 3.93. The medians of the two factors equal 5 and they are the highest of all fifty-two factors. The medians of the remaining five factors are 4. For the five factors, the value that occurs most frequently in the population is 5, except for the factors X31, X32, X16, X45, and X3. For those factors the value that occurs most frequently in the population is 4, but there is a small differentiation between the appearance of the numbers 4 and 5 in a set of data.

M

Mdn

Mo/ N

320 2

5

4.38

5

5/161

0.71 16.24%

321 2

5

4.27

5

5/148

0.82 19.12%

319 1

5

4.25

4

5/142

0.82 19.30%

Quality of front- and X33 back-office information 320 1 systems in enterprises

5

4.25

4

5/139

0.78 18.44%

No.

Critical success factor

Economic benefits for X10 enterprises arising from ICT adoption Financial situation of enterprises Customer satisfaction with e-services and X52 e-products delivered by enterprises X6

N

Min

Max

Table 3.7. CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises

SD

CV

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M

Mdn

X31 ICT competences of enterprise employees X35 Information security in enterprises Integration of front- and X32 back-office information systems in enterprises X16 Management personnel awareness of ICTs X45 Top management support X3 Competition in the ICT market

Max

Critical success factor

Mo/ N

318 2

5

4.25

4

4/152 5/127

0.74 17.41%

321 1

5

4.22

4

5/153

0.93 21.97%

317 1

5

4.20

4

4/149 5/120

0.78 18.48%

321 2

5

4.19

4

322 1

5

4.18

4

319 1

5

4.18

4

N

Mean score of all 41 factors

Min

No.

183

4/136 5/127 4/151 5/120 4/139 5/126

SD

CV

0.78 18.57% 0.77 18.50% 0.82 19.59%

3.93

The CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises in Poland include: x Financial situation of enterprises. The possibility of financing the purchase and usage of ICTs (e.g., computers, access to the internet, front- and back-office information systems) as well as development of ICT and business competences of employees and managers increase the successful adoption of ICTs. x Competition in the ICT market. This leads to a decrease in the price of ICTs and makes them more accessible, especially for micro, small, and medium enterprises; in the context of people’s ICT adoption, competition in the ICT market is ranked eleventh out of all factors (Table 2.5). x Economic benefits for enterprises arising from ICT adoption. Perceived ICT costs can also be viewed from two perspectives: the costs involved in adopting ICTs, and the cost savings that enterprises will achieve through the use of ICTs; the use of ICTs can have a positive influence on income and profits, increase operational efficiency, give faster access to information, and improve management and decision-making processes as they become more effective and efficient. x Quality of front- and back-office information systems in enterprises. A high quality of information systems determines their

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x

x

x

x

adoption by enterprises; apart from the functionality, usability, and security of information systems described in section 2.4.2, the following dimensions of quality are also relevant: compatibility (the ability of systems to exchange information with other information systems), reliability (their ability to work without faults, or properly after faults), maintainability (their ability to be developed and modified continuously and easily), and portability (their ability to be transferred from one software and hardware environment to another). Integration of front- and back-office information systems in enterprises. This relates to integration not only of applications (e.g., ERP or CRM), but also business processes and datasets in order to manage customer relationships more effectively, make decisions more efficiently, reduce costs, increase profitability, and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Information security. This relates to both technological and organisational security; technological security means ensuring security during ICT usage, for example by implementing masked passwords, encrypted connections with the web, anti-virus software, firewalls, and so on; organisational security concerns internal procedures, rules, and standards governing the confidentiality of information. ICT competences of enterprise employees. ICT competences are crucial in order for enterprises to operate efficiently, innovate more effectively, and compete on a global scale; for this to happen, the three types of employee competences described in section 1.4.6 should be developed: (1) ICT User competences, covering the utilisation of common, generic ICT tools and of specialised ICT tools supporting business functions within industries other than the ICT industry; (2) ICT Enabler competences, including the capabilities required for researching, developing and designing, managing, producing, consulting, marketing and selling, integrating, installing and administrating, maintaining, supporting, and servicing ICTs; and (3) ICT Creator competences, concerning the capabilities needed to exploit opportunities provided by ICTs, to ensure the more efficient and effective performance of enterprises, to explore possibilities for new ways of conducting business, and to establish new businesses. Management personnel awareness of ICTs. Awareness of ICTs has an impact on positive attitudes towards them, and allows

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management personnel to exert pressure on employees to complete the adoption of ICTs successfully. x Top management support. ICT projects have to receive approval and support from top management; top management must be willing to become involved and allocate valuable resources to ICT adoption; members of top management can press employees to adopt ICTs effectively. x Customer satisfaction with e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises. This is essential to any business, including e-business; if customers are satisfied they are more likely to purchase more, or more often, from enterprises; in such a way, they can press enterprises to improve and develop these e-products and e-services. The gathered data indicates that technological factors play a critical role in the adoption of ICTs in Polish enterprises. Among the ten CSFs, as many as four factors are directly related to technological issues. Moreover, the mean and median of all technological factors are the highest out of the other categories, and equal 4.01 and 4.00 respectively (Table 3.8). The next critical factors are reflected in economic issues. Among the ten CSFs, three factors are directly related to the economic issues of ICT access and usage. The mean of all economic factors equals 3.88, and the median is 3.90. Other factors affecting the adoption of ICTs by enterprises are of an organisational nature. Two factors are directly related to organisational issues of ICT usage. Success in the adoption of ICTs also requires a healthy socio-cultural environment for ICT usage by enterprises. Table 3.8. Categories of CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises Category of critical success factor Economic

N

Min

Max

M

Mdn

SD

CV

322

1.87

5.00

3.88

3.90

0.51

13.22%

Socio-cultural

322

1.78

5.00

3.98

4.00

0.55

13.94%

Technological

322

1.67

5.00

4.01

4.00

0.51

12.77%

Organisational

322

1.56

5.00

3.89

3.88

0.52

13.44%

ICT access (supply)

322

1.68

5.00

3.92

3.91

0.47

12.09%

ICT competences

322

1.67

5.00

3.94

4.00

0.54

13.67%

ICT use (demand)

322

2.10

5.00

3.93

3.95

0.47

12.08%

186

Chapter Three

Overall, the factors crucial for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises in Poland are of a many-sided nature. The economic availability of ICTs is identified as an important criterion. The financial situation of enterprises determines what kind of ICTs can be purchased and used by enterprises, whereas competition in the ICT market leads to a decrease in prices and better availability for enterprises. Moreover, the expected economic benefits for enterprises arising from ICT adoption determine decisions about whether to launch ICTs. In parallel, technological issues are flagged as a further important CSF. The quality, integration, and security of frontand back-office information systems are similarly important. Moreover, the appropriate ICT competences are required; in particular, for enterprises from the ICT sector the competences of the practitioners are important, but for enterprises from non-ICT sectors, ICT user and e-business competences are essential. Finally, the cultural and organisational environment of enterprises is regarded as the last piece of the puzzle. The management personnel’s awareness of ICTs, support on the part of top management, and customer satisfaction with e-services and e-products delivered by enterprises are important success factors in this respect. The identification and understanding of success factors for ICT adoption by enterprises bear significance for the reliable and effective adoption of the SIS. The most important challenge to overcome in this respect is to realise that there is no single solution to fit every situation. The countries of Europe and the world are characterised by vastly different political, economic, social, and cultural contexts, which require different approaches. The proposed framework of CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises is easy to adjust quickly to the new conditions.

3.5 Measuring ICT Adoption by Enterprises in Poland The basis for measuring the adoption of ICTs by enterprises in Poland was the identified CSFs described in the preceding section. Each CSF was illustrated by at least one indicator describing the adoption of ICTs.

3.5.1 The Economic Dimension of ICT Adoption by Enterprises As previously outlined in section 3.4, the adoption of ICTs is determined by economic factors, especially by the financial situation of enterprises. This situation is illustrated very well by the profit level of enterprises, and the financial capabilities of enterprises for adopting ICTs. Fig. 3.3 shows the profit level of Polish enterprises in 2013. Of these enterprises, 39.1% evaluated their profit level as rather and strongly high.

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More than 40% of enterprises did not evaluate clearly the level of profit gained, and according to 19.9% of enterprises the level of their profit was rather and strongly low. This shows that some enterprises may not have sufficient financial resources for the purchase and use of ICTs, especially the newest and most innovative ones. Insufficient financial resources may also create a barrier in the development of employee and management personnel competences.

Strongly high

6.2%

Raither high

32.9%

Neither high nor low

41.0% 16.8%

Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

3.1% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Figure 3.3. Level of enterprises’ profit (N=322)

The level of enterprises’ profit affects the possibilities of purchasing and utilising ICTs. This correlation is clearly visible if the data in Fig. 3.3 and 3.4 is compared. Nearly 45% of enterprises evaluated their financial capabilities for adopting ICTs as rather and strongly high. According to 19.8% of enterprises, their financial capabilities for adopting ICTs are rather and strongly low. The other respondents identified their financial capabilities for adopting ICTs as neither high nor low. This shows that a similar number of companies evaluated the profit level and financial capability of ICT purchase and use in almost the same way. Furthermore, some enterprises (at least 20%, and as much as 55%) may face difficulties in funding ICT adoption. Competition in the ICT market directly shapes prices and consequently the availability of ICTs for companies with limited financial capabilities. Conducting a thorough analysis of prices and product and service quality in the ICT market by companies may considerably enhance the abilities of management personnel to make the right decisions on the choice of ICTs for implementation and how to conduct their acquisition. Moreover, cooperation with market competitors (sometimes referred to as coopetition) may also enhance effective decision-making on the choice of appropriate ICTs. Fig. 3.5 shows whether companies conducted price and

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quality analyses and whether they cooperated with their competitors; 52.2% of enterprises decidedly did not conduct such analyses, and only 19.6% confirmed that they were carried out. Similarly, a considerable proportion of companies, 44.4%, did not cooperate with market competitors, while 34.4% carried out such cooperation. This shows the significant role of ICT price and quality analysis and of coopetition; their value should be stressed, and the awareness of enterprises should be improved in this respect.

Strongly high

5.6%

Raither high

39.2%

Neither high nor low

35.4%

Rather low Strongly low

15.7% 4.1%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

Figure 3.4. Enterprises’ financial capabilities for adopting ICTs (N=319)

31.4%

Yes

19.6% Coopetition

24.2% 28.3%

Neither yes nor no

No

0.0%

Analysis of ICTs prices and quality

44.4% 52.2% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 3.5. Analysis of ICT prices and quality, and coopetition between enterprises (N=322)

Apart from the financial situation of enterprises, the adoption of ICTs is determined by the economic benefits for enterprises arising from it. Of the enterprises, 36.7% note that their financial situation has improved significantly since adoption (Fig. 3.6). Improvement in financial situation

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due to ICT adoption was described as strongly and rather negligible by 18% of enterprises. Nearly 50% of enterprises could not evaluate this financial benefit, which may signify that an enterprise did not perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of ICT projects or the adoption of ICTs. Economic benefits for enterprises arising from ICT adoption may be caused by an increase in operational efficiency, faster access to information, improving management, and making more effective and efficient decisions. Fig. 3.6 shows that 57.9% of enterprises evaluated these kinds of benefits as strongly and rather high, and only 3.8% described them as strongly and rather negligible. This shows that a large proportion of enterprises are not aware of the potential economic benefits of adopting ICTs, such as cost reductions and increase in revenues. Enterprises valued higher benefits concerning management and organisational issues. Enterprises should be made aware of various benefits, and they will seek to reap the full benefits of ICT adoption.

14.5%

Strongly high

7.8% 43.4%

Raither high

28.9%

Neither high nor low

Rather low

Strongly low

0.0%

Improvement of mangement

38.4% 45.3%

Improvement of financial situation

2.5% 12.1% 1.3% 5.9% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Figure 3.6. Improvement of financial situation and management arising from ICT adoption (N=322)

3.5.2 The Technological Dimension of ICT Adoption by Enterprises As previously outlined in section 3.4, the adoption of ICTs is determined by technological factors, especially: x the quality and integration of front- and back-office information systems; x information security; and

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x the ICT competences of employees. A majority of enterprises confirmed that they used strongly and rather high quality information systems, which is shown in Fig. 3.7. Usability and functional suitability were ranked the highest: respectively, 70.3% and 69.3% of enterprises described them as rather and strongly high. The lowest marks were given for portability, which 44.9% of enterprises evaluated as rather or strongly high, and maintainability, which 47% of enterprises marked as rather or strongly high. Moreover, for a relatively large proportion of enterprises it was difficult to assess unambiguously the quality of their information systems as high or low. This shows that generally the quality of information systems used by enterprises is at a high level, especially as regards their usability and functional suitability. However, all dimensions of information systems quality should be continually examined and improved. 14.0% Comaptibility 3.6%

36.0% 39.0%

7.5% 15.1%

Portability

29.8% 36.5%

14.4%

4.2%

Strongly high

12.5% Reliability 2.6%

38.1% 38.8%

8.0% 16.4%

Security

34.7%

5.5% 2.3%

Functional suitability

Usability

0.0%

33.9% 40.9%

9.3%

2.9%

Neither high nor low Rather low

41.2%

Strongly low 13.1%

Maintainability

Raither high

21.7% 23.6%

4.5% 2.6%

47.6%

25.2% 23.0%

3.8% 2.9% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

45.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Figure 3.7. Quality of front- and back-office information systems (N=312)

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The security of ICTs is one of the quality attributes, and relates to the security of information in enterprises. Masked passwords, encrypted connections with the web, anti-virus software, and firewalls are mainly used to ensure information security. In addition, various internal procedures are created in enterprises to protect and safeguard information. In Poland, these procedures are usually related to personal data protection and information security policies. Fig. 3.8 shows that about 59% of enterprises developed and used policies on personal data protection and information security. About 24% of enterprises have not yet set up these policies, and about 16% could not clearly indicate whether such policies were worked out and implemented. This shows that probably about 40% of enterprises did not have policies on personal data protection and information security. This situation therefore requires improvement.

Information security policy

59.4% 16.8% 23.8%

Yes Neither yes nor no

Personal data protection policy

0.0%

59.6%

No

16.3% 24.1% 20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

Figure 3.8. Security of information in enterprises (N=322)

As previously outlined, the integration of information systems is needed for the successful adoption of ICTs. Fig. 3.9 shows that ERP systems were only used in 16.1% of enterprises, and 43.3% of enterprises have not yet implemented ERP systems. Unfortunately, in 40.1% of enterprises only those information systems which support core business processes have been integrated. The largest number of ERP systems has been implemented in large and medium enterprises. Among the examined enterprises, 36.2% of all large enterprises, 29.1% of all medium enterprises, 15.6% of all small enterprises, and 4.9% of micro enterprises implemented and used ERP systems.

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Yes

16.1%

Neither yes nor no

40.1%

No 0.0%

43.8% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Figure 3.9. ERP systems used in enterprises (N=322)

Fig. 3.10 shows functional areas of business processes that information systems were used to support in enterprises. The largest proportion of enterprises used finance and accounting systems (73.6%), salary accounting (68%), sales and distribution (65.3%), and human resources (63.9%). The smallest proportion of respondents used BI systems (6.8%) and logistics (24.3%). Generally, the low use of information systems for supporting business processes stems from the fact that 44% of the examined enterprises were from the micro enterprise sector. These companies very often use the functional area information systems only to support sales and distribution processes. Moreover, in 37.3% of examined enterprises, mostly small and micro enterprises, ICT services were provided on an outsourcing basis and the companies did not have knowledge of the information systems used. This shows that enterprises use information systems mainly to support core business processes, and the usage of ERP systems requires improvement in all types of enterprises, whether large, medium, or small. As outlined in section 3.4.3, an important factor for the adoption of ICTs in enterprises is employees’ ICT competences. Fig. 3.11 shows the competences of employees versus those of management personnel. In about 50% of enterprises the ICT competences of employees were evaluated as rather or strongly high. Approximately 15% of enterprises evaluated the competences of their employees as rather or strongly low, and the other enterprises (34.6%) marked them at neither high nor low levels. The competences of management personnel were ranked a little higher. This shows that in half of the enterprises, the employees’ competences certainly achieved and probably exceeded the ICT Users level. Those employees can therefore use ICTs effectively and without obstacles. Currently, however, competences at the ICT Enablers level are becoming increasingly important, as they allow the development of

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existing business models and the creation of new ones with the application of ICTs. 6.8% 28.9%

BI

64.3% 24.3% 17.6%

Logistics

58.1% 36.1%

18.4%

Budgeting

45.6% 73.6% 11.6% 14.8%

Finance and accounting

52.2% 18.0%

Fixed assets

29.7% 58.7% 15.5%

Purchases

Yes

25.8%

Neither yes nor no

65.3% 11.1%

Sales and distribution

No

23.6% 25.2% 13.2%

Production

61.6% 50.5% 13.5%

Inventory and warehouse

36.0% 68.0% 9.5%

Salaries accounting

22.5% 63.9%

10.4%

Human resources

25.6%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

Figure 3.10. Functional area information systems used in enterprises (N=310)

14.1% 41.9%

Management personel

31.6% Strongly high

8.8% 3.8%

Rather high Neither high nor low

10.0% 39.9% Employees

34.6% 10.6% 5.0%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0%

Figure 3.11. ICT competences of employees (N=321)

Rather low Strongly low

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In order to build a high level of ICT competences (that of ICT Creators), training in ICTs and business should be organised for employees. Fig. 3.12 shows what types of training employees need in order to improve their ICT competences. About 40% of respondents stressed that employees did not need any training on ICTs and business, and about 25% of respondents had no opinion on the issue. This shows that the awareness of improving business and ICT competences, and the alignment between the two, should be increased in enterprises. Training in this respect is a means to overcome obstacles and convince employees of the benefits resulting from ICT adoption.

ICTs management

28.2%

Data analysis with BI systems

27.8%

E-business

21.6%

ICTs project management

21.7%

Internet technology in business

22.3%

36.9% 35.3% 42.8%

Business models

No

32.7% 45.6% 37.4% 40.3%

23.2% 10.0%

20.0%

Yes Neither yes nor no

35.6%

28.8% 25.4%

Business processes improvement

0.0%

36.1% 35.8%

30.0%

45.8% 36.1% 40.8% 40.0%

50.0%

Figure 3.12. Employees’ training needs associated with ICTs and business (N=319)

3.5.3 The Socio-Cultural Dimension of ICT Adoption by Enterprises As previously outlined in section 3.4, the adoption of ICTs is determined by the management personnel’s awareness of ICTs, and this is a sociocultural factor. Fig. 3.13 shows that the management personnel were aware of the need to adopt ICTs and to spread digital culture in 49.5% of enterprises. In 15% of enterprises, the management personnel were not

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aware of the need to adopt ICTs. According to 35.5% of respondents it was difficult to evaluate the ICT awareness of the management personnel. This shows that the management personnel are unaware of the possibilities of ICTs in over 50% of enterprises. As a result, there is probably a lack of pressure to adopt ICTs in enterprises and a lack of employees’ involvement. Therefore, activities aimed at enhancing the ICT awareness among management personnel are needed.

49.5%

Yes

Neither yes nor no

35.5%

No

0.0%

15.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 3.13. Management personnel awareness of the need to adopt ICTs (N=321)

Increased awareness on the part of management personnel of the need to adopt ICTs requires the enhancement of competences in the field of ICTs in business, as in many enterprises they were estimated at a medium level (Fig. 3.11), that of ICT Users, but in the case of managers ICT Enabler competences would be more desirable. Therefore, various types of training for management personnel are essential to provide ICT knowledge and skills relating to business process support, development of existing business models, creation of new models for business, consumer and supply chain management, knowledge management, and more effective decision-making. Fig. 3.14 shows that in more than 55% of enterprises, managers did not participate in ICT training; only 17.4% of enterprises confirmed that their managers participated in such training. When compared to the findings on the awareness of management personnel of the need to adopt ICTs (Fig. 3.13) and the improvement of the financial situation and management arising from ICT adoption (Fig. 3.7), these findings show that management personnel competences in ICTs require improvement.

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Yes

17.4%

Neither yes nor no

27.3%

No 0.0%

55.3% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 3.14. Participation of management personnel in ICT training (N=321)

3.5.4 The Organisational Dimension of ICT Adoption by Enterprises As previously outlined in section 3.4, the adoption of ICTs is determined by socio-cultural and organisational factors, especially the support of top management and customer satisfaction with e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises. The key to success in adopting ICTs in enterprises is the support of top management. Examples of such support are, inter alia, the development and implementation of business strategy accounting for the adoption of ICTs, and the appointment of a project manager and team responsible for ICT projects and adoption. Fig. 3.15 shows that only 19.9% of enterprises formalised (and wrote down) business strategies. Among these enterprises, only 22% included in their business strategies provisions on ICT projects. This shows that the majority of enterprises conduct and develop their business operations without a formally approved strategic business plan embracing provisions on ICT adoption. ICT projects are therefore probably undertaken on an adhoc basis. It is necessary to raise the management personnel competences in creating strategies regarding business and ICT adoption and combining business and ICT projects.

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197

19.9%

Neither yes nor no

29.2%

No 0.0%

50.9% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 3.15. Formalised business strategy with records regarding ICT adoption (N=322)

Top management support is also manifested by setting up a team or appointing a person responsible for the coordination and management of ICT projects. Fig. 3.16 shows that 34.2% of enterprises had a project team (or person) responsible for ICT adoption. Generally, more than 50% of enterprises confirmed that a person or a team responsible for the coordination of ICT adoption was not appointed. In particular, of those businesses investigated, persons or teams responsible for the coordination of ICT adoption were not appointed in 68.5% of micro enterprises, 58.4% of small enterprises, 36.4% of medium enterprises, and 10.6% of large enterprises. This confirms that the empowerment of the project team is underestimated, especially in micro, small, and medium enterprises. Overall, the support of top management for ICT projects and adoption is underestimated in most Polish enterprises.

Yes

34.2%

Neither yes nor no

13.7%

52.2%

No 0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 3.16. ICT project team responsible for ICT adoption in enterprises (N=322)

In addition, the adoption of ICTs by enterprises is determined by their customers’ satisfaction with delivered e-products and e-services. Unfortunately, more than 50% of enterprises did not analyse customer satisfaction, and only 19.3% of enterprises confirmed that they examined satisfaction with delivered e-products and e-services. Fig. 3.17 shows that

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according to 30% of enterprises, their customers showed strongly high or rather high levels of satisfaction with e-products and e-services delivered by them. Only 3.6% of enterprises confirmed that their customers had rather or strongly low satisfaction. More than 58% of enterprises could not indicate the satisfaction of their customers, a result of the fact that more than 50% of enterprises did not analyse customer satisfaction. In the context of evaluating the satisfaction of customers (section 2.5.3), enterprises judged customers’ satisfaction with e-products and e-services as being at a lower level than the customers themselves. All this shows that the people’s satisfaction with e-services and e-products delivered by enterprises generally has a rather high level, and customers evaluate it higher than enterprises. The customer satisfaction factor should be examined and improved on a regular basis.

Strongly high

10.4%

Rather high

27.6%

Neither high nor low Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

58.4% 2.3% 1.3% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 3.17. Customer satisfaction with e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises (N=308)

3.6 Implications for Adopting ICTs by Enterprises The research findings lead to the conclusion that economic, technological, socio-cultural, and organisational issues connected with the accessibility of ICTs, ICT competences and awareness, and ICT usage may play a key role in ICT adoption in enterprises. The CSFs for ICT adoption by enterprises in Poland include: x economic factors such as the financial situation of enterprises, competition in the ICT market, and the economic benefits for enterprises arising from ICT adoption;

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x technological factors such as the quality and integration of frontand back-office information systems, information security, and the ICT competences of employees; x socio-cultural factors such as the awareness of management personnel of ICTs; and x organisational factors such as the level of support from top management and customer satisfaction with the e-products and e-services delivered by enterprises. The findings of this study show that in Poland: x most enterprises, particularly micro, small, and medium ones, have financial difficulties resulting in the lack of possibilities for purchasing, implementing, and using ICTs, especially the newest and most innovative ones; x most enterprises are unaware of the economic benefits which might arise as a result of ICT adoption, for example cost reductions and increase in revenues; x most enterprises are aware of the benefits of ICT adoption that concern management and organisational issues, for example an increase in operational efficiency, faster access to information, improvement of management, and more effective and efficient decision-making processes; x generally the quality of information systems used by enterprises is at a high level, especially the usability and the functional suitability of information systems; however, all dimensions of information systems quality should be examined and improved on a regular basis; x most enterprises use information systems mainly to support core business processes, and the usage of ERP systems requires improvement in all kinds of enterprises, whether large, medium, or small; x in most enterprises, employees have the basic ICT competences referred to as ICT User level, covering the utilisation of common generic ICTs tools and the use of specialised tools supporting business functions; x in most enterprises, employees should improve their ICT Enabler competences, which are needed to exploit the opportunities provided by ICTs, to ensure more efficient and effective performance of enterprises, to explore possibilities for new ways of conducting business, and to establish new businesses;

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x in most enterprises, the management personnel are unaware of the possibilities of ICTs, which may lead to a lack of pressure to adopt them in enterprises, as well as a lack of employee involvement; x in most enterprises, the management personnel do not receive specific training in dealing with the alignment of business with ICTs; x in most enterprises, top management support for ICT projects and adoption is underestimated; x in most of the enterprises, project team empowerment is underestimated, especially in micro, small, and medium enterprises; x the vast majority of enterprises conduct and develop their operations without a formally approved strategic business plan that includes provision for ICTs; x most enterprises do not analyse their customers’ satisfaction with eservices and e-products; and x generally, the investigated customer satisfaction with e-services and e-products delivered by enterprises has a rather high level, and customers evaluate it at a higher level than enterprises. The above discussion leads to a better understanding of the ICT adoption process by enterprises in the context of the SIS. Essentially, the successful adoption of ICTs by enterprises, in addition to the successful adoption of ICTs by people and public administration described in Chapters Two and Four respectively, is a critical precondition for adopting the SIS. The process of ICT adoption by enterprises is driven by technological and economic issues. However, organisationally and socio-culturally sensitive approaches are also needed to ensure the alignment between business and ICTs, allowing the effective use of ICTs, to reap various economic and organisational benefits. The SIS requires the right balance to be struck between building sufficient ICT infrastructure and creating conscious and competent employee and management personnel who can effectively use this infrastructure. Enterprises should make informed decisions about the specific ways in which they want to use ICTs. This demands appropriate ICT competences and awareness. Only when management personnel and employees have ICT knowledge and skills and understand the business implications of ICTs will they be able to make informed and effective choices about the adoption of ICTs. Public administrations should create the appropriate institutional conditions and legal regulations for the adoption of ICTs

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among enterprises. In addition, people have to use ICTs in their relations with enterprises, and absorb various e-products and e-services delivered to them by enterprises. This chapter unveils the main issues and concepts connected with enterprises as one of the main stakeholders of the SIS – e-business, virtualisation, prosumption, wikinomics, management 2.0, and so on. Further, it provides a framework of CSFs for the adoption of ICTs by enterprises, and investigates the CSFs for Poland in particular. This chapter then shows the level of ICT adoption by enterprises in Poland in the context of the defined CSFs, thus providing deeper insight into issues that influence the success of various projects aimed at the adoption of ICTs in enterprises. Further, as mentioned above, the adoption of ICTs by people, business, and public administration is a critical precondition for the successful adoption of the SIS, and thus this research should be seen in close conjunction with the research on ICT adoption by people (Chapter Two) and public administration (Chapter Four).

CHAPTER FOUR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE SUSTAINABLE INFORMATION SOCIETY TOMASZ PAPAJ AND DANUTA DESCOURS1

4.1 Trends Influencing Public Administration 4.1.1 Context of Public Administration Functioning An important stakeholder of the SIS, besides people and enterprises, is public administration. Public authorities, functioning on the basis of public administration, co-create the social, political, scientific, and cultural foundations of the SIS. The strategic plans of public authorities and the implementation of planned development are the driving forces of this society (KukliĔski 2005). Public administration is an important link in the social, economic, scientific, cultural, and political life of the countries of the world. It forms part of the public sector, which generates a great proportion of the GDP of many countries (Report 2014). Besides the business and non-profit sectors, public administration exercises a significant impact on the quality of life of citizens, since the main assumption of public administration is to provide society with a genuinely public service, embodied first of all in local community service, in territorial public administration, and in the nationwide dimension, where governmental public administration functions. The activity of public administration consists of carrying out tasks in the exercise of its statutorily defined functions. This is reflected in a variety of public services provided by the public administration to citizens, business, non-government organisations, and other institutions. The manner and form of the services rendered depend on the legal, organisational, and technological capabilities of public administration. In conjunction with the changing and complex environment, public administration 1

Sections 4.1 to 4.4 and 4.6 written by Tomasz Papaj; section 4.5 written by Tomasz Papaj and Danuta Descours.

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evolves in line with current worldwide trends, which are dominated in particular by globalisation (Pollitt and Bouckaert 2000), standardisation, and the information society, together with digitisation. Digitisation is manifested in the use of ICTs in public administration. In turn, it is conditioned by many factors that lie beyond it, but also within its discretion. Changes in public administration may be of an evolutionary or revolutionary nature. Usually, a slow improvement of public administration (evolutionary change) takes place in countries with a stable political and economic situation. Developing countries, on the other hand, require deep reforms, abrupt changes, and a profound restructuring of public administration (revolutionary change). Due to the nature of the tasks performed by public administration, the rate of change, or the required financial structure, it is difficult for it to participate in certain types of changes, for example the creation or planning of technological innovations. As a rule, public administration responds to the world’s emerging trends following their adoption by international business corporations. These are the main source of change, development, and innovation, hence public administration often assumes the role of a passive observer that monitors the experience of implementing new solutions in business, and only then adapts these solutions to its needs, thereby minimising the risk of adopting new solutions that are ineffective and inefficient. This conservative procedure has the advantage of introducing solutions proven in the business sector to public administration. This must be done incrementally, accounting for the special features of public administration, starting with the rule of law and ending with the organisational culture in public administration units. With this approach, however, public administration has little ability to create changes itself and establish standards for problem solving. Public administration is subject to various external influences, but at the same time it has the ability to impact on the external environment. In this interaction, it must take into account the fact that the environment is changing in a stormy and turbulent manner in legal, economic, organisational, cultural, and technological terms. In particular, the role of public administration as a regulator of the market can be emphasised here (Szkudlarek 2013); it is important for the development of the business and non-profit sectors. In active operation, public administration implements the solutions of public participation (OECD 2003). Guided by the principles of transparency and access to information, it enables citizens to participate in the creation of public policies. Public participation is a solution unique to public administration, which may be associated with the phenomenon of prosumption in the business sector. The complexity of

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vicinity forces public administration into collaboration in a networked society (Grudzewski et al. 2010). This is reflected in the relationships with both the business and the non-profit sectors. Institutionalised collaboration takes the form of public–public or public–private partnership (Rosenau 2000; Bult-Spiering and Dewulf 2006; Tremblay 2010). Carrying out its transformation, public administration builds on the experience of administration based on Weber’s theory of bureaucracy and public management, and in this framework it further draws on the new public management and the new governance. An indispensable element of a smoothly functioning public administration is applying to it different management concepts that are often already implemented and proven in business. They should take into account the specific features relating to the nature of the functioning of public administration. Today’s model of public administration is a result of the impact of the external vicinity and the mechanisms of public administration in different countries. In the case of self-regulation of public administration, it is inseparably linked to the threat of red tape. The triumph of form over content of the tasks to be carried out results in the failure of their operation. Political influence on the shape of public administration, meanwhile, especially on personnel and staffing policy, is a threat to its political neutrality. Public administration institutions should be wellfunctioning tools at the levels of state and local governments, and not places for nepotism and the implementation of the vested interests of powerful social groups. These are just some of the dangers that public administration faces.

4.1.2 Functions and Tasks of Public Administration The term “administration” is derived from the Latin words administratio (service, management) and administrare (service, fulfil, perform, direct) (KopaliĔski 2000, 20). Although it has many meanings, administration can be defined, inter alia, as planned and ongoing activities to meet needs (Suciu and Lazăr 2010). According to Weber’s bureaucratic theory (Johan and Olsen 2005), administration defines its main tasks as dominated by the rule of law, and focuses on administrative rules and guidelines, a central role for the bureaucracy in making and implementing policy, the political– administrative split within public organisations, a commitment to incremental budgeting, and the hegemony of the professional in the service delivery system (Osborne 2006). If an administrative system is designed to meet the needs of the state or some other public law relationship, then it can be viewed as public

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administration. Public administration is of a specific type that is based on administrative law, and carries out its functions and fulfils its tasks through formally subordinate organisations. Such organisations, enabling the effective and efficient functioning of public administration, are government units (Izdebski 2004). Public administration is an integral part of every state. It comprises the state executive apparatus, but also actively participates in decisions about policies, and drafts the legal tools of its implementation (KamiĔski 2008). It is the fulfilment of the needs of collective and individual citizens, resulting from the coexistence of people in the communities which were taken over and implemented by the state authorities and local governments (Boü 2001). Izdebski and Kulesza indicate four basic functions of public administration (Motyk and Malecki-Tepicht 2008): x x x x

classical ordinal-regulatory administration; providing public services; administering ownership rights and managing public property; and managing the local and regional development of the state, which is an increasingly important role in facing the challenges of globalisation.

The ordinal-regulatory function involves, among other things, the protection of public safety, order, and peace, in particular life, health, and property (Boü 2001a). It also relates to the regulation of the economy by issuing various permits and licences, for example concessions for the extraction of minerals from deposits. The provision of public services by the public administration includes such functions as education, upbringing, health, physical culture and sport, civic affairs, and environmental protection. Ownership rights are exercised, inter alia, through a system of public procurement or shares of the state or local governments in capital companies. Administration managing local and regional development of the state creates public policies, strategies, development programmes, and spatial development plans, among other things. Public administration performs certain functions at the state government level as well as at the level of local government. The functions of public administration are changing under the influence of the political, administrative, and cultural environment (SeangTae 2013); in addition, the development of a sustainable information society enforces changes in the functioning of public administration.

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4.1.3 Evolution of Public Administration Understanding what is public administration today depends on grasping the social and political-economic context. Improvements in political systems around the world have been tracked, and as a result, unitary systems of government with hierarchical organisations have been transformed into more horizontal and relatively fragmented organisational approaches to governance. In those systems, governments take a less central, very small role in regulating the terms of government and administrative ontology (Eikenberry 2009). The trends affecting public administration transformation are globalisation, devolution, and informatisation (Yang 2009). Public administration can be viewed from the perspective of the current time period (post-modernity and postindustrial society), and be referred to as postmodern public administration. This stresses globalisation, internationalisation, post-capitalist reality, the consumption-based world, organisational segregation, individualism, and relativism (Fox and Miller 1995, 97; King 2005; Bogason 2008; Eikenberry 2009). Another point of view on public administration includes the perspective of the state, the market, and civil society in relation to the direction chosen, favoured features sought, and desired outcome visualised (Goodsell 2006). In 2006, attention was drawn to six trends transforming government performance (Abramson, Breul, and Kamensky 2006). These include changing the rules, using performance management, providing competition, choice, and incentives, performing on demand, engaging citizens, using networks, and partnerships. In retrospect, two additional trends can be noticed in the functioning of public administration. One of them is the digitalisation of government, also known as e-government; the other is the redefinition of the boundaries between the public, private, and non-profit sectors (Morgan 2013). When changing the boundaries within which the public sector functions, including public administration, it is important to devise the simplest possible organisational structures, with the least number of levels and units (KieĪun 2013, 281). A transition from objective responsibility (for something) to subjective responsibility (to someone) can be noticed in public administration. An evolution from linearity to networking, from bureaucratic coordination to partnership and leadership, from stability and permanence to dynamism and adaptability, from reliability to probabilism, and finally from monocentric raison d’état to polyarchy (deconcentration and decentralisation) is taking place. This is accompanied by the changing role of an individual (citizen), who is no longer just a voter and a supplicant,

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but becomes the customer and stakeholder of public administration (Hausner 2008, 32). The europeanisation of public administration plays an appreciable role in its evolution (Lipowicz 2008). Under this framework, one can point to two models: a universal model of public administration, and a universal model of common standards of quality in public administration. The first model has to create similar solutions for the principles of operation, competence, institutions, procedures, and personnel in the public administration of the member states of the EU. The second model opts for determining values which are considered fundamental, basic tasks and quality standards that would support the citizens of different countries at a similar level (Rydlewski 2008). The changing trends in public administration are dealt with by a number of professional associations of public administration. These include the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA), the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), and the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) (Eikenberry 2009). For many years, they have been conducting research comparing public administrations in different countries. These studies concern similarities and differences in terms of functions and systems of administration, but also the general patterns in discovering and defining successful or unsuccessful practices (Jreisat 2011). Studies on public administration are also run for comparison with organisational studies, in view of the fact that they stem from theories of organisation (Rick 2014). Researchers frequently undertake studies on transformations in public administration, accountability and performance, monitoring and evaluation, and new public management. Other important research issues are ethics, corruption and public sector values, budgeting and public finance, decentralisation, development, implementation of a programme or policy, and local government (Fitzpatrick et al. 2011). Public administration is subject to evaluation by public opinion, which assesses the so-called useful items within a specified period and coverage, to include: trust in institutions, satisfaction with democracy, government regulation, and public services (Bouckaert, de Walle, and Kampen 2005).

4.1.4 From Bureaucracy to Public Management in Public Administration Public administration currently faces three main domestic challenges: more inclusive and higher quality services with less resources and increased holistic government capacities; more open, transparent,

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accountable, and effective public governance; and responsiveness to increased citizen demand for enhanced participation, building greater trust in government (UN 2014). The response to these challenges is primarily appropriate management in public administration. In public administration management, three trends can be indicated: bureaucracy, public management, and new governance. Bureaucracy is associated with administration, whereas new public management and new governance relate to management (Steurer 2007). Within the development of economic thought, the functioning of public administration is changing as a result of the transition from administration to public management. In the literature, public management is viewed as part of management, and it is a sign of the openness of management science to serious problems of social and economic life, thus helping to improve its quality. Public management should make use of, among other things, the achievements of administrative law, economic and social policy, and political science (Sudoá 2007; Frączkiewicz-Wronka 2009). Sudoá and KoĪuch (2010) stress that public management focuses not only on economic efficiency, but also on social and political effectiveness in the public sector. Public management examines management processes for accuracy and efficiency in public organisations, or those which are geared to the public interest (Sudoá and KoĪuch 2010). Moreover, it is an important element of the political commitment of decision-makers in a particular public institution (Nicholson-Crotty 2009). Public management is multidimensional: it is integrated, political, diverse, complex, and synthetic (Guta 2012). Its integrated nature draws attention to the management of processes and relationships in public administration. Its political nature is associated with the impact of political factors on its management. Differentiation is associated with institutions having different powers, whether central or local institutions. Complexity refers to the specific elements of management in different areas of the public sector, for example education, culture, or health. Its synthetic nature addresses the acquisition of various theories and methods, and the utilisation of sociology, psychology, and statistics. Public management is focused on providing high-quality services to citizens and giving them satisfaction; simultaneously, it is results-oriented, attentive to the formulation and implementation of short- and long-term strategies (Suciu and Lazăr 2010). Drucker, who was a proponent of effective public management as early as in the second half of the 1950s, for example, suggested the use of management by objectives in federal government (Gazell 2000). In a broad sense, public management can be

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identified with public governance (Bovaird and Löffler 2009), while in the narrow sense, public governance can be regarded as one of the branches of public management (Lisiecka, Papaj, and CzyĪ-Gwiazda 2011, 34). Public governance is a dynamically spreading concept of management in public administration, both in the form of new public management (NPM) (Hood 1991) and new governance (Bevir 2007, xxvi; Izdebski 2007; Czaputowicz 2008; Hausner 2008, 24). NPM is the first mainstream development concept of public governance (Bevir 2007). It has its origins in the 1980s in the United Kingdom, although in the United States the new public administration or managerial approach to public administration had appeared as a reaction against an ossified bureaucratic machine as early as the 1960s. Moreover, in the 1990s in the United States the work of the proponents of NPM – Osborne and Gaebler – was published, in which they proposed ten principles for protecting the public interest, as a preliminary draft for transforming administration (Osborne and Gaebler 1992). New public management, both in theory and in practice, was influenced by the reinventing government movement. Within the reinventing government movement framework, attention was drawn to the elimination of red tape, as well as holding administrators accountable for measurable results and empowering front-line managers to make their own decisions. Emphasising customer satisfaction in agency dealings with the public seemed vital, together with contracting out whenever possible with the private sector for public-service delivery (Spicer 2004). In NPM, there are attempts to apply the principle of “minimum state maximum market” (Steurer 2007). This principle means treating citizens as customers and striving to attain “social profit maximisation.” Therefore, it is necessary to achieve and maintain efficiency and effectiveness in public administration and customer orientation (Grandy 2009). Two theories are of great importance in NPM, namely public choice theory and the theory of agency (Hood 1991). NPM is alternatively referred to as “managerialism,” “market-based public administration,” the “post-bureaucratic paradigm,” “entrepreneurial government,” or “public management reform” (Hood 1998; Osborne and Gaebler 1992; Pollitt and Bouckaert 2000; Kuo-Tai 2014). Since the late 1990s, the trend of the new governance (Hausner 2008, 24) is becoming increasingly important. It appeared on the wave of NPM criticism, and emphasises social networks and participation (Bevir 2007, xxx). It also occurs in the formula of the new public governance (NPG) (Osborne 2006, 2010). It can also be identified with good governance (Czaputowicz 2007), which is likewise indicated by the World Bank

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(Kulshreshtha 2008). Responsive management is also said to be a successor of NPM (Nowak-Far 2014). The new governance draws attention to a greater community approach in the functioning of public authorities, that is, the openness and transparency of public institutions. It tackles the subject of the quality of the public authorities as expressed by voluntarily given political legitimacy, efficient and audited administrative structures of power, or public–private partnerships. It also emphasises the decentralisation of the state system and the network model of decision-making centres in contemporary society (Szczerski 2005). The role of the state, according to the new governance, is perceived in a series of new principles which characterise open government. The basis for open government is a modern form of cooperation among politicians, public administration, industry, and citizens, in order to achieve greater transparency, participation, and collaboration. Four stages in the development of open government can be distinguished: increasing data transparency, improving open participation, enhancing open collaboration, and realising ubiquitous engagement (Casalino 2014). The driving force for open government are ICTs, without which its implementation would not be possible. The concept of open government fits very firmly in the SIS. According to Peters and Pierre’s approach, the new governance is well determined by four characteristics: the dominance of networks, the state’s declining capacity for direct control, the blending of public and private resources, and the use of multiplier instruments, for instance tax incentives, rather than imperious orders and prohibitions (Supernat 2008). The manifestation of network dominance is multilevel governance. In the context of multilevel governance there are different levels of government. The distinction between the internal and external functions of the state blurs as transnational structures, local governments, and non-profit and economic organisations all participate in management. In Europe, multilevel governance involves implementing policies on three levels simultaneously – the EU, the nation-state, and the region – where different functions are performed at each of these levels (Slaughter 2004, 43; Czaputowicz 2008). In order to ensure the efficient management of public administration, it is necessary to implement appropriate management concepts and ICTs that support these concepts. Among them, customer relationship management (CRM) systems take an important place (Hook 2008). Public administration units understand that CRM systems are necessary in order to provide customers with appropriately customised services (Li-Hsing

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and Chen-Chia 2006). Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems (Ziemba and Obáąk 2013) and human resource management (HRM) systems (DwoĜਓkowਓ 2005; Cenusa and Adrian 2012) are also used in public administration. Important elements of HRM in public administration are knowledge management (Saussois 2003; Boer and Van Engers 2013; Voronchuk and Starineca 2014) and trust management (Albrecht and Travaglione 2003). Public administration also implements quality management (Jerrell, Coggburn, and Schneider 2003; Matei and Savulescu 2011; Matei and Lazăr 2011; WiĞniewska and SzczepaĔska 2014) and process-oriented management (ISO 9001 2008; Bartels 2012). The process-oriented approach is becoming one of the leading solutions in the changing public administration (Bartels 2012). A further important concept is risk management, which is a tool used for auditing in public administration (Aucoin 2012; IIA 2014). In order to improve public administration by reducing the level of red tape and the removal of various types of wastage, lean offices and lean six sigma are used (Debrashis 2008; Cole 2011). Another concept is performance budgeting (McGill 2001), which, particularly in the OECD framework, is used as the main tool to improve the management of public funds (OECD 2014). In the context of new governance, participation of stakeholders (Bingham, Nabatchi, and O’Leary 2005; Smith 2010) and network organisations (Boörzel 2011; Wachhaus 2011; Whelan 2011; Provan and Lemaire 2012) can be observed. Such applied management concepts, with the support of ICTs, enhance public administration as one of the information stakeholders of the SIS. The use of performance budgeting or risk management supported by ICTs enables access to managerial information in public administration. The use of HRM in public administration is conducive to the improvement of ICT competences among its employees. The implementation of quality management along with process-oriented management can increase the effectiveness of ICT use by both employees and customers of public administration. Inadequate management in public administration can cause a variety of pathologies. These can be expressed in the form of metaphors: Golem, Avatar, Midas, and the Golden Calf (Batko 2013, 33–34). Golem is identified with man as the creator of public administration; public administration, which is supposed to serve citizens and businesses, becomes autonomous, however, and claims authority over man and, in consequence, begins to function for itself. The same is true of e-government, where Golem is trying to penetrate into the virtual world by creating a digital avatar, causing e-government then to replicate the

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bureaucracy. Midas, meanwhile, personifies public administration emulating business, which, without reflection, loses its identity, stressing only efficiency over the advancement of the common good. The metaphor of the Golden Calf highlights ceremonies and rituals that theatricalise the activities of public administration, creating a distance between the citizen and the power of officials. The use of the latest management concepts in public administration and their support by ICTs promotes the prevention and elimination of such pathologies. Concepts such as trust, partnership, networking, transparency, openness, creativity, adaptability, and entrepreneurship create a new model of public administration, which is part of the sustainable development of the information society.

4.1.5 Overview of the Public Administration Structure in Poland The current model of public administration in Poland is the result of socioeconomic changes that have taken place since 1989. These changes supported public administration reforms, especially those of 1990 and 1998, at the regional and local government levels (PRP 1990, 1998, 1998a; Kulesza 1999), which gave a new shape to local government, establishing its functions and tasks. The reforms did not pass by the state government level either, and impacted on its functions and tasks (PRP 1997, 2008, 2009). Poland has three tiers of public administration: the central level, the regional level, and the local level. At the central level is the state government. The state government is divided into supreme administration bodies, central administration bodies, and regional authorities of administration (JendroĞka 2005); examples of the supreme administrative authority are the President, the Prime Minister, and the Council of Ministers. The central administration bodies act on the basis of laws, regulations, and orders, examples of which are the Public Procurement Office or the Polish Committee for Standardisation (PRP 1997). An example of regional bodies of the state government in voivodeships is a Voivode, combined administration, and non-combined administration (PRP 2009). At the regional level of public administration there is a selfgovernment of a voivodeship and there are sixteen voivodeships in Poland managed by the boards of voivodeships. At the regional level, among other tasks and duties, are established and implemented strategies for

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regional development, spatial development of the region, public transport, and public roads in the region (PRP 1998a). The local level of public administration includes districts and municipalities. In Poland, as of 1 January 2013, there are 314 districts and 2,479 municipalities, including 306 urban areas (among which there are 66 towns with district rights – the so-called “townships,” which have the status of an urban municipality and simultaneously perform the tasks of a district), 602 urban-rural areas, and 1,571 rural ones (MAC 2014). The services provided at the local level, in the districts, include public services in the fields of geodesy, cartography, and cadastre, architectural and construction administration, environmental and nature protection, and real estate management (PRP 1998). At the local level, the municipalities render public services in the fields of public education, health care, and social assistance, among other activities (PRP 1990). Currently, the plans for improving the functioning of public administration in Poland are contained in the strategic document “Sprawne PaĔstwo 2020” (Efficient State 2020) (RM 2013). The main objective of the strategy is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the state, opening it to collaboration with citizens. The aim is to develop a modern model of governance based on transparency of, among other things, laws, procedures, and decision-making processes, and to lend it efficiency in the form of improved communication and exchange of documents and internal flattening of organisational structures on the model of network organisations. This model assumes broad cooperation in the implementation of tasks and problem solving initiatives between different actors, including central and local government units. It counts on the involvement and participation of citizens in the decision-making processes of public authorities, the creation of better laws, and the pursuit of high standards of provided services. Several specific objectives in the strategy “Sprawne PaĔstwo 2020” are important for the development of the SIS, and they are associated with building a new management model. The objective of “Otwarty rząd” (Open government) is focused on making use of consultation processes and other forms of citizen involvement in governance. Effective and functional public administration offices that use modern ICTs are another goal as are, in this context, effective public services enhanced by digital technologies (Sprawne PaĔstwo 2020, 2013). The provisions of the strategy also highlight the need to ensure ICT access, ICT competences, and ICT use in public administration.

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4.2 E-Government as a New Concept for Public Administration 4.2.1 Nature of E-Government Public administration is actively involved in building the SIS by implementing e-government (Irani and Love 2008; Hanna 2010; Ziemba and Papaj 2013). This improves the functioning of public administration, offers government information and services directly to citizens and businesses, and creates a good relationship between the administration and its citizens and businesses, which is the driving force behind the development of the economy and improves the quality of life of citizens (Meijer and Thaens 2009; Haq 2011). Hence the subject of e-government should be discussed, conceptualised, and operationalised in the context of the SIS. E-government is the main concept in the debates about modernising public administration (Bekkers and Homburg 2007; Misuraca, Broster, and Centeno 2012). The term “e-government” can be identified as merely a new name for the computerisation of public administration, but in principle it should be regarded as a modernisation of government (Lenk 2006). The “E” preceding government can alternatively be interpreted as “I” for information, referring to information-intensive government (Taylor and Lips 2008). The main objectives of e-government focus on restructuring administrative functions and processes, and overcoming barriers to coordination and cooperation within the public administration. In addition, e-government aims to monitor government performance and improve the relationship between government units and their stakeholders, that is, citizens, enterprises, and other government units (Ciborra and Navarra 2005). The development of e-government can be viewed from the perspective of distinct time periods. The concept and practice of e-government has changed over time, along with the development of ICTs, policy priorities, user services, and the needs of government functioning (Catherine, Hardy, and Williams 2011). The research issues of the pre-1990s included as fundamental principles systems to support high-volume transactions or reduce the taxpayer burden. The early 1990s were characterised by an emphasis on reinvention, internal efficiency and effectiveness, procurement reform, performance management, and citizen services. The mid-1990s were the period of ICT investment management, chief information officers, web sites, online information, the digital divide, modernisation, and further development of citizen services. The late 1990s through to 2000 saw

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a continuation of citizen services and the digital divide, but also privacy modernisation, economic development, public ICT management, and the Y2K date change. The post-2000 years were devoted to further studies on public ICT management, economic development and security, crossagency systems, information sharing and integration, identity, authenticity, electronic records management and preservation, voting and campaigns, and user-generated content (Dawes 2008). The studies on e-government accounted for public administration only, as state and local government have other executive priorities (Dawes 2008). One of the main challenges for public administration in the SIS is that of transparency, accountability, and openness (Agustí 2011). E-government provides opportunities for “bringing closer” public administration to citizens. Thanks to e-government, citizens have greater access to information and can more easily exercise the rights of citizens as regards information about, for example, expanded taxes or decisions taken by public administration. These advantages of e-government not only concern developed countries, but also developing countries and emerging economies around the world (I-Ways 2005). Transparency is one of the elements of good governance (COM 2001), as it increases the accountability of government and society (Kudo 2010). Among the major principles which improve the quality of e-government services, one can clearly distinguish transparency and publicity, accessibility of information, liability for the truthfulness and authenticity of information, security, availability, usability, neutrality, and interoperability (Agusti 2001). E-government requires the use of ICTs in public management, but also new management concepts and the involvement of government units. Through the use of ICTs in the creation and delivery of information and services, e-government reduces the cost of information and service availability to citizens and businesses. It also facilitates collaboration with non-governmental organisations and enterprises in the creation of policy networks and public–private partnerships (Meijer and Thaens 2009). The success of e-government means the successful implementation of ICTs in public administration, and success in the use of e-government by all its stakeholders (Ziemba, Papaj, and ĩelazny 2013). E-government integrated into political conditions, as well as cultural, technological, and organisational changes, causes a transformation in public administration (Cordell and Lannacci 2010). It becomes a new concept of public administration functioning. The scientific community greatly intensified research on e-government in the 2000s (Tolbert and Mossberger 2006; Anttiroiko 2008; SerranoCinca, Rueda-Tomás, and Portillo-Tarragona 2009; Brainard and McNutt

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2010; Hanna 2010; Ziemba and Olszak 2012). Since 2000 the Gartner Group (Baum and Maio 2000) and Deloitte (Deloitte 2000) have undertaken efforts to develop e-government. The following organisations have had a significant impact on the building and development of egovernment: the European Commission (COM 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2010), the World Bank (World Bank 2003), and the OECD (OECD 2001). In addition, e-government adoption has become a priority issue for many countries, including developing ones (Pons 2004; Harindranath 2008; Joseph et al. 2009; Mahmood 2011; Moatshe et al. 2012; Nfuka et al. 2013). According to a narrow definition, e-government means service delivery on the internet, while a broad definition simply describes e-government as the use of ICTs in the public sector. A supply approach treats e-government as online service delivery, whereas a demand approach views it as a service delivery often including e-participation (Janssen, Rotthier, and Snijkers 2004). According to the OECD, e-government provides an opportunity to develop a new relationship between governments, citizens, service users, and businesses, through the use of new ICTs. ICTs enable the information and services both within and outside of government to be disseminated and collected (government to citizen; government to business; government to government) for the purposes of service delivery, decision-making, and accountability (OECD 2007). E-government uses ICTs, especially internet and Web technology, in order to support or redefine existing and possible future (information, communication, and transaction) relations with stakeholders in their internal and external environment (UNDP 2001; Ciborra and Navarra 2005; Bekkers and Homburg 2007; Srivastava, Thompson, and Teo 2008). Through the use of ICTs, e-government provides effective, efficient, and high quality government services, above all to citizens and enterprises, but also to employees in various government units at the state, regional, and local levels. E-government offers personalised services for all, in an open and transparent way, and supports public administration in improving productivity (I-Ways 2005). E-government is defined as inevitable technological progress and rational planning (Catherine, Hardy, and Williams 2011). The implementation of ICTs in government units makes governments a dynamic mix of goals, structures, and functions, and as a result the efficiency of governmental processes increases (Djurickovic and Kovacevic 2011; Lidén 2013). ICTs help create new and better public administration which is more responsive to the needs of citizens and enterprises, more democratic, and more efficient (Bekkers and Homburg

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2007). Brown (2005) highlights four aspects of e-government: citizencentred service, information as a public resource, new skills and working relationships, and accountability and management models. In the literature and practice, there is no single clear definition of the concept of e-government. From the SIS point of view, the nature and role of e-government is best reflected in its holistic approach. In this perspective, e-government means the organisational, procedural, legal, conceptual, and cultural transformation of public administration, while using ICTs (Ziemba 2012). Interpreted this way, e-government includes the following (Michel 2005; Gil-Garcia and Helbig 2007; Anttiroiko 2008; Ziemba et al. 2013): x e-administration – improving government processes by using ICTs and government process management; x e-government services – providing government services electronically for citizens, businesses, employees, and other stakeholders; x e-democracy – improving transparency and democratic decisionmaking, as well as citizens’ participation; and x e-governance – developing cooperation, networking and partnerships between government units, citizens, and business. Therefore, e-government can be considered as a complex system which consists of people, technology, and processes, as well as organisational and social structures. This system requires a comprehensive economic, social, organisational, technological, and political approach (BeynonDavies 2007; Pina, Torres, and Royo 2009; Ifinedo and Singh 2011; Lawson-Body et al. 2014). The holistic approach to e-government covers its supply, competence, and demand aspects. The supply aspect of e-government means access to ICTs by public administration, citizens, and enterprises. The competence aspect concerns the ICT competences of employees of public administration units as well as of citizens, non-profit organisations, and entrepreneurs. These competences are regarded as adequate knowledge in the field of ICTs and the ability to apply this knowledge in practice, as well as the attitude of individual e-government stakeholders to ICTs. The demand aspect of e-government is the level of ICT use by public administration, but also the level of use of e-government services by businesses, citizens, and non-profit organisations.

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4.2.2 E-Administration In public administration, as well as in business organisations, the transformation of management from a functional model to a processoriented model is advisable. The process model involves focusing attention on processes and their improvement. The identification, measurement and management of processes aims at maximising the share of value-added activities, and minimising that of inefficient activities, within individual processes in public administration. The implementation of the process-oriented model, however, faces barriers, including lack of a goal-setting process, lack of process mapping, failure to specify a process owner, and lack of adequate physical and intangible resources (Hammer 1999; Rummler and Brache 2000). A further barrier to the use of the process-oriented model is the mentality of employees and decision makers in public administration institutions, above all their fear of the new and their habit of working in functional structures (Fiddler and Hofman 2010). The transition to the process-oriented model of public administration can draw on the experience of business evolution orientation and concepts such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Business Process Reengineering (BPR), and Business Process Management (BPM). BPM in public administration is also referred to as GPM (Government Process Management), that is, the use of BPM principles and practices in public administration (Ziemba and Obáąk 2013). TQM is characterised by the process approach and the principle of continuous improvement of public administration, expressed in continuous process improvement (Rosenhoover and Kuhn 1996; Ziemba and Obáąk 2013). The improvement of government processes can take place within BPR. BPR is a management strategy focusing on the analysis and design of workflows and government processes within government units. It rethinks how government units should do their work in order to dramatically improve service levels for government stakeholders and cut operational costs, taking in environmental factors, the organisationtransaction environment, internal structure, and processes (Thong, Yap, and Seah 2000). A more advanced process-oriented approach is BPM. The implementation of BPM in public administration consists of the reconstruction and improvement of internal processes and administration processes related to the provision of government services for citizens, enterprises, and employees (Weerakkody, Janssen, and Dwivedi 2011). The improvement refers to the efficiency and transparency of government services, as well as the participation of citizens and enterprises in the process of government decision-making (Ziemba and Obáąk 2013). The implementation of BPM in public administration is very often related to

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the implementation of other management concepts, such as project management, quality management, and risk management (Ziemba and Obáąk 2013) While improving government processes by implementing government process management, the use of ICTs is important for the integration of state, regional, and local public administration. It involves, inter alia, the implementation of interoperable systems, setting the standards of e-government services maturity, and front- and back-office software quality standards. The improvement of public administration processes cannot take place without ICTs. Such ICTs as ERP systems, Workflow Management Systems (WfMS), Business Process Management Systems (BPMS), and Business Intelligence (BI) are increasingly used in public administration. These systems are often integrated with a service-oriented architecture (SOA) (Ziemba and Obáąk 2013). All information systems implemented in public administration should have functional complexity, a full integration of data and processes, and a limited number of suppliers, as well as one integrator. Other characteristic features they should also have are hardware and software independence, the use of intranets, extranets, and the internet, as well as multimedia technologies. Information systems should also take into account the quality systems adopted in public management, and fully support processes in public administration (Sasak and KoĪuch 2011). In summary, e-administration is one of the components of a holistic approach to e-government, and means improving government processes by implementing government process management with the use of ICTs.

4.2.3 E-Government Services One of the objectives of the sustainable development of the information society is the implementation and use of e-government services (Florentina 2013), which also appear under such synonyms as e-public services, e-services, public e-services, digital services, or website channels (Lindgren and Jansson 2013). A division of e-public services into different categories is also proposed: e-government, e-education, e-health, infomobility, and e-procurement (Arduini and Zanfei 2014). In this study, attention is focused on e-government services delivered by government units at the local and state levels to citizens, enterprises, and other government units. E-government services are a result of a variety of relations in public administration and between public administration and its stakeholders. The external relationships include the interaction of government units and businesses (G2B, B2G), the

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relationships between government units and citizens (G2C, C2G), as well as the relationships between government units and non-government organisations (G2NGO, NGO2G). In contrast, the internal relations relate to government units (G2G) at the different levels as well as government units and their employees (G2E, E2G) (Ziemba 2012). E-government services are therefore available for different groups of citizens, businesses, non-government organisations, or public administration institutions. E-government services provide many benefits, including easier access for stakeholders – twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week – and more information of a higher quality (Nripendr et al. 2012; Axelsson, Melin, and Lindgren 2013). In the context of e-government services, fully interactive services on the web can be provided, allowing for online payments, communication through the means of call centres, SMS, and digital TV. Communication between government units uses certified emails, e-procurement, and document workflow. Among the United Nations member states in 2003, 9% of the countries did not have websites, but by 2014 they all had them (UN 2014). The development of e-government services is a continuing process which can be exemplified by co-designing e-government services for citizens. Thanks to this the services delivered can be more personalised and more convenient for citizens (Bridge 2012). E-government services can be looked at from the point of view of their delivery, diffusion, approaches, and key indicators (Arduini and Zanfei 2014). Factors that have an impact on the use of e-government services include trust, perceived usefulness, perceived relative advantage, perceived complexity, and perceived image (Lean et al. 2009). An important characteristic of e-government services that affects their use is quality, above all their availability, usability, and security (Papadomichelaki and Mentzas 2012). Examples of conceptual models for e-government service quality includes ease of use (navigation, personalisation, technical efficiency), trust (privacy, security), functionality of the interaction environment, reliability, content and appearance of information, and citizen support (interactivity). Studies have confirmed that the most important characteristics of e-government services are the following: efficiency, reliability, citizen support, and trust (Papadomichelaki and Mentzas 2012). E-government services in terms of technical artefacts can be combined with internet-based technology, some degree of interaction, connections with other information systems (e.g., back-office systems); in all this there is a need to focus on the users of technology and on accessibility and usability (Lindgren and Jansson 2013).

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E-government services are rendered at different levels of maturity, representing different levels of technological sophistication, the orientation of stakeholders, and administrative change (Reddick 2004; Andersen and Henriksen 2006; Karokola and Yngström 2009; Almarabeh and AbuAli 2010; Ziemba and Papaj 2012, 2013). The term “maturity” relates to the degree of interaction between government units and their stakeholders as well as the way government information and services are delivered electronically; it also relates to the degree of technological sophistication, formality, and optimisation of government processes. The maturity of e-government services is often identified with the maturity of e-government itself. Researchers and practitioners have developed various models to analyse and improve the maturity of e-government (Baum and Maio 2000; Beynon-Davies 2007; Irani and Love 2008; Kachwamba and Hussein 2009; Infinedo and Singh 2011). There are three groups of e-government maturity models: governmental models, holistic approach models for e-government projects, and models of e-government evolution (DongYoung and Gerald 2010; Valdés et al. 2011; Concha et al. 2012). The first group refers to models which provide a common framework to identify, describe, and assess the capabilities required to deliver services to citizens. They can be used by government agencies to identify the current maturity of their business-layer interoperability. The second group of models supports the integrated modelling of e-government services and their adjustment following digital progress in order to provide electronic services that match arising needs. Finally, the third group of models enables the assessment of the readiness of government agencies in providing e-government services to different stakeholders and at different levels of maturity (Ziemba and Papaj 2013). The maturity of e-government services can comprise four levels – presence, integration, transaction, and seamless – that describe the new interaction patterns of digital governments (Casalino 2014). These levels are connected with the complexity involved and different levels of integration. The last level of e-government services is characterised by horizontal connections among government units, vertical connections (central and local), infrastructure connections and issues, relations between governments and citizens, influences among stakeholders (government, enterprises, etc.). The United Nations, meanwhile, proposes four levels of e-government services: connected, transactional, enhanced, and emerging (UN 2014). EU countries use a five-level maturity model for e-government services, developed by Capgemini in order to assess the maturity of

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e-government sophistication in Europe (COM 2007; 2010d; Karokola, Yngström, and Smith 2012; Kim and Robinson 2012; Ziemba and Papaj 2013). It reveals the degree of technological sophistication and organisational transformation in government units. In particular, the five levels of this model reflect how businesses and citizens can interact with government units, and how government agencies can cooperate and communicate (Ziemba and Papaj 2013). The first, basic level of maturity of e-government services is that of information. This means that public administration institutions provide citizens and businesses with public information on their websites. On the second level, the stakeholders interactively communicate with the public administration institutions electronically, but it is one-sided communication. The third level is determined as a two-sided interaction. The fourth level, transactional, is associated with the possibility of performing all actions necessary to deal with the official matter in question electronically. The final, fifth level of maturity, referred to as personalisation, provides the official settlement of the matter electronically while providing a personalised service. The fifth stage of maturity was introduced in the EU in 2007. An important part of the maturity of e-government services is their integration at the state, regional, and local levels of public administration, and also between these levels. Such arrangements should be consistent with the international dimension, included in the interoperability framework, creating e-government service systems that are available to citizens and businesses from different countries (EC 2004; Ziemba 2013). The level of maturity of e-government services is examined and evaluated by measurement, during which various indicators are used. These indicators generally show the number of government services offered online on websites and the level at which they are provided (Torres, Pina, and Acerete 2005). Indicators measuring the maturity of egovernment services are the subject of research; for example, Reggi et al. (2014) present five types of indicators: input indicators, output indicators, usage indicators, impact indicators, and context indicators. The input indicators are connected with investment in the development of e-government services by public administration. Their online availability and degree of interactivity are referred to as the output indicators. In turn, the actual adoption of e-government services is measured by the so-called usage indicators, and the effects of such adoption on public administration, citizens, enterprises, and non-profit organisations are determined by the impact indicators. The context indicators of e-government services concern ICT infrastructure and skills (Reggi et al. 2014).

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The implementation of e-government services at the highest level of maturity has become a priority issue for many countries, regions, and cities, including Poland and its many regions (voivodeships) (MSWA 2008, 2009; COM 2010; EU 2014). The benchmarking of e-government services has been systematically conducted in the EU since 2001. One of the major undertakings of the European Commission in the scope of egovernment services is the annual e-government benchmark study, carried out by Capgemini (Seri, Bianchi, and Matteucci 2014), in which the maturity levels of twenty key government services are measured and the indicator of full online availability is calculated (COM 2007; ECISM 2009; COM 2010d; EU 2014). In 2000, the European Commission recommended twenty basic egovernment services, including twelve services for citizens and eight for businesses (COM 1999) which should be available online at a minimum of the fourth, transactional, level of maturity in the EU countries by 2005. In Poland in 2010, this availability level was 79%, while the EU average was 82%, with an average of 100% for all twenty e-government services for the five EU countries that are the leaders in this category, namely Italy, Malta, Austria, Portugal, and Sweden (COM 2010d). In 2007, the indicator was 25% in Poland, while the EU average was 59%. Thus, there has been a significant increase in the quality of e-government services in Poland (MSWA 2008). In 2014, user-centricity, the new criterion for assessing e-government services, was introduced, which included online usability and online availability; its overall score for the twenty-eight countries of the EU was 70%. Poland achieved a score of between 50% and 75% (EU 2014). EU plans in the field of e-government services are set out in The European E-Government Action Plan 2011–2015. They assume, inter alia, that 50% of EU citizens and 80% of companies will use e-government services by 2015 (COM 2010b). These plans are part of the activities to support the European Commission in the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy (COM 2010), whose pillars are the new knowledge-based economy and information societies (Drljaþa and Latinoviü 2012). The flagship initiative in the strategy framework is “A Digital Agenda for Europe,” which emphasises the development of high-speed internet and brings about the advantages of a unified digital market for citizens and enterprises (COM 2010a).

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4.2.4 E-Democracy Citizens are very actively involved in building the SIS, as they can build relationships with public administration through participation in the governance process. Citizen engagement, public participation, and collaborative citizenship are the essence of democratising public administration (Smith 2010; Karkhin and Calhan 2012). Interoperability between public administration and citizens is evolving from perceiving citizens as subjects, voters, consumers, or partners to regarding them as owners (Vigoda 2002). Cooperation between citizens and public administration can be based on communication or consultation with citizens and citizen participation in political decision-making. Communication is the transfer of public information by the public administration to citizens. During the consultation, citizens have the opportunity to express their views or opinions on public affairs. Participation is defined as the involvement of citizens as partners in the decision-making process in public administration (OECD 2003). Citizens are treated more on an organisational basis than personally (Karkhin and Calhan 2012). Co-participation in political life and public administration activities can take many forms and make use of a variety of supporting tools. Citizens can identify and define problems, co-create public policies, recommend solutions, and participate in the management of public finance. This can be done by creating a participatory budget, with the use of surveys, citizen panels, websites, and citizen forums, as well as during the work of consultative committees (Pröhl and Heichlinger 2009, 39). In co-participation in governance processes, citizens often use a variety of ICTs. The use of ICTs to enhance democratic structures, political processes, and policy choices is termed e-democracy (Coleman and Norris 2005; Lee, Chang, and Berry 2011). The use of ICTs is based intimately on notions of the virtual city and the dissemination of information virtually over the internet (Hudson-Smith, Evans, and Batty 2005). E-democracy means the use of the internet and government websites to promote and enhance citizen engagement with and participation in governmental activities, programmes, and decision-making (Norris and Reddick 2013). This may take the form of conversation, mobilisation, information consumption, information production, and activity on social networking sites (Nam 2011). The increasing value of and demand for government information causes an increase in the importance of e-democracy and its use of the latest ICTs, especially social media (Neumann and Guthrie 2004). Public administration stakeholders are increasingly using Web 2.0 in order to communicate directly with various government units. Some

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researchers show the importance of the so-called smart e-government, which means the provision of customised information to citizens and enterprises with the use of ICTs, especially Web 3.0 (Seang-Tae Kim 2013). The term e-democracy can also be understood under the synonyms e-participation, virtual democracy, teledemocracy, digital democracy, or cyber democracy (Norris and Reddick 2013). The United Nations identifies e-democracy with e-participation, and distinguishes three stages: e-information, e-consultation, and e-decision making (UN 2014). E-participation uses ICTs, particularly internet tools, in a variety of ways to create and improve the interaction between citizens and public administration, as well as among citizens: they can be used to provide citizens with information by governments (e-information sharing), interact with stakeholders (e-consultation), and engage stakeholders in decisionmaking processes (e-decision making) (Seri, Bianchi, and Matteucci 2014). For example, e-consultation usually takes place through social media tools, online forums, online polls, voting tools, or petition tools (UN 2014). The use of social media in e-participation is universally growing in importance, which can be exemplified by the fact that they were only used in twenty-one countries in 2010, but in 118 countries in 2014 (UN 2014). Päivärinta and Sæbø (2006) suggest four models of e-democracy, which are distinguished depending on the role government units and citizens play in it, as well as approaches to ICT use. These are: x Liberal democracy. ICTs seek to increase the amount and enhance the quality of information exchange between government and citizens. Government (politicians and officers) sets the agenda, and citizens mainly implicitly participate in decision-making processes. x Partisan democracy. ICTs seek to gain visibility for different political expressions, unhindered by political elites. Citizens set the agenda and mainly implicitly participate in decision-making processes. x Deliberative democracy. ICTs are developed to enhance citizen participation and involvement in decision-making processes. Government (politicians and officers) sets the agenda, and citizens have a clearly outlined role in decision-making processes. x Direct democracy. ICTs are a vital precondition for democracy to facilitate coordination among decision makers. Citizens set the agenda and have a clearly outlined role in decision-making processes (Päivärinta and Sæbø 2006).

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E-democracy, and the cooperation of citizens and government within its framework, can take many forms (Mahrer and Krimmer 2005): public discussion, for example parliament information systems, chat or discussion boards with legislators, or online public consultation; formal decision-making, including parliament information systems, online petitions, online popular initiatives, or online referenda; implementation and execution, such as legal information systems and online citizen feedback; and elections, for instance electee programme information systems, chat or discussion boards with the participation of politicians, online election stock markets, or online voting. The adoption of e-democracy is determined by many factors. Among the principal barriers to progress are a lack of funding supporting e-democracy applications, and a lack of perceived demand for e-democracy (Norris and Reddick 2013).

4.2.5 E-Governance E-government is often understood as e-governance, through which the introduced reforms increase the efficiency of public administration (Heejoon Song 2010; Kudo 2010). E-governance means the use of ICTs to improve the ability of public administration to address the needs of society (UN 2008; Dawes 2009; Sharma, Mishra, and Mishara 2011; UNESCO 2011). In a narrower view, e-governance is associated with participation (D’Agostino et al. 2011), but it is also regarded as an innovation management process in public administration (Potnis 2010; Qian 2011). E-governance is also associated with e-regulation and e-democracy (Al Athmay 2013). However, the main domain of e-governance is the establishment and operation of public administration and its stakeholders’ networks. The involvement of citizens in collaboration with public administration and networking is part of e-governance (Yu-Che and Jun-Yi 2009). Moreover, e-governance is also a relationship stemming from cooperation and competition between public and private organisations in a sociocybernetic, horizontal, and interorganisational system of actors (Acevedo and Common 2006). The improvement of public administration relationships with citizens and enterprises through better delivery of its services is based on the use of ICTs (Dawes 2008; Al Athmay 2013). E-governance is usually founded on horizontal and participatory relationships with internet-based social networks (Castells 2000; Wellman 2001). It should lead to “smart” public administration, standing for simple, moral, accountable, responsive, and transparent government (Singh 2002).

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Global public policy networks can be pointed out as examples of networks aimed at modernising public administration. There are ninetyone organisations in this network, divided into a framework of four tiers. The first tier includes international governmental organisations such as the EU or the OECD. The second tier consists of bilateral aid agencies, for example the German Aid Agency (GTZ) or the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The third tier is composed of NGOs, institutes, and foundations such as the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) and the Institute on Governance (IOG). The final, fourth tier includes professional associations like the European Group of Public Administration (EGPA) and the International Public Management Network (IPMN) (McNutt and Pal 2011). The basis of e-governance adoption is formed by the patterns and principles of behaviour in the SIS. These are: accountability, transparency, participation, equity, promotion of the rule of law, and decentralisation (Calista and Melitski 2007; UN 2010; D’Agostino et al. 2011). Their use in inter-organisational networks, which are the foundation of e-governance, is important (Bannister and Connolly 2012). The success of e-governance is based on the transition from a passive to an active sustainable information society, creating collaborative networks and getting involved in policy (Al Athmay 2013).

4.2.6 E-Government in Poland The development process of e-government in Poland is defined by strategic documents prepared at both the central and regional levels, which refer to the EU documents for the strategic planning of the building of e-government (COM 1999, 2001b, 2003, 2006, 2010a, 2010b). The launch of the development of e-government in Poland can be identified at the beginning of the 2000s, when a document entitled ePoland: An action plan for the development of the information society in Poland in 2001– 2006 was created (MG 2001). In 2004, the efforts in the development of e-government were crowned by another planning document, entitled Action plan for the development of electronic government (e-government) for the years 2005 to 2006 (MNI 2004). This document described the legal framework for e-government and assessed the current level of its development. It also set out the strategic guidelines for developing e-government in the coming few years, and indicated projects to be implemented by Polish government units. Another important document defining the directions of e-government development was Strategy of development of information society in Poland until 2013 (MSWA 2008).

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This strategy takes into account the priorities of European policy in the field of information society, arising from the Lisbon Strategy and the strategic documents eEurope: An Information Society for All and i2010: A European Information Society for Growth and Employment (Ziemba 2012). The use of ICTs was indicated as one of the priorities for future work in terms of rebuilding government processes and providing government services electronically for all government stakeholders (employees, citizens, and enterprises). A current strategic document regulating the development of e-government in Poland is Efficient state strategy in 2020 (RM 2013). The framework of e-government for 2013–2020 is also set out in the document The state of integrated computerisation (MAC 2013). The strategic goals of this programme are defined as follows: to increase the supply of highquality government services in Poland, and to raise the level of e-government usage by all government stakeholders. In order to reach these objectives, appropriate competencies of e-government stakeholders are needed. Furthermore, e-government adoption is examined annually in Poland by the Ministry of Administration and Digitisation (MAC), which analyses the impact of digitisation on the functioning of public administration in Poland (MAC 2012, 2013b). In the period 2014–2020, the scheme “Operational Programme Digital Poland” is being implemented, in which an increase in the availability and quality of e-government services and an improvement in the efficiency of digital agencies are anticipated, among other changes (MAC 2015). At the regional level, on the other hand, strategies for the development of the information society are being undertaken, including provisions relating to the development of e-government (SWS 2009). These provisions are then detailed at the level of local public administration and adapted to its needs. However, this is still a relatively rare action. In summary, the successful adoption of e-government means successful implementation of ICTs for e-administration, e-government services, e-democracy, and e-governance. Moreover, their usage by all government stakeholders, including government employees, citizens, and enterprises, is needed. These issues must be identified and various obstacles overcome in order to carry out the transformation from traditional government to e-government. In addition, the “best practices” of e-government are helpful for developing e-government.

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4.3 Methodology of Research on Critical Success Factors for and Level of E-government Adoption 4.3.1 Research Questions and Steps of Research Methodology The methodology for identifying CSFs for and the level of e-government adoption by public administration should give the answers to the following research questions: x What is the framework of CSFs for the adoption of e-government by public administration? x What are the CSFs for e-government adoption by government units in reality, in Poland? x What is the level of e-government adoption by government units in reality, in Poland? The answers to these questions required a multi-step approach. The research method included a critical review of literature, the Delphi method, brainstorming, collaboration, logical reasoning (deductive and inductive), and statistical analysis. The following steps were taken: 1) Identifying CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration based on the existing studies; 2) Defining the prototype framework of CSFs for e-government adoption; 3) Verifying the prototype framework of CSFs for e-government adoption; 4) Evaluating the prototype framework of CSFs for e-government adoption; 5) Creating the final framework of CSFs for e-government adoption; 6) Creating the set of questions about the level of e-government adoption; 7) Creating the survey questionnaire; 8) Defining the sample and the sample size; 9) Collecting the data on the CSFs and the level of e-government adoption by public administration; 10) Identifying CSFs for the adoption of e-government by public administration; and 11) Evaluating the level of e-government adoption by public administration.

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The first six steps led to the final framework of CSFs for and the set of questions about the level of e-government adoption by government units. The next five steps gave the CSFs for and the level of e-government adoption by government units in Poland. Step 1: Identifying CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration based on the existing studies A review of the literature was carried out to identify existing CSFs for the adoption of e-government, which began with five bibliographic databases: Ebsco, ProQuest, Emerald Management Plus, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Scopus. Open access papers and empirical studies were also analysed. The search was conducted using a relevant set of keywords and phrases such as “critical success factors,” “CSFs,” “e-government,” “electronic government,” “success factors,” “success,” in all possible permutations and combinations (taking into consideration the logical AND and OR as appropriate). In addition, some dedicated journals of e-government research were also explored, especially Government Information Quarterly (GIQ), Transforming Government: People, Process, and Policy (TGPPP), Electronic Government: an International Journal (EGIJ), Journal of Global Information Technology Management (JGITM), The Electronic Journal of e-Government (EJEG), Journal of US–China Public Administration, Canadian Journal of Administrative Science, Business Process Management Journal, Business Strategy Series (BSS), European Journal of Scientific Research, The Southern African Journal of Information and Communication, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Issues in Information Systems (IIS), and the Journal of Computer Information Systems (JCIS). Step 2: Defining the prototype framework of CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration Two goals were set for the second step, the first to compare the CSFs identified in the literature to the Polish reality, and the second to define the prototype framework of CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration. Therefore, CSFs in the Silesian Voivodeship were indicated on the basis of collaboration with the Silesian Centre of Information Society in Katowice, especially while working on the strategy for information society development in the Silesian Voivodeship. The

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prototype set of CSFs was determined after brainstorming sessions and logical reasoning. The factors distinguished were associated with the appropriate dimensions (economic, socio-cultural, technological, organisational) and stages of e-government adoption (e-government access, e-government competences, and e-government use). Step 3: Verifying the prototype framework of CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration Applying the Delphi method, the framework of CSFs was evaluated and further developed. The Delphi process was conducted as a series of rounds. The forty-six prototype CSFs were examined and verified through the Delphi study in which twenty-two experts participated, who were selected to combine the knowledge and experience of scholars, researchers, and practitioners. The group of experts was composed of sixteen employees of the local and state government who are responsible for e-government in Poland, and six professors of Polish universities who conduct studies and empirical research on e-government (Table 4.1). Purposive sampling of experts for the Delphi round was applied: that is, employees of government units having a governmental background in e-government subjects were chosen. Government experts were managers and top managers. Researchers were selected based on their empirical experience and ongoing scientific research in the field of e-government. In the early rounds four experts participated, while in the last round all twenty-two experts participated in the Delphi study. In every round, each expert filled in a questionnaire which was delivered to a researcher who gathered, organised, and gave every expert back an account of the standpoint of the whole group and the expert’s own opinion. A summary of opinions expressed by each expert made them aware of the range of positions and the reasons underlying those positions. The result of the Delphi study was a reduction in the number of factors from forty-six to forty-four. The result of the Delphi study was the verification of the set of CSFs and the assignment of all factors to the identified dimensions and stages of e-government.

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Table 4.1. The Delphi study experts No.

Title

1.

Minister Counsellor

2.

Deputy Director for European Affairs

3.

Director

4.

IT Team Manager

5.

SEKAP Project Coordinator

6.

Deputy Director

7.

8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

13.

14. 15.

16.

Design and Development of E-government Services Specialist Head of IT Department Head of IT Department Junior Inspector of IT Department Chief Specialist – coordinator of office IT services Head of IT Department Representative of the President for the Promotion of Innovativeness IT Team Manager Head of IT Department Inspector of Information Technology and Telecommunications

Government sector State government State government State government Local government Local government Local government

Government unit The Ministry of Administration and Digitisation Centre for Health Information Systems Statistical Office, Szczecin Marshal’s Office Silesian Voivodeship Marshal’s Office Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Centre for the Information Society

Local government

Silesian Centre for the Information Society

Local government Local government Local government

Dąbrowa Górnicza City Hall Jaworzno City Hall Jaworzno City Hall

Local government

Kalisz City Hall

Local government

Katowice City Hall

Local government

Katowice City Hall

Local government Local government Local government

Mysáowice City Hall Zawiercie District Office

ĩywiec City Hall

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Title

Government sector

17.

Professor

University

18.

Professor

University

19.

Professor

University

20.

Professor

University

21.

Professor

University

22.

Professor

University

233

Government unit Warsaw School of Economics Warsaw School of Economics Poznan University of Economics University of Economics in Katowice University of Economics in Katowice University of Economics in Katowice

Step 4: Evaluating the prototype framework of CSFs for ICT adoption by public administration The experts evaluated the strength of the influence of particular factors on e-government. They had to answer the question: “On a scale of 1 to 5, state to what extent do you agree that the following factors influence the e-government adoption by your government unit?” A five-point Likert scale was used in the evaluation, as follows: 1 – disagree strongly, 2 – disagree, 3 – neither agree nor disagree, 4 – agree, and 5 – agree strongly. The collected data was analysed statistically in order to verify and evaluate the framework of CSFs. SPSS for Windows and STATISTICA were utilised to show the descriptive statistics of the CSFs. The following statistical measures were employed: min, max, mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. To conduct reliability analysis, Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was applied. Step 5: Creating the final framework of CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration Through the statistical analysis conducted at step 4, the final framework of CSFs was created. This framework also took into account some changes proposed by the experts. The changes mainly involved assigning some factors to the dimensions and stages, adding new factors to the framework, and dividing or replacing some factors by others. Eventually, the framework of CSFs included fifty-five factors influencing the adoption of e-government by public administration.

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Step 6: Creating the set of questions about the level of e-government adoption by public administration The set of questions for measuring the level of e-government adoption by public administration was defined at this step. For each CSF, at least one question about the e-government adoption level was determined. Four experts participated in this step. The research methods included a review of literature, brainstorming, and logical reasoning. Step 7: Creating the survey questionnaire At this step, the survey questionnaire was developed which contained the six sections described in section 1.5.2: x Respondents were invited to participate in the research on egovernment adoption by public administration. x Definitions and explanations of the main terms used in the questionnaire, i.e. e-government, e-government services, ICTs, hardware, networks, and telecommunications were provided. x The third section examined the government unit’s non-personal characteristics, comprising type of government unit, geographical location, and staff members. At the end of this section respondents could provide their e-mail address to receive the findings of the study. x The aim of the fourth section was to examine the fifty-five factors and to show a couple of factors primarily influencing a successful adoption of e-government. The set of CSFs was provided, with a five-point Likert scale for evaluating the strength of their influence on e-government adoption by the government unit. x The set of questions with a five-point Likert scale and a three-point scale (“Yes,” “No,” or “Neither yes nor no”) to evaluate the level of e-government adoption by the government unit was provided. x The respondents were acknowledged for taking part in the study. Applying the CAWI method and employing the SurveyMonkey platform, the survey questionnaire was uploaded to the website. Then, the pilot study was conducted to verify the web survey questionnaire. In the pilot studies, six experts who participated in step 4 examined this web survey questionnaire. Finishing touches were put into it, especially of a formal and technical nature. No substantive amendments were required.

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Step 8: Defining the sample and the sample size After creating the final survey questionnaire, the sample size was defined. The sample group included internal stakeholders of e-government, including government employees working in selected government units at the state and the local level of government. In order to reach the biggest group of respondents and to obtain representative results, the research team closely cooperated with the Ministry of Administration and Digitisation of Poland (MAC) and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland (CPM). As a result of this cooperation a suitable address database of Polish local and state government units was drawn up, using Microsoft Excel software for this purpose. The actual research sample was composed of 2,711 government units, comprising 2,268 local government units and 443 state government units, which corresponded to 81% of the whole local government and 82% of purposive sampling of government units at the state level, respectively. Step 9: Collection of data on the CSFs and the level of e-government adoption by public administration At this step, the research team worked very closely with the MAC and the CPM. The Deputy Minister of the MAC personally signed an official letter supporting and promoting the conducted research. The official letter with a hyperlink to the web survey questionnaire was sent to the prepared e-mail database listings. Government electronic inboxes were used for this purpose. In addition, the information on the conducted research was posted on the CPM website, and its bulletin (CPM 2013) extended the invitation to the state government units to participate in the research. The bulletin was electronically sent to the respondents by the CPM. As a result of the above activities, information about the study was sent to 2,268 local government units and 443 state government units. In the case of doubts, the respondents asked questions via e-mail or mobile. Explanations were provided on an ongoing basis by an appointed person whose contact data was included in the first section of the survey questionnaire. Data collection occurred between 22 December 2013 and 15 April 2014. The number of completed questionnaires was systematically controlled. In the case of a lack of any feedback, reminder notices were sent to appropriate respondents. Over a four-month period of intense work, we obtained a set of 409 correct and complete responses in digital format (a response rate of 15.08%). Of the responses, 356 were collected from the

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local government (a response rate of 15.69%), and 53 from the state government (a response rate of 11.96%). The data was stored in two data formats: SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Step 10: Identifying CSFs for the adoption of e-government by public administration As the process of collecting data on CSFs was completed, and before passing on to detailed statistical analyses, its reliability was calculated to examine the internal consistency among items on the scale. For this Cronbach’s alpha (Į) was used. After that the min, max, mean (M), median (Mdn), mode (Mo), standard deviation (SD), and coefficient of variation (CV) were used to identify the CSFs for the adoption of e-government by public administration. Step 11: Evaluating the level of e-government adoption by public administration The frequencies and percentages of the answers were used to identify the level of e-government adoption by public administration. This is presented in the context of the ten defined CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration.

4.3.2 Details of the Final Sample During the research 409 responses were gathered from respondents who expressed their thoughts about the CSFs for and the level of e-government adoption. Only one respondent from each government unit expressed their opinion about e-government adoption. Descriptive analysis was undertaken to examine the characteristics of the sample and the data generated through the responses. The summarised features of the respondent profile and related data are laid out in Table 4.2. The respondents were diverse as regards their characteristics, including type of public administration unit and number of employees.

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Table 4.2. Details about the research respondents (N=409) Characteristics

Frequency

Type of public administration units State administration unit 8 Ministry 3 Voivodeship Office 6 Combined administration unit 27 Non-combined administration unit 11 Other state administration unit 6 61 State government total Marshal’s Office 5 District Governor’s Office 55 Municipality Office with District Rights 14 Municipality Office 37 Urban-Rural Commune Office 65 Rural Commune Office 172 348 Local government total Number of employees of public administration units up to 50 180 50–100 77 100–200 46 200–500 20 over 500 19 n/a 67

Percentage 1.96% 0.73% 1.47% 6.60% 2.69% 1.47% 14.91% 1.22% 13.45% 3.42% 9.05% 15.89% 42.05% 85.09% 44.01% 18.83% 11.25% 4.89% 4.65% 16.38%

As indicated, 348 (85.09%) government units were from the local government, and 61 (14.91%) were from the state government. With regard to the number of employees, the highest number of government units employed up to fifty employees (180, or 44.01%), while the number of government units with over 500 employees was the lowest (19, or 4.65%).

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4.4 Critical Success Factors for E-Government Adoption 4.4.1 Reliability and Validity Tests The results of the reliability analysis are presented in Fig. 4.1 and Table 4.3. Cronbach’s alpha for each construct is no lower than 0.900, which places it in the excellent range. Moreover, the removal of some constructs would not lead to improvement of internal consistency among constructs on the scale. The removal of one construct would only lead to a minimal improvement in Cronbach’s alpha, i.e. X2 – changes of 0.000408, X24 – changes of 0.000226, X26 – changes of 0.000893, X42 – changes of 0.001308 (Fig. 4.1). In addition, Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension and stage is between 0.797 and 0.887, i.e. it is high (Table 4.3). Overall, since all the reliability values are above 0.700, these constructs report good reliability and the measurements see good internal consistency. 0.943

0.942

0.941

0.940

0.939

0.938

0.937

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 Cronbach's alpha when item deleted

Figure 4.1. Cronbach’s alpha for each construct

Cronbach alpha for all items

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Table 4.3. Cronbach’s alpha for each dimension and stage Number of items

Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient

Economic

12

0.797

Socio-cultural

9

0.807

Technological

14

0.819

Organisational

20

0.874

Total dimensions

55

0.941

ICT access (supply)

23

0.854

ICT competences

10

0.821

ICT use (demand)

22

0.887

Total stages

55

0.941

Dimensions/Stages

Additionally, the variability of constructs was examined (Tables 4.1 to 4.7). The coefficient of variation stays in the range from 14.69% to 35.40%, and all factors have enough variability to be useful (above 10%). These findings show that all identified factors affect e-government.

4.4.2 Framework of Critical Success Factors for E-Government Adoption by Public Administration The conducted research allowed for proposing the final framework of CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration. It includes fifty-five factors. Tables 4.4 to 4.7 contain the names of these factors and their categories. The factors are classified into four main dimensions: economic, social-cultural, technological, and organisational. Moreover, they are related to supply and demand of ICTs, as well as the ICT competences of government unit personnel management and employees. The factors play different roles in e-government adoption, from great importance to small importance. Statistics related to the identified factors are presented in Tables 4.4 to 4.7. The calculated means for fifty-five factors are in the range from 3.30 to 4.55, using a five-point Likert scale. The means of thirty-two factors exceed 4.00. For seven factors the medians achieve the highest value (namely 5) and the means for those factors are higher than the means for the other factors (namely in the range from 4.40 to 4.55). Tables 4.4 to 4.7 show the ranking of all factors, and the extracted factors are discussed in the following subsections.

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Economic factors related to e-government adoption by public administration This group of factors includes economic issues connected with the economic accessibility of ICTs, the competences related to the adoption of e-government, and ICT usage by public administration (Table 4.4). Of paramount importance are public outlay on hardware, networks, and telecommunications, together with the financial situation of government units, among other factors. These two critical factors are described in section 4.4.3.

X1

X2 X3 X4

X5

X6

X7

X8

X9

N

M

Stage: ICT access Public outlay on hardware, networks and 409 1 5 4.52 telecommunications Private outlay on hardware, networks and 408 1 5 3.42 telecommunications Competition in the ICT market 406 1 5 3.82 Public outlay on front- and back-office information 409 1 5 4.19 systems, especially e-government services Financial situation of 409 2 5 4.55 government units Stage: ICT competences Public and private outlay on ICT education for 409 1 5 4.02 management personnel Public and private outlay on ICT education for government 407 1 5 3.94 employees Outlay on creating ICT competence centre 407 1 5 3.70 government units Stage: ICT use Economic benefits coming from ICT usage in government 408 2 5 3.82 units

Mdn

Critical success factor

Max

No.

Min

Table 4.4. Economic success factors for e-government adoption SD

CV

5

0.70

15.41%

3

1.10

32.05%

4

0.97

25.42%

4

0.88

20.96%

5

0.72

15.74%

4

0.82

20.46%

4

0.84

21.20%

4

0.88

23.67%

4

0.82

21.51%

N

Economic risk of ICT X10 implementation in government 408 1 units Public outlay on ICT X11 406 1 promotion in government units Differentiation of e-government service charges 408 1 X12 due to ways of processing – electronic or paper

M

Mdn

Critical success factor

Max

No.

Min

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CV

5

3.34

3

0.86

25.59%

5

3.72

4

0.89

24.01%

5

3.79

4

0.97

25.69%

Public and private financial outlay on ICTs and ICT competences influences the successful adoption of e-government by public administration. Public outlay includes state and local government expenditure on front- and back-office information systems (especially e-government services and education for management personnel and employees), and also on creating ICT competence centre government units. Another factor is public outlay on ICT promotion in government units. The level of private outlay on ICT education for management personnel and government employees is connected with people’s personal expenditure, and this was identified in section 2.5.1. Private outlay on hardware, networks, and telecommunications embraces expenditure on the part of enterprises. Other factors affecting the adoption of e-government relate to the level of competition in the ICT market. This competition leads to an increase in the quality of e-government services and a decrease in the cost of ICTs, making them more accessible for government units. Economic benefits are another factor stemming from ICT usage in government units. These are mainly connected with cost reduction due to the digitisation of government services and more rapid access to information. In addition, a differentiation of e-government service charges due to ways of processing (electronic or paper) is conducive to e-government adoption. The least important economic factor influencing e-government adoption is the economic risk of ICT implementation in government units. Technological factors related to e-government adoption by public administration This research confirmed that technological factors affect e-government adoption (Table 4.5). Foremost among these are the ICT competences of

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government employees, the integration of front- and back-office information systems, the quality of e-government services, and information security in government units. They are described in section 4.4.3. Factors affecting e-government adoption also relate to the maturity of ICTs, especially e-government services delivered by government units. E-government services can be delivered at the five levels of maturity described in section 2.4.2. The highest levels of maturity often require the interoperability of information systems in government units, and standardisation of ICTs.

X23 X24 X25 X26

N

M

Stage: ICT access Innovative hardware and 408 1 5 4.16 networks in government units Innovative e-government 407 1 5 4.09 services Open source software licences 408 1 5 4.03 Standardised ICTs for 406 2 5 4.10 government units Dedicated (personalised) ICTs 408 1 5 3.69 for government units Stage: ICT competences

Mdn

X22

Critical success factor

Max

No.

Min

Table 4.5. Technological success factors for e-government adoption

SD

CV

4

0.82

19.66%

4

0.83

20.38%

4

1.01

24.92%

4

0.87

21.26%

4

1.04

28.24%

X27

ICT leadership and visionaries in government units

408 1

5

3.86

4

0.93

24.07%

X28

ICT competences of government employees

406 2

5

4.41

4

0.65

14.70%

407 2

5

4.50

5

0.66

14.69%

404 1

5

4.23

4

0.80

18.98%

408 1

5

4.31

4

0.80

18.59%

408 2

5

4.40

5

0.77

17.60%

Stage: ICT use Integration of front- and X29 back-office information systems Interoperability of information X30 systems in government units Quality of e-government X31 services Information security in X32 government units

Maturity of e-government services E-government services X34 enabling e-voting E-government services enabling public consultation X35 and participating in public decision making X33

M

Mdn

Critical success factor

SD

408 2

5

4.22

4

0.75

17.74%

408 1

5

3.65

4

1.03

28.35%

408 1

5

3.71

4

0.94

25.24%

N

Min

No.

243

Max

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CV

Another factor is the extent of innovative hardware and networks in government units, for example new-generation broadband networks or mobile access devices. This is connected with the possibilities of creating innovative e-government services. Also among the technological factors influencing the adoption of e-government are the use of open source software licences, dedicated (personalised) ICTs for government units, and ICT leadership and visionaries in government units. The least important technological factors influencing e-government adoption are e-government services that enable e-voting, public consultation, and participation in public decision making. Socio-cultural factors related to e-government adoption by public administration Socio-cultural influences may also manifest themselves in attitudes towards ICT supply, demand, and competences (Table 4.6). The information culture in government units conducive to ICT use is the most important factor for the successful adoption of e-government. It is described in section 4.4.3. The other socio-cultural success factors for ICT adoption by e-government relate to different ICT competences of public administration stakeholders, including management personnel, government employees, citizens, and enterprises. An important factor is the ICT awareness of management personnel in government units; this is connected with the incentive system, promoting permanent competence improvement of government employees, especially in ICTs. The new socio-cultural competences of government employees are also necessary for achieving success in e-government adoption. The ability to work in a team or a multicultural environment, building relationships, networking, and

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knowledge sharing become the distinctive competences of government employees.

N

Mdn

Critical success factor

Max

No.

Min

Table 4.6. Socio-cultural success factors for e-government adoption

SD

CV

4

0.86

20.28%

4.22

4

0.81

19.27%

4.02

4

0.81

20.05%

M

5

4.25

5

5

Stage: ICT access ICT awareness of management 408 1 personnel in government units Citizens’ and enterprises’ X14 awareness of e-government 409 1 services Public e-services absorption by X15 stakeholders of government 409 2 units X13

Stage: ICT competences

X16

X17

X18

X19

Incentive system promoting permanent competence improvement of government employees (especially in ICTs) External expert consultancy for government units in the field of ICTs New social and cultural competences of government employees Citizens’ and enterprises’ competences to use e-government services

409 1

5

4.04

4

0.85

21.07%

409 1

5

3.75

4

0.91

24.14%

409 2

5

3.90

4

0.81

20.73%

408 1

5

4.07

4

0.82

20.17%

407 2

5

4.25

4

0.74

17.48 %

409 1

5

4.10

4

0.87

21.34%

Stage: ICT use Information culture in X20 government units conducive to the use of ICTs Social exclusion of workers, citizens, entrepreneurs due to X21 age, to education, to place of residence, to disability

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Among the success factors for e-government adoption, the absorption of public e-services by stakeholders of government units can also be indicated. Another important success factor is the social exclusion of workers, citizens, or entrepreneurs due to age, education, place of residence, or disability. The least important socio-cultural success factor influencing e-government adoption is external expert consultancy for government units in the field of ICTs. Organisational factors related to e-government adoption by public administration The organisational factors are listed in Table 4.7. Of paramount importance for e-government adoption are standardisation of solutions for e-government at the state level, top management support, and electronic communication between government units, among other factors. These factors are described in section 4.4.3.

409

1

5

4.03

4

0.88

21.85%

405

1

5

4.09

4

0.83

20.23%

407

1

5

3.30

3

0.87

26.28%

X39 Rule of law

408

1

5

4.11

4

0.84

20.36%

Institutional support for the X40 development of ICT infrastructure

408

1

5

4.06

4

0.85

20.94%

X41 Coopetition in the ICT market

408

1

5

3.32

3

0.86

25.90%

Corruption in the X42 implementation of ICT projects in government units

407

1

5

3.33

3

1.18

35.40%

Critical success factor

N

Min

SD

No.

Max

Mdn

Table 4.7. Organisational success factors for e-government adoption

M

CV

Stage: ICT access Coordination of public ICT investments Coordination of ICT projects X37 in government units Public–Private Partnership in X38 the field of ICTs X36

ICT benchmarking for local and state government Approved e-government X44 strategy State standardisation of X45 solutions for e-government X43

SD

CV

4

0.83

23.09%

3.64

4

0.89

24.60%

4.42

5

0.77

17.35%

5

4.13

4

0.76

18.38%

1

5

4.21

4

0.82

19.54%

408 1

5

4.40

5

0.76

17.30%

407

1

5

4.01

4

0.83

20.58%

405

1

5

3.97

4

0.80

20.16%

407

1

5

3.87

4

0.83

21.34%

407

2

5

4.43

5

0.71

16.00%

407

1

5

3.64

4

0.92

25.27%

406

1

5

3.55

4

1.02

28.73%

402

1

5

4.18

4

0.81

19.47%

Min

Critical success factor

Max

No.

Mdn

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M

1

5

3.59

1

5

408 1

5

N 408 406

Stage: ICT competences The competence of employees of government units in the X46 407 field of new management models

1

Stage: ICT use Mandatory usage of electronic X47 documents in government 408 units X48 Top management support Internal regulations of X49 government units on access to e-government services Adaptation of new X50 management models in government units Participation of employees of X51 government units in organisational changes Electronic communication X52 between government units New ways of providing work X53 by employees of government units Access for employees of government units to their X54 network resources (mobile workstation) Citizens’ and enterprises’ X55 satisfaction with using e-government services

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An important organisational factor is the mandatory usage of electronic documents in government units. This might result from implementing the internal regulations of government units on access to e-government services or systemic legal solutions at the state government level. The access for the employees of government units to their network resources (mobile workstation) requires the utilisation of electronic documents. The next factor is the level of satisfaction of citizens and enterprises with e-government services. The adaptation in government units of new management models such as process-oriented management, quality management, risk management, performance budgeting, lean offices, and lean six sigma would facilitate e-government adoption. They are described in section 4.1.4. Another factor is the rule of law in the scope of ICTs, including for example personal data protection, public procurement, and electronic signatures. Among organisational factors, the coordination of public ICT investment in state and local government is vital, as well as the coordination of ICT projects in government units. A further essential factor is institutional support for the development of ICT infrastructure, which takes the form of legal regulations, interventions of public administration institutions to determine the adequate conditions for the development of ICT infrastructure. A number of organisational factors refer to the employees of government units. Of importance is the participation of employees in organisational changes, which may refer to organisational structure, document flow, process approach, or communications. There are also the new ways for employees of government units to provide work, which may take the form of task-oriented work systems, teleworking, or flexitime. One factor is the adoption of the approved e-government strategy by a government unit, and also ICT benchmarking for local and state government. This is achieved by units comparing their own ICT solutions with those of government units regarded as leaders, but also by the adoption of best practice. The least important organisational factors influencing e-government adoption are corruption in the implementation of ICT projects in government units, coopetition in the ICT market, and public–private partnership in the field of ICTs.

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4.4.3 Critical Success Factors for E-Government Adoption in Poland The results of statistical analyses allow the validation and recommendation of the set of ten CSFs which are of greatest importance in the adoption of e-government by public administration in Poland. They include economic, technological, socio-cultural, and organisational factors connected with the technical and economic accessibility of e-government, competences and awareness related to e-government adoption, and ICT usage by e-government. Table 4.8 gives an overview of the CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration in Poland, with a focus on their ranking. They are presented in the descending order of the mean. The means of these factors are the highest of all fifty-five factors, and are equal to or greater than 4.25. Additionally, they are higher than the mean of all fifty-five factors, which is 3.98. The medians of the seven factors equal 5 and they are the highest of all fifty-five factors. The medians of the remaining three factors are 4. For all ten factors, the value that occurs most frequently in the population is 5, except for the factor X20.

X5

X1

X29

X52

X45

X28

Financial situation of government units Public outlay on hardware, networks, and telecommunications Integration of frontand back-office information systems Electronic communication between government units State standardisation of solutions for egovernment ICT competences of government employees

M

409 2

5

4.55

5 5/268

0.72

15.74%

409 1

5

4.52

5 5/253

0.70

15.41%

407 2

5

4.50

5 5/240

0.66

14.69%

407 2

5

4.43

5 5/220

0.71

16.00%

408 1

5

4.42

5 5/226

0.77

17.35%

406 2

5

4.41

4 5/195

0.65

14.70%

N

Min

Critical success factor

Max

No.

Mdn

Table 4.8. CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration Mo/ N

SD

CV

Top management support Information security X32 in government units Quality of eX31 government services Information culture in government units X20 conducive to the use of ICTs X48

M

408 1

5

4.40

5 5/219

0.76

17.30%

408 2

5

4.40

5 5/222

0.77

17.60%

408 1

5

4.31

4 5/202

0.80

18.59%

407 2

5

4.25

4 4/173

0.74

17.48%

N

Mean score of all 55 factors

Min

Critical success factor

249

Max

No.

Mdn

Public Administration in the Sustainable Information Society

Mo/ N

SD

CV

3.98

The CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration in Poland include: x Financial situation of government units: the financial capabilities of purchase, implementation, and maintenance of ICTs in government units. x Public outlay on hardware, networks, and telecommunications: for example, public subsidies from European funds for highperformance information technology and telecommunications infrastructure. x Integration of front- and back-office information systems: implemented and integrated ERP (Enterprise Resources Planning) systems, integration of the functional area information system with front-office software, as well as implementation of electronic document management system (EZD) and its integration with front- and back-office systems. x Electronic communication between government units: G2G relationships, collaboration between government units at the various level of government, interoperability of ICT systems, and utilisation of electronic inbox (ESP) in G2G communications. x State standardisation of solutions for e-government: setting various standards regarding, for example, ways of providing e-government services or e-government service description cards. x ICT competences of government employees: possession and use of ICT knowledge and skills on the part of government employees (levels of government employee competences were described in

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x

x

x

x

section 1.4.6); participation in ICT training; ICT awareness of government employees regarding their utilisation in the improvement in the functioning of government units. Top management support: the personal engagement of the top management of government units in e-government adoption and application of the new management models described in section 4.1.4; awareness of management personnel regarding the need for ICT use, in order to enhance the operation of the government unit; possession of an approved strategy for information society development and management personnel support for ICT projects and their coordination; management personnel competences in ICT utilisation and participation in ICT training. Information security in government units: ensuring the security of processed information in accordance with the applicable information security norms, and working out and applying personal data protection and information security policies. Quality of e-government services: ensuring the following quality attributes (1) usability: ease of use, for example user-friendly interface and navigation; (2) functional suitability: adjusting to the needs of government units and their customers; (3) maintainability: the possibility of adaption and development according to the changing needs of government units and their customers; (4) security: for example antivirus software, firewalls, password protection, encrypting, or encoding; (5) reliability: error-free and stable operation; (6) portability: potential utilisation in various hardware and software environments, including computers, smartphones, tablets, and Android, IOS, Windows; (7) compatibility: universality of solutions and possibility of other software compatibility. Information culture in government units conducive to the use of ICTs: employee participation in carrying out organisational changes and in the creation and improvement of e-government services, application of new management models, and application of analytical reporting systems (Business Intelligence) in government units.

The gathered data indicates that technological factors connected with ICT usage play the most critical role in e-government adoption by public administration in Poland. The mean and the median of all technological factors are the highest of the categories, and equal 4.09 and 4.14 respectively (Table 4.9). The next most critical factors are connected with

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socio-cultural issues. The mean of all socio-cultural factors is 4.07, and the median is 4.00. The organisational and economic critical factors have respective means and medians at a similar level. Table 4.9. Categories of CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration Category of critical success factor

N

Min

Max

xࡄ

Med

ı

CV

Economic

409

2.42

5.00

3.90

3.92

0.49

12.48%

Socio-cultural

409

2.33

5.00

4.07

4.00

0.52

12.79%

Technological

409

2.36

5.00

4.09

4.14

0.47

11.52%

Organisational

409

2.35

5.00

3.91

3.90

0.46

11.87%

ICT access (supply)

409

2.57

5.00

3.95

3.96

0.43

10.83%

ICT competences

409

2.20

5.00

3.98

4.00

0.52

12.94%

ICT use (demand)

409

2.55

5.00

4.01

4.05

0.46

11.58%

The identification and understanding of the success factors of e-government adoption by public administration has significance for the reliable and effective adoption of the SIS. The most important challenge to overcome in this respect is to realise that there is no single solution to fit every situation. The countries of Europe and the world are characterised by vastly different political, economic, social, and cultural contexts which require different approaches. The proposed framework of CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration is easy to adjust quickly to the new conditions.

4.5 Measuring E-government Adoption in Poland The basis for measuring e-government adoption by public administration in Poland was the CSFs identified and described in the above section. Each identified CSF was illustrated by at least one indicator describing the adoption of e-government.

252

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4.5.1 The Economic Dimensions of E-Government Adoption by Public Administration As previously outlined in section 4.4, the adoption of e-government is determined by economic factors, especially by the financial situation of government units and the public outlay on hardware, networks, and telecommunications. Fig. 4.2 shows that the ICT purchase and implementation capabilities were small or undefined. The financial capabilities for maintaining ICTs were indicated at a high level, including networks and telecommunications (32.3%) and hardware (34.2%), as well as front- and back-office information systems (27.6%). This shows that government units do not have sufficient financial means for the purchase and implementation of ICTs. The main source of funding for ICT infrastructure in government units was their own resources, which was confirmed by 67.9% of government units (Fig. 4.3). The most popular source of external financing was the Regional Operational Programmes (ROP), funded by the EU. This was supported by 32.7% of government units which assessed this source as rather high or strongly high. In addition, ICT infrastructure was also funded by the EU under the Operational Programme Human Capital (OPHC) and the Operational Programme Innovative Economy (OPIE). Small contributions to ICT infrastructure funding in government units were definitely made by public–private partnership (or PPP; as confirmed by 76.5% of respondents), bonds (77.0% of respondents), and bank loans (72.0% of respondents). This shows that the sources of ICT infrastructure funding in government units are based mainly on their own resources and EU funds.

Public Administration in the Sustainable Information Society

ICTs training of employees

2.9%

15.7%

34.6% 33.2%

13.5% 2.5%

13.7%

Change managment

Maintaining networks and telecommunications

2.5%

25.1% 33.3% 29.8%

9.4% 3.4%

31.0% 29.3% 29.1%

Maintaining hardware 7.4%

Purchase of front-and back-office information systems

1.7%

Purchase of networks and telecommunications

Rather high Neither high nor low

3.2%

2.0%

Strongly high

28.9% 29.4% 29.7%

8.6%

Implementation of frontand back-office information systems

40.2%

31.9%

11.8% Maintaining front-and back-office information systems

15.0%

29.0%

16.0% 12.8%

Rather low Strongly low

38.1%

25.1%

42.9%

17.5% 1.7%

12.3%

24.0%

43.4%

18.6% 2.5% Purchase of hardware

15.9% 20.8%

45.8%

15.0% 0.0%

253

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

Figure 4.2. Financial capabilities of ICT purchase, implementation, and maintenance by government units (N=407)

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PPP

Bonds

Bank loans

0.0% 0.3% 5.3% 0.0% 0.6% 3.6%

17.9% 76.5% 18.8% 77.0%

0.8% 0.3% 6.4%

Own financial resources

20.4% 72.0% 37.8% 30.1%

12.0% 14.0% 6.1% 1.9%

POKL

9.2%

23.0% 22.0%

3.3% 6.0% 11.3%

POIG

0.0%

20.0%

43.9%

26.1%

18.6% 14.1% 21.0% 11.2%

ROP

Strongly high Rather high Neither high nor low Rather low Strongly low

53.3%

35.1% 40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

Figure 4.3. Share of sources in ICT infrastructure funding in government units (N=367)

4.5.2 The Technological Dimensions of E-Government Adoption by Public Administration As previously outlined in section 4.4, the adoption of e-government is determined by technological factors, especially by: x x x x

the integration of front- and back-office information systems; the quality of e-government services; the information security in government units; and the ICT competences of government employees;

The integration of front- and back-office information systems in government units requires the implementation of the integrated ERP system, the integration of the functional area information system with front-office information systems, and the integration of electronic

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255

document management systems (EZD) with the existing front- and backoffice information systems. Data presented in Fig. 4.4 shows that 81.6% of government units did not implement ERP systems. Undoubtedly, this, in turn, impeded or even prevented the integration of front- and back-office information systems.

Yes

Neither yes nor no

8.1%

10.3%

No

0.0%

81.6% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0%

40.0% 50.0%

60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0%

Figure 4.4. Implementation of ERP systems in government units (N=408)

In over 75% of government units, the functional area information systems were not integrated with the front-office and EZD systems (Fig. 4.5). In 38.5% of government units, all functional area information systems were integrated. This shows that there is a big gap in the integration of front- and back-office systems in government units. Front-office and functional area information systems

EZD and functional area information systems Integration among functional area information systems

0.0%

12.3% 12.1% 75.6% Yes

9.5% 14.1%

Neither yes nor no

76.4%

No

38.5% 12.9% 48.6% 20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

Figure 4.5. Types of information system integration in government units (N=392)

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Moreover, only 30.8% of government units implemented EZD systems (Fig. 4.6). This demonstrates that work documentation in government units is still done in a traditional manner (paper or hard-copy), and that there is a need for a quick transition to e-government.

Yes

30.8%

Neither yes nor no

19.8%

No

0.0%

49.4% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 4.6. Implementation of EZD systems in government units (N=409)

The adoption of e-government by public administration is determined by the quality of e-government services. Fig. 4.7 shows how government units evaluate the quality of e-government services delivered by them. This quality is usually measured by the attributes described in section 3.4.3. A majority of government units confirmed that they implemented and delivered to people and enterprises strongly or rather high quality e-government services, including such measures of quality as the security of information and operations (66.8%), functional suitability (45.3%), and reliability (52.3%). The lowest marks were given for portability and usability: respectively, 16.7% and 13.2% of respondents evaluated them as rather or strongly low. This shows that the usability and portability of e-government should be improved. E-government services can be available at different levels of maturity, as described in section 4.2.3; the quality of e-government services is connected with their maturity levels. Government units did not provide the number of services supplied at different levels of maturity. Other studies (Ziemba and Papaj 2013) indicate that government units providing e-government services available at the third and fourth level of maturity receive the biggest number of application forms. Currently, government units in Poland do not provide e-government services at the fifth level of maturity.

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4.3%

Compatibilty

35.3%

50.8%

7.0%

2.8% 3.5%

26.9%

Portability

52.9%

12.0%

4.7% 7.5%

Reliability

44.8% 42.3%

3.3% 2.3%

Strongly high

17.9%

Security

257

48.9%

Rather high

30.3%

1.5% 1.5%

Neither high nor low Rather low

3.0%

Maintainability

30.3%

54.5%

9.5%

2.8% 3.7%

Functional suitability

41.6% 42.6%

9.2%

2.7% 3.5%

Usability 3.2% 0.0%

40.0% 43.3%

10.0% 10.0%

Strongly low

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 4.7. Quality of e-government services in government units (N=401)

The security of ICTs is one of the quality attributes related to the security of information in government units. Fig. 4.8 indicates that 90.0% of government units have worked out a personal data protection policy, while 88.2% of government units have developed an information security policy. This shows that the security of information in government units is at a high level.

88.2%

Information security policy

7.1% 4.7% Yes Neither yes nor no

90.0%

Personal data protection policy

7.4% 2.7% 0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Figure 4.8. The security of information in government units (N=408)

No

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258

ICT utilisation in government units is also influenced by the ICT competences of government employees. These are reflected in the level of competences, participation in ICT training, and the awareness of ICT utilisation needs in order to improve the functioning of government units. Fig 4.9 indicates that 36.7% of respondents evaluated the ICT competences of government employees as rather or strongly high, while 42.6% of respondents were not able to determine the competence level of employees. This shows that employees of government units have an average level of ICT application competences, probably at the ICT level described in section 1.4.6.

Strongly high

3.9%

Rather high

32.8%

Neither high nor low

42.6%

Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

17.5% 3.2% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Figure 4.9. ICT competences of government employees (N=406)

The employees of government units confirmed that they have raised their competences. They benefited most often from training on functional area information systems (65.9%), safety rules on information processing (61.9%), and e-government platforms (62.2%) (Fig. 4.10). As much as 67.4% of respondents did not use project management training in government units, which may adversely affect the implementation of these projects.

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E-government

62.2%

6.7%

31.1% 14.9% 17.7%

ICTs projects management Application of internet technology

9.7%

E-signature

74.3% 25.2%

16.8%

Management concepts and models

67.4%

16.1%

12.1%

Processes management

62.6%

24.8%

58.4%

Neither yes nor no

40.6% 19.9% 23.8%

Functional area information systems

11.1%

No 56.3% 61.9%

27.0% 65.9%

7.9%

Office applications

26.2% 42.9% 47.3%

9.9%

Electronic document management

14.4% 0.0%

Yes

47.5%

11.9%

Data collection and analysis Security of information

259

10.0%

20.0%

59.7% 26.0% 30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

Figure 4.10. Employee training associated with ICTs (N=404)

The ICT competences of government units have an impact on their awareness of ICT utilisation needs to improve the functioning of government units. Over 58% of respondents rated this awareness as strongly or rather high (Fig. 4.11). This shows that among government employees there exists a significant possibility of utilising ICTs. The ICT competences and awareness of government employees have an impact on the organisational culture of government units. Strongly high

11.9%

Rather high

46.8%

Neither high nor low

30.0%

Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

9.7% 1.7% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Figure 4.11. Employees’ awareness of the need to adopt ICTs to improve the functioning of government units (N=404)

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4.5.3 The Socio-Cultural Dimensions of E-Government Adoption by Public Administration As previously outlined in section 4.4, the adoption of e-government is determined by socio-cultural factors, especially by an information culture in government units that is conducive to the use of ICTs. Creating this culture in government is connected with: x employee participation in organisational change creation; x employee participation in creating and improving e-government services; x application of new management concepts and models; and x application of analytical-reporting systems (for example BI). One of the elements of creating an information culture is employee participation in the creation of organisational changes in government units. Fig. 4.12 shows that the employees primarily participated in the creation of organisational changes through the possibility of reporting changes (73.6%) and regular meetings with supervisors (64.1%). Competitions for improvement in government units were least frequently used in this respect; it was confirmed as a factor by 9.3% of respondents. This shows that employees do participate in the creation of organisational changes in government units. Brainstorming sessions regarding organisational changes Internal tenders for organisational changes

34.1% 21.1% 44.9% 9.3% 20.9%

Yes

69.8%

Neither yes nor no

Constant opportunity to present organisational changes

73.6%

Regular meetings with management personnel about organisational changes 0.0%

No

13.2% 13.2% 64.1% 14.9% 21.0% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

Figure 4.12. Employee participation in organisational change creation (N=401)

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The employees of government units should also be involved in the development and improvement of e-government services. Fig. 4.13 shows that in only 37.7% of government units did employees participate in the creation and improvement of e-government services. This indicates that there is a need to activate the employees in this area.

Yes

Neither yes nor no

37.7%

10.6%

No 0.0%

51.7% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 4.13. Employee participation in development and improvement of e-government services (N=406)

As previously outlined, the information culture is determined by new concepts and models of management. Among the most commonly used, the government units indicated risk management (49.7%), human resource management (42.3%), and quality management (31.1%) (Fig. 4.14). The least frequently used were the following: trust management (9.7%), networking of organisations (14.2%), and civic participation (14.8%). This shows that government units most frequently use concepts and models of management which result from legislation (for example risk management, human resources management) or where the possibility of obtaining external public funds exists for the use of concepts and models of management (as in the case of quality management). The level of ICT culture in government units can be indicated by the implementation and use of the BI system. Fig. 4.15 shows that 84.0% of government units failed to implement these systems, while in only 6.4% of units were these systems implemented. This shows that government units should schedule tasks in the implementation of BI.

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20.7%

Customer relationships management

40.9% 38.4%

14.8%

Citizens participation

42.0% 43.1%

Human resources management 9.7%

Trust management

41.9%

Risk management

48.4% 49.7%

27.5% 22.8% 36.9%

14.2%

Network organisation

Yes Neither yes nor no

20.3%

Knowledge management

42.8%

39.6%

No

46.3%

31.1% 32.1% 36.8%

Quality management 22.5%

Process management 0.0%

42.3%

33.5%

24.2%

10.0%

20.0%

37.3% 40.2%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 4.14. Management concepts and models used in government units (N=377)

Yes Neither yes nor no

6.4% 9.6%

No 0.0%

84.0% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

Figure 4.15. BI systems used in government units (N=406)

4.5.4 The Organisational Dimensions of E-Government Adoption by Public Administration As previously outlined in section 4.4, e-government adoption by public administration is determined by organisational factors, especially by: x x

state standardisation of solutions for e-government; top management support; and

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electronic communication between government units.

The development of state standardisation of solutions for e-government is one of the key factors for e-government adoption. Fig. 4.16 shows that 67.0% of respondents indicated a need for the development of state standardisation of e-government services. Such an approach could result in the improved adoption of e-government services for people and enterprises. The state standardisation of solutions for e-government could also apply to other areas, for example e-government portals (Ziemba, Papaj, and Descours 2014).

Yes

67.0%

Neither yes nor no

No 0.0%

22.5%

10.5% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

Figure 4.16. Need to work out state standardisation of e-government services (N=409)

An additional key to success in adopting e-government in government units is the support of top management. An example of this is the awareness of management personnel of the need to adopt ICTs to improve the functioning of a unit, as well as their possession of an approved strategy for information society development, and the support of management personnel for ICT projects and their coordination. The competences of management personnel in the application of ICTs and the participation of management personnel in ICT training are also important. Fig. 4.17 indicates that 69.1% of respondents rated the awareness of management personnel as rather or strongly high. This shows that there is a large management personnel awareness of the need to adopt ICTs to improve the functioning of a government unit.

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Strongly high

21.0%

Rather high

48.1%

Neither high nor low

21.0%

Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

7.9% 2.0% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 4.17. Management personnel awareness of the need to adopt ICTs (N=405)

Despite the high awareness of management personnel of the field of ICTs, 64.8% government units did not have a current information society development strategy (Fig. 4.18). Certainly, the lack of such a strategy hampers e-government adoption in particular government units.

Yes

7.7%

Neither yes nor no

27.5%

No

0.0%

64.8%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Figure 4.18. Formalised information society strategy in government units (N=403)

On the other hand, 60.1% of government units indicated that the management personnel supported ICT projects (Fig. 4.19), despite the lack of a formalised information society development strategy.

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265

60.1%

Neither yes nor no

22.2%

No

17.6%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Figure 4.19. Support of management personnel for ICT projects in government units (N=409)

The adoption of e-government in a government unit requires ICT project coordination. Most of the respondents (34.6%) claimed that they had signed a contract for joint public ICT investment at the regional level (Fig. 4.20). The lowest level of contracts signed concerned the state government (13.7%). This points to the need for the coordination of ICT investments at the state government level, using, among other things, the “Operational Programme 2014–2020 Digital Poland” and “Efficient State Strategy 2020.”

15.2% Local

25.3% 59.6% 34.6%

Regional

Yes

21.2%

Neither yes nor no

44.2%

No

13.7% State

24.3% 62.0%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Figure 4.20. Coordination of ICT projects at different levels of public administration – contracts for joint ICT projects (N=399)

Most government units (68.5%) reported that there was a designated person or team responsible for the coordination of ICT projects (Fig. 4.21). This indicates a high awareness of personnel management in the implementation of ICT projects.

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Yes

68.5%

Neither yes nor no

6.8%

No

24.7%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

Figure 4.21. ICT project coordination – ICT project team responsible for ICT adoption in government unit (N=409)

Fig. 4.22 shows that in only 38.4% of government units did management personnel have ICT competences at the rather high or high level. Therefore, there is a large competence gap among management personnel, especially with regard to ICT Enabler competences (section 1.4.6) which allow effective adoption of ICTs.

Strongly high

4.7%

Rather high

33.7%

Neither high nor low

44.0%

Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

14.3% 3.4% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Figure 4.22. Management personnel competences in ICT utilisation in government units (N=407)

Despite this competence gap in up to 47.3% of government units, management personnel did not participate in ICT training (Fig. 4.23). There is therefore a need for training in the use of ICTs among the management personnel of government units.

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Yes

267

20.3%

Neither yes nor no

32.4%

No

47.3%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Figure 4.23. Management personnel participation in ICT training (N=408)

As confirmed by the studies, the use of electronic communication between government units is another of the key factors of e-government adoption in government units. This is best illustrated by the adoption of interoperability information systems used in government units, and the adoption of electronic inbox (ESP) in G2G communications. Fig. 4.24 indicates that only 25.7% of government units rated the interoperability level of information systems as rather high or strongly high. This low level of interoperability can have an impact, leading to a small amount of correspondence being sent electronically between government units.

Strongly high

2.2%

Rather high

23.5%

Neither high nor low

50.2%

Rather low Strongly low 0.0%

19.6% 4.5% 10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Figure 4.24. Interoperability level of information systems in government units (N=404)

ESP is used for electronic communication between government units. Fig. 4.25 indicates that 88.1% of government units had an ESP system. Despite possessing ESP, however, 11.4% of government units failed to

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adopt it in practice. Government units mainly adopt ESP for receiving electronic mails (56.7%) and to respond by e-mail to incoming electronic letters (73.1%). This shows that G2G e-relations have large potential for improvement, which may result in reducing the operating costs of public administration and time spent in dealing with official matters.

Government unit does not have ESP

Government unit has ESP but it is not used

3.9% 8.1% 88.1% 11.4% 9.1% 79.5%

Yes Neither yes nor no

Government unit uses ESP to receive edocuments

8.4%

Government unit uses ESP to receive and send e-documents

8.3%

0.0%

56.7%

No

34.9% 73.1% 18.7% 20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Figure 4.25. Utilisation of electronic inbox (ESP) in G2G communications (N=352)

4.6 Implications for Adopting E-Government by Public Administration The research findings lead to the conclusion that economic, technological, socio-cultural, and organisational issues connected with the accessibility of e-government, ICT competences and awareness, and ICT usage may play direct roles in the adoption of e-government in public administration. The CSFs for e-government adoption by public administration in Poland include: x economic factors such as the financial situation of government units and the public outlay on hardware, networks, and telecommunications; x technological factors such as the ICT competences of government employees, the integration of front- and back-office information systems, the quality of e-government services, the level of information security in government units;

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x socio-cultural factors such as an information culture in government units that is conducive to the use of ICTs; and x organisational factors such as state standardisation of solutions for e-government, the support of top management, and electronic communication between government units. The findings of this study show that in Poland: x government units do not have sufficient funds to purchase ICTs and implement their adoption; x the main source of ICT infrastructure funding in government units are their own financial resources; x the most common source of external financing of ICT infrastructure in government units are regional operational programmes based on EU funds; x public–private partnerships, bonds, and credits have a low share in the ICT infrastructure funding of government units; x most government units have not implemented an integrated ERP system; x there is a large gap in the integration of existing front-office systems with back-office systems in government units; x most government units have not conducted the full implementation of the electronic document management system (EZD); x the EZD system is most often integrated with electronic inbox and front-office activities in government units; x government units place at the highest quality level those e-government services that relate to data security, operational reliability, and functionality, while their portability and usability are assessed at the lowest level; x government units have problems with the identification of the number of e-government services provided at the five maturity levels; x most government units had determined personal data protection and information security policies; x employees of government units have an average level of ICT competences; x in increasing their competences, employees of government units most often use training in functional area information systems, security policies on information processing, and e-government platforms, whereas they most rarely benefit from project management training in government units;

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x employees most often participated in the creation of organisational changes by reporting changes and regular meetings with supervisors; x about one third of employees are involved in the creation and improvement of e-government services; x the new models of management most often used in governments units are risk management, human resources management, and quality management, while the least frequently used are trust management, networking organisation, and civic participation; x most government units have not adopted business intelligence systems; x most government units still need to determine the state standardisation of e-government services; x in government units, there is a high awareness on the part of management personnel of the need for ICT adoption to improve the functioning of the government unit; x most government units do not have an effective strategy for information society development; x most government units have management personnel support for ICT projects; x most of the contracts signed for joint public investment in ICTs are at the regional level; x most government units have a person or organisational unit responsible for the coordination of ICT projects; x about one third of top managers in government units have high ICT competences; x about half of top management do not take part in ICT training; x one quarter of government units describe the interoperability level of information systems as high; x most government units possess ESP; x ESP is mainly used by government units to receive electronic mail and to reply electronically to incoming electronic mails. Furthermore, the use of the framework has implications for government practitioners undertaking empirical activities aimed at successfully and effectively adopting e-government, and at programming and implementing e-government initiatives. Government units and authorities could find answers to important contemporary questions, in particular: x What factors influence the successful adoption of e-government?

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x How are the requirements of citizens and enterprises changing towards government units? x What are the new requirements towards government units? x What competencies of government units are important for the adoption of e-government? x Which areas and operations of government units are important to achieve the most satisfactory results in the transition from traditional government to an e-government? The above discussion leads to a better understanding of the e-government adoption process by public administration in the context of the SIS. Adequately prepared public administration in respect of ICT accessibility, competences, awareness, and usage fosters the development of people and enterprises. Public administration should create the appropriate social, political, scientific, and cultural conditions for the adoption of ICTs by people and enterprises. Further, public administration should offer various ICTs, including e-government services, to make the professional and private lives of people easier and ensure people’s welfare, and also to improve the functioning of enterprises. The trends influencing public administration are discussed in this section. Attention is paid to the transition from standard government to e-government. This chapter unveils the main issues and concepts connected with e-government as they influence the main stakeholders of the SIS, for example e-administration, e-government services, e-democracy, e-governance, etc. Further, it provides a framework of CSFs for the adoption of e-government by public administration, and investigates CSFs for its adoption in Poland in particular. It then shows the level of e-government adoption by public administration in Poland in the context of the defined CSFs, thereby providing deeper insight into issues that have an influence on the success of various projects aimed at the adoption of e-government by public administration. Essentially, the successful adoption of e-government, in addition to the successful adoption of ICTs by people and business, are described in Chapters Two and Three.

CHAPTER FIVE MEASURING THE SUSTAINABLE INFORMATION SOCIETY RAFAà ĩELAZNY, EWA ZIEMBA, AND TOMASZ PAPAJ1

5.1 Theoretical Foundation for the Measurement of the Sustainable Information Society Since antiquity, people have apprehended the reality of the world in which we dwell better through numbers (UNCTAD 2003). A man searching for ways to facilitate daily life has tried to measure time, length, weight, capacity, or the exchange value of goods. In various parts of the world different measurement units were used for the same categories. Simultaneously, in many emerging scientific disciplines one could find elements connected with the measurement of the studied phenomena and processes. As a result, international measurement standards were established (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures 2014). The importance of measurement in exploring the essence of phenomena was highlighted by the prominent physicist Thomson, known as Lord Kelvin. According to him, when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the state of Science, whatever the matter may be. (Thomson 1889, 73–74)

1 Sections 5.1 to 5.4 written by Rafaá ĩelazny; section 5.5 written by Ewa Ziemba, Rafaá ĩelazny, and Tomasz Papaj.

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Also attributed to Thomson is authorship of the statement “to measure is to know,” although it is difficult to identify a suitable source confirming this assumption. Different research objects can be the subject of measurement. The precise definition of a given object determines the success of quantification. In the case of the phenomenon of the information society (IS), to date there has not been in operation a commonly accepted definition, as presented in Chapter One. According to Webster (2006, 21): “Reviewing these varying definitions of the information society, what becomes clear is that they are either underdeveloped or imprecise or both.” This has specific consequences for the undertaken attempts to measure phenomena within the frame of a category, which can be understood in various ways (Ziemba and ĩelazny 2013). A lack of a clear IS definition is due to a large extent to objective reasons. These include the wide range and high complexity of the term “information society,” rapid technological progress in ICTs, problems with denominating the components of ICTs precisely, and difficulty in defining the category of “information” and clarifying the relationship between information and knowledge. These problems and difficulties are greater in the case of the SIS, which by its nature is more complex than the IS. The SIS measurement process should consist of the following stages: x defining a research object; x defining the main components of the research object, the relations between them, and factors influencing these components and relations; and x identifying a set of quantitative and/or qualitative data describing the research object. The first stage of a measurement process of any phenomenon should be defining the universe to be measured (Menou and Taylor 2006). For the SIS measurement, first and foremost the term “sustainable information society” should be defined as a research object, together with the basic concepts associated with it, including information, ICTs, knowledge, society, sustainable society, and sustainable. In the second stage of SIS measurement, the main components of the research object must be identified, together with the nature of the relationship between them and the factors that affect the individual subjects and determine the nature of the relationship. Societies can be characterised and analysed as complex systems within the framework of general system theory (Soper et al. 2012). The society system consists of

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the combination of subsystems. Among them, the most frequently indicated are economic, political, and cultural subsystems (Leipold 1988; Soper et al. 2012). All of them should be examined holistically, viewing them as a whole whose parts are all connected and react with each other. This arrangement of relationships is penetrated horizontally by ICTs, creating a network of interdependence that was previously absent (ĩelazny 2015a). The key components of sustainable information were identified and described in Chapter One. They are SIS stakeholders, ICTs, information and knowledge, emerging trends, competences, and patterns of behaviour. These components are determined by the critical success factors (CSFs) explored in sections 1.5, 2.4, 3.4, and 4.4. An appropriate theoretical framework is indispensable both at the stage of defining basic concepts and in identifying the main components and the relationships between them. The emergence of new categories and events cannot always be explained on the basis of existing theoretical knowledge. It is, therefore, necessary to create new conceptual categories, which will allow them to be measured (Aghion and Howitt 1998). According to Menou and Taylor (2006, 264), it is necessary “to test those theories that seem more relevant and promising, and to elaborate new versions or even new theories so as to iteratively arrive at the most articulate model possible.” An example of this approach is an attempt to identify the nature and measurement of information using an analogy of the physical sciences. Newton’s continuum leads to statistical approaches which enable useful things to be said about “information” in the economy. The information in the dimension as a thing (i.e. quantum information) will lead to theories about the fundamental nature of things and to a deeper understanding of the applications of quantum information (Taylor 2006). Studies on the measurement of the information society should, however, essentially be carried out under social theory, not by using a physical analogy. This was highlighted by Menou (1985), who argued that the first basic distinction could be made between studies of a physical character and studies of a social one. The need to place information society measurement in a social theory context and to reduce the importance of the technology-driven approach is raised by many theorists (Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt 2006; MacKay 1995; Mansell and When 1998). According to Layder (1997), society should be studied and understood within four analytical domains, namely psychobiography, situated activity, social settings, and contextual resources. Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt (2006, 303), on the other hand, suggests that “measurements from all four domains are necessary for understanding the complexity of informationsociety related issues.” Taking into consideration social and cultural

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dimensions in measuring the information society is referred to as a context-sensitive approach. In the social sciences, and in the economic sciences specifically, many new trends are currently being developed which study different aspects of measuring the information society, information economy, or knowledge-based economy (OECD 2002; World Bank 2014; ĩelazny 2012; ĩelazny 2015). The third stage in the process of measuring the SIS is to identify the dataset describing the identified research object, the sustainable information society. Based on conducted theoretical analyses, which indicated the main components of the object, the relationship between the components, and the factors determining certain relationships, all the components of a sustainable information society by means of quantitative and/or qualitative indicators should be described. It is worthwhile remembering here that there is no agreed comprehensive statistical framework for the information society (OECD 2009, 2011). Information society statistics represents a vast area, as it encompasses the supply and demand sides, people, businesses and governments, and both microeconomic and macroeconomic perspectives (UNCTAD 2003). In the approach proposed by the OECD (2009, 2011) known as the “information society statistics conceptual model,” the following components were indicated: ICT supply (producers and production), ICT demand (users and uses), ICT infrastructure, ICT products, and “content.” According to the OECD (2011, 16), the ICT supply component “deals with the supply side of ICT, namely the ICT sector, its impacts, other ICTproducing entities, and ICT patenting activity.” ICT demand describes the OECD model’s survey of ICT use by households, individuals, and businesses, including e-commerce and e-business. ICT infrastructure addresses the infrastructure of the information society: access services, their quality, investment in such services, and tariffs. ICT products are characterised by the international trade in ICT products and their price and quality. “Content” refers to statistical issues relating to information and electronic content. The statistical description of the information society also uses an approach known as the S-curve, developed to describe indicators for electronic commerce. It consists of three stages: e-readiness, e-intensity, and e-impact (Simpson 1999; OECD 2009, 2011). On the basis of this model, taking into account the stage of e-commerce development research has been postulated for measuring the information society and adapting an indicator-based description to the appropriate development phase of the information society in which a considered country or region finds itself (ĩelazny 2015b; GoliĔski 2011).

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Quantitative descriptions of the information society can be conducted concurrently (GoliĔski 2011; Ziemba and ĩelazny 2013a; ITU 2014; Bilbao-Osorio et al. 2014). The first comprises the preparation of the list of various indicators that characterise the information society; the second is connected with compiling the so-called composite indices (CI), which are aggregate measures. It should be stressed that a composite index is based on the previously chosen set of indicators. Many advantages and disadvantages to the quantitative description of the information society can be indicated in both approaches. Their detailed analysis is presented in the works of GoliĔski (2011) and Menou and Taylor (2006). Among the significant drawbacks and constraints of the statistical description of the information society are: (1) incomparable definitions of the information society, (2) substantive errors in assigning indicators to specified information society dimensions, (3) the arbitrariness of the choice of indicators, (4) application of the same sets of indicators or composite indices for countries and regions that are at different stages of information society development, (5) disorderliness of gathering source data, (6) lack of standardisation and time-space comparability, and (7) errors in methodology used to compile a given composite index (Ziemba and ĩelazny 2013). Despite these limitations, both theorists and practitioners point out the need to measure the information society for many reasons. The most frequently cited are as follows: better understanding of the changes taking place, identification of areas requiring immediate action, reduction or elimination of threats and use of opportunities, monitoring of occurring processes, possibility of benchmarking, and last but not least, the ability to make rational decisions (Menou and Taylor 2006; GoliĔski 2011; Menou 1985; Taylor 2006; ĩelazny 2015b). Of course, in talking about the advisability of measuring the SIS, a question should be raised about the recipients of measurement results. Taking into account the needs of the three main stakeholders of the information society, public administration, business, and people, the assessment of the measurement validity will be different. However, the decision-making process, in a broad sense, is pointed to as the primary reason for measuring the economic and social phenomena. According to Menou and Taylor (2006, 265) “one may wonder how far the present measures do actually respond to that need and conversely what features they should present in order to satisfy the needs of the various stakeholders.” Information society stakeholders define and strive to achieve different objectives. Attaining these goals is more effective and efficient through the use of ICTs, information, and knowledge. Therefore,

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the measurement of the SIS should focus primarily on the indicator-based description of factors that are essential for the rational use of ICTs to achieve the objectives identified by the stakeholders. These objectives are primarily to improve the efficiency of public administration through e-government adoption, to improve the competitiveness and profitability of companies through e-business solutions, and to improve the quality of life of people through the use of ICTs. As a result, it will be possible to measure SIS adoption. The level of SIS adoption is correlated with the level of economic development. Strong positive correlations between SIS adoption and the level of economic development have been confirmed empirically (ĩelazny 2015).

5.2 Selected Approaches to the Measurement of the Information Society Attempts at measuring the information in society or the information society can be traced back at least as far as the 1960s, to the work of Machlup (Menou and Taylor 2006; Machlup 1962). He rejected the differentiation of categories of knowledge and information; according to him, all information in the ordinary sense of the word is knowledge (Machlup 1962). Machlup proposed an industry approach, and identified four sectors of industry knowledge (education, research and development, communication, and information) and thirty specific groups of knowledge industries. Then he estimated their share of the US GNP, taking into account all the constraints associated with the lack of a knowledge category in the system of national accounts. For this purpose he used public and private data sources. In total, the knowledge industry (production and distribution of knowledge) accounted for approximately 29% of the GNP of the US economy in 1958. The education sector had the largest share, followed by communication, information, and research and development. The knowledge industry’s growth rate reached 8.8% on average in 1954–58, and 10.6% in the period between 1947 and 1958, and was higher than the growth rate of GDP, which stood at 5.1% and 5.9% respectively (Machlup 1962). In parallel to the presented industry approach, Machlup applied the so-called occupation approach and estimated the shares of knowledgeproducing occupations in the labour force in the USA economy. Knowledge-producing workers were transporters, transformers, processors, interpreters, analysers, and original creators of knowledge. In 1958, of all employed persons, the share of knowledge-producing persons employed was at the level of 31.3%, while the income of all knowledge-

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producing occupations constituted 32.4% of the income of all employees (Machlup 1962). In formulating policy issues for communication and information as a component of knowledge, Machlup drew attention to information technologies as a source of growth and productivity in the information economy (ĩelazny 2015a). A different trend in IS measurement to Malchup’s approach was initiated in Japan. As Duff pointed out (2000, 71) “this version attempts to measure the amount of information cascading across the communication channels of society; […] it quantifies not the production or distribution of information but rather its consumption.” This approach to information society research was called “information flows.” One of the first attempts to measure degrees of “informationisation” of Japanese and other societies was carried out by The Research Institute of Telecommunications and Economics (RITE). In 1968, it devised an information-specific index (Johoka Index) called the “index of informationalisation” (Menou 1985). It was a composite index, consisting of ten indicators divided into four groups (Duff 2000; Taylor 2006): x An amount of information group, with four indicators: telephone calls per person per year, newspaper circulation per 100 people, books published per 1,000 people, population density (a measure of interpersonal communication); x A distribution of communication media group, with three indicators: telephone receivers per 100 people, radio sets per 100 households, and television sets per 100 households; x A quality of information activities group, with two indicators: proportion of service workers in total labour population and proportion of students in total appropriate age group; and x An information ratio, defined as information expenditure as a proportion of total expenditure. The RITE calculated the Johoka Index for Japan, the USA, the UK, West Germany, and France. The highest level of the Johoka Index was recorded in the USA: 272 (in 1953), 370 (in 1963), and 648 (estimated in 1975). The values for Japan amounted to 75, 193, and 379 for the same years (Duff 2000). The RITE also attempted to define the “post-industrial society,” not directly through the Johoka Index, but with the use of some of its indicators. The RITE stated that a post-industrial society is one with a per capita income of more than US$4,000, a service sector which exceeds 50% of the total labour force, a student population of more than

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50% of the relevant age cohort, and an information ratio of over 50% (Duff 2000). The Johoka index was not a model index for measuring information flows. Initial research into the information flow levels in different media in a common unit was contained in a report from the Information Study Group of the Association for Economic Planning of 1969 (Ito 1981). Further methodological work in this field was conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications within the scope of the Information Flow Census. It was an empirical survey of the volume and vehicles of information in circulation in a society (Duff 2000). Hilbert (2012, 1046) stated that: “the census distinguished between supply of information – the amount of information sent out and consumption of information – the amount of information read or listened to.” A “word” was accepted as a unit of information measurement, with specific calculators for various media. For instance, a minute of speech over radio or a telephone line was equal to 120 words, a picture on a fax machine was equal to 80 words per page, and TV provided 1,320 words per minute (Hilbert 2012). Imbalance was identified between information supply and demand, leading to information overload. According to Taylor (2006, 3) “the relative importance of the meaning (content) of communications was being overtaken by its volume (transmission).” It turned out that electronic media are more price-effective and more often used to supply and utilise information than non-electronic media. Despite many limitations and debatable elements, the presented proposals to measure the information society became an underlying foundation for the quantification of the information society over the next several years. Three approaches are used in the developed and applied methods and tools in measuring the information society: x x x

the sector approach; the indicatory approach; and the streaming approaches.

The sector approach to measuring the values of information activities in the US GNP was presented by Porat (1977). He defined a primary information sector and a secondary information sector, jointly referred to as an information sector. The criterion to select these two sectors was the type of information exchange – market or non-market. The primary information sector comprised all information goods (products and services) offered on the market. Secondary information comprised the information sector goods that are not offered on the market, for example,

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preparation of software for internal needs. The share of the information sector in the US GNP was estimated at 46.28%, where the primary sector accounted for 25.1% and the secondary sector for 21.1% (Porat 1977). According to Porat (1977), 40% of all employees were employed in the information sector in the US in 1967, and their wages accounted for 53.5% of total wages. The identification of activities constituting the information sector and the estimation of its participation in the creation of GDP or GNP were continued, inter alia, by the OECD. In 1997 the OECD established the Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society (WPIIS), which provided a definition for the ICT sector in 1998, based on the so-called International Standard Industry Classification (ISIC Rev. 3) (Ziemba and ĩelazny 2013a). In 2007, the ICT sector perspective was slightly modified and based on ISIC Rev. 4. (OECD 2011). An identical view of the ICT sector can be found in the statistical classification of business activities in the EU, Nomenclature statistique des Activités économiques dans la Communauté Européenne (NACE Rev. 2), in force from January 2008 (Ziemba and ĩelazny 2013). According to this document, the ICT sector embraces ICT manufacturing industries, ICT trade industries, and ICT services industries. The ICT manufacturing industries included the following activities, according to ICIS Rev. 4: manufacture of electronic components and boards (2610), manufacture of computers and peripheral equipment (2620), manufacture of communication equipment (2630), manufacture of consumer electronics (2640), and manufacture of magnetic and optical media (2680). The ICT trade industries included wholesale computers, computer peripheral equipment, and software (4651), and wholesale electronic and telecommunications equipment and parts (4652). The ICT services industries included software publishing (5820), wired telecommunications activities (6110), wireless telecommunications activities (6120), satellite telecommunications activities (6130), other telecommunications activities (6190), computer programming activities (6201), computer consultancy activities (6202), computer facilities management activities (6203), other information technology and computer service activities (6209), data processing, hosting, and related activities (6311), web portals (6312), repair of computers and peripheral equipment (9511), and repair of communication equipment (9512). In 2011, the share of the defined ICT sector in value added of the OECD countries was at an average level of 6%, and the average share in employment at 3.7% (OECD 2014). In 2010, the percentage of the GDP of the twenty-seven EU countries represented by the ICT sector stood at 4.38% (Eurostat 2014). The percentage of total employment represented by ICT personnel in the

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EU countries amounted to 2.53% in 2010 (Eurostat 2014). It is worth noting that the size of the ICT sector is one of the indicators or dimensions in the indicator-based approaches to information society measurement. A special role was played by the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, which was established at the UNCTAD conference in 2004, in the development of the indicator-based description of the IS. This is a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at improving the availability and quality of internationally comparable ICT statistics. As a result of the activities taken up by the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, a core list of ICT indicators was developed (Table 5.1.) (Ziemba and ĩelazny 2013a). The core list has served as the basis for the collection of internationally comparable ICT statistics worldwide and covers the areas listed (UNSC 2014). Table 5.1. The core list of ICT indicators 2014 according to the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development Symbol

Indicator

A1

Area: ICT infrastructure and access fixed telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

A2

mobile cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

A3

fixed internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

A4

fixed broadband internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

A5

mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

A6

internet bandwidth per inhabitant (bits/second/inhabitant)

A7

percentage of the population covered by a mobile cellular telephone network

A8

fixed broadband internet access prices

A9

mobile cellular telephone prepaid prices

A10 HH1

percentage of localities with public internet access centres Area: access and use of ICTs by households and individuals proportion of households with a radio

HH2

proportion of households with a TV

HH3

proportion of households with telephone

HH4

proportion of households with a computer

HH5

proportion of individuals using a computer

HH6

proportion of households with internet

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Symbol

Indicator

HH7

proportion of individuals using the internet

HH8

proportion of individuals using the internet – by location

HH9

proportion of individuals using the internet – by type of activity

HH10

proportion of individuals using a mobile cellular telephone

HH11

proportion of households with internet – by type of service

HH12

proportion of individuals using the internet – by frequency

HH13

proportion of households with multichannel television – by type

HH14

barriers to household internet access

HH15

individuals with ICT skills – by type of skills

HH16

household expenditure on ICT

B1

Area: use of ICTs by businesses proportion of businesses using computers

B2

proportion of persons employed routinely using computers

B3

proportion of businesses using the internet

B4

proportion of persons employed routinely using the internet

B5

proportion of businesses with a web presence

B6

proportion of businesses with an intranet

B7

proportion of businesses receiving orders over the internet

B8

proportion of businesses placing orders over the internet

B9

proportion of businesses using the internet by type of access

B10

proportion of businesses with a local area network

B11

proportion of businesses with an extranet

B12

proportion of businesses using the internet by type of activity

ICT1

Area: ICT sector proportion of total business sector workforce involved in the ICT sector

ICT2

ICT sector share of gross value added

ICT3

ICT goods imports as a percentage of total imports

ICT4

ICT goods exports as a percentage of total exports

ED1

Area: ICTs in education proportion of schools with a radio used for educational purposes

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Indicator

ED2

proportion of schools with a television used for educational purposes

ED3

proportion of schools with a telephone communication facility

ED4

learners-to-computer ratio in schools with computer-assisted instruction

ED5

proportion of schools with internet access – by type of access

ED6

proportion of learners who have access to the internet at school

ED7

proportion of learners enrolled at the post-secondary level in ICT-related fields

ED8

proportion of ICT-qualified teachers in schools

EG1

Area: e-government proportion of persons employed in central government organisations routinely using computers

EG2

proportion of persons employed in central government organisations routinely using the internet

EG3

proportion of central government organisations with a local area network

EG4

proportion of central government organisations with an intranet

EG5

proportion of central government organisations with internet access – by type of access

EG6

proportion of central government organisations with a web presence

EG7

selected internet-based online services available to citizens – by level of sophistication of service

Source: (UNSC 2014)

It is worth stressing that the presented set of indicators is revised regularly (most recently in 2014) and is recommended by the United Nations Statistical Commission as an information society measurement standard on the international scale. Work on the indicator-based description of the information society is conducted by many members of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, in particular the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – the UN’s specialised agency for ICTs. Within the framework of its activities, the ITU works out ICT statistics for 200 economies and 100 indicators. Currently, the best known measurement tool worked out by ITU is the ICT Development Index (IDI). This is a composite index

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combining eleven indicators into one benchmark measure that serves to monitor and compare developments in ICTs across countries (ITU 2014). The IDI structure is based on the three-stage model for information society development, i.e. readiness, intensity, and impact. These stages correspond to the three IDI sub-indexes (ITU 2014; Ziemba and ĩelazny 2013, 2013a): x the ICT access sub-index includes five indicators: fixed-line telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, international internet bandwidth (bits/second) per internet user, percentage of households with a computer, and percentage of households with internet access; x the ICT use sub-index contains three indicators: percentage of individuals using the internet, fixed (wired) broadband internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, and wireless broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants; and x the ICT skills sub-index includes three indicators: adult literacy rate, secondary gross enrolment ratio, and tertiary gross enrolment ratio. The ICT access sub-index and ICT use sub-index each have a weight of 40%, and the ICT skills sub-index has a weight of 20%. Within each sub-index, indicators have the same proportion to quantity weights. For instance, each indicator in the ICT access sub-index has 20% weight. The IDI in 2013 includes a total of 166 countries. The highest IDI value was reported in Denmark, at 8.86; the Republic of South Korea took second place, with 8.85, and Sweden was third with 8.67 (ITU 2014). Besides calculating the IDI, the International Telecommunication Union has been developing the ICT Price Basket (IPB) since 2009. According to the ITU (2009, 52), “the main objectives of the IPB are to raise awareness of the importance of ICT prices for ICT usage and to allow policy makers to evaluate the cost of ICTs in their country and benchmark them against those of other countries.” The IPB is calculated on the basis of three sub-baskets representing the cost of fixed line telephony, mobile cellular telephony, and broadband internet services in a given country (ITU 2009). A composite index, popular within the framework of the indicatory approach, that measures the degree of e-readiness, is one developed in the commercial sector – the Networked Readiness Index (NRI). A large number of studies on information society measurement conducted by the

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commercial sector are indicated by Menou and Taylor (2006). According to them: “the migration of the Networked Readiness Index from Harvard University to the World Economic Forum is perhaps worth meditating on” (Menou and Taylor 2006, 263). The NRI is composed of four sub-indexes divided into ten pillars (Bilbao-Osorio et al. 2014): x An environment sub-index, which measures the level of institutional support for the development of entrepreneurship and innovativeness. It includes two pillars: the political and regulatory environment, and the business and innovation environment. x A readiness sub-index, which measures ICT infrastructure and content availability, and the level of skills enabling ICT use. It includes three pillars: infrastructure and digital content, affordability, and content. x A usage sub-index, which measures ICT usage by individuals, business, and government. It includes three pillars: individual usage, business usage, and government usage. x An impact sub-index, which is derivative of the previous ones and gauges the broad economic and social impacts accruing from ICTs to boost competitiveness and well-being. It includes two pillars: economic impacts and social impacts. Together, all pillars are described by fifty-four indicators (Ziemba and ĩelazny 2013a). Half of them are quantitative indicators, while the remaining half are qualitative indicators based on the data from the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey. The final NRI score is a simple average of the four sub-index scores, while each sub-index’s score is a simple average of those of the pillars that compose it (BilbaoOsorio et al. 2014). In 2014 the NRI value was produced for 148 countries. According to the rating, the highest NRI level was reported in Finland, at 6.04; second was Singapore, with 5.97; and third was Sweden, with 5.93 (Bilbao-Osorio et al. 2014). The streaming approach analysing information flows has not found universal application in IS measurement. This approach was used in the early 1980s in the USA in order to compare just two countries: Japan and the USA (Pool et al. 1984). However, focusing attention on supply– demand analysis of information should be developed. The identification of price and non-price information supply determinants and information demand in society will make it possible to change the dominant paradigms of measuring the information society. At its centre were mainly quantitative data describing the supply of information via ICTs in the

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information society. The reorientation of this approach towards information demand via ICTs is necessary.

5.3 Model of Sustainable Information Society Measurement 5.3.1 Imperatives for a Sustainable Information Society Index Analysing the methods of measuring information society development, one can observe an imbalance between researching information readiness, information usage, and information impact on the functioning of economies and societies. In addition, the universality of these methods is assumed, regardless of the economic, political, social, or cultural situation in a country. Thus the conclusions of the S-curve concept and the various phases of information society development in the countries under study are not taken into account. Some of the indicators proposed in the measurement approach do not diagnose the most important factors affecting ICT adoption by individuals, businesses, and public administration, and thus they do not identify the development of a sustainable information society in a given place and time. In view of these limitations, an original proposal for measuring the information society is proposed. As highlighted in the previous chapters, the adoption of ICTs for the smooth functioning and optimum achievement of the objectives by stakeholders is the basis for the development of the SIS. In sections 2.4, 3.4, and 4.4 the critical success factors conditioning ICT adoption by people, business, and public administration were identified. Based on these factors, this section proposes a model for measurement of the SIS using a composite index, which is called the sustainable information society index (SISI). This index is made up of sub-indices calculated for all stakeholders of the SIS: x x x

sub-index of ICT adoption by people (pICTs); sub-index of ICT adoption by business ICT (bICTs); and sub-index of ICT adoption by public administration (gICTs).

The theoretical foundations of the proposed approach are selected methods of multivariate statistical analysis (Hellwig 1968; Walesiak 1993). They are used to classify objects characterised by a number of variables. A variable is a characteristic describing multiple objects. The analysis of research objects in terms of the value of a variable at a given

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time is called a three-dimensional data cube. Its vectors are research objects, diagnostic variables (indicators), and units of time. In the SIS measurement model developed here, the objects are people (P), businesses (B), and public administration (A), in the context of the adoption of ICTs by them. The diagnostic variables are the variables or indicators characterising the critical success factors for the adoption of ICTs by people, businesses, and public administration. (In this chapter the interchangeability of the terms indicator and variable was assumed, as in the case of the NRI [Bilbao-Osorio et al. 2014]). The analysis of the set of the objects i (P, B, A) due to the variables k in one period of time (t) is defined as the cross-section of an object– variable. It is possible to use different sections of research objects in the context of data cubes, e.g. object–variable–time, object–time, variable– time (Walesiak 2011). Many so-called taxonomic methods were developed in the context of multivariate statistical analysis, enabling, for example: x arrangement of objects in terms of the level of a complex phenomenon; x testing similarities of objects in terms of the level of a complex phenomenon; and x calculation of a taxonomic synthetic measure by which the distance of the object is determined from the pattern of development. The proposed model uses Hellwig’s method of the taxonomical measure of development (Hellwig 1968), a method of multidimensional comparative analysis which belongs to the group of methods for the linear ordering of objects based on a synthetic indicator. In order to calculate this indicator, which indicates the distance of the object from the theoretical development pattern, the following four steps should be performed: 1) Determine a set of diagnostic features and gather relevant statistics data. 2) Perform the normalisation transformation of diagnostic variables using the unitarisation or standardisation procedure according to the following formulas: (1)

unitarisation –

zij

xij  xmin j xmax j  xmin j

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(2)

standardisation –

z ij

xij  x j S (x j )

where: zij – the normalised value of the variable j for the object i xij – the value of the variable j for the object i xmin j – the minimum value of the variable j xmax j – the maximum value of the variable j x – the arithmetic mean of the variable j j

S(xj) – the standard deviation of the variable j 3) Determine the coordinates of the reference object on the basis of the following formula:

(3) z 0j

­max^z ij ` when z j is stimulant ° ® °min^z ij ` when z j is destimulant ¯

j = 1,2,…k

where: z0j – the normalised maximum value of the variable zij when the variable is a stimulant (or minimum, when it is a destimulant) – the so-called pattern. Stimulants are variables whose increasing values are desirable from the standpoint of the general characteristics of the studied phenomenon, and destimulants are variables whose decreasing values are positively evaluated from the point of the phenomenon. 4) Calculate the distance of the object from the pattern object using the so-called Euclidean distance, according to the following formulas:

(4) d i

1

di 0 d0

i = 1,2,…m

where: di – the synthetic development measure di0 – the Euclidean distance of the object from the pattern object

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d0 – distance of the object from the pattern, determined in accordance with the formula (6) to normalise di in the interval [0,1] k

(5)

di 0

¦ (z

ij

 z0 j ) 2

i = 1,2,…m

j = 1,2,…k

j 1

where: k – number of variables i – number of objects (6) d 0

d0  2Sd

where: d 0 – the average distance between objects and the development pattern Sd – standard deviation d0 (7) d 0

(8) S d

1 m ¦ di 0 mi1 1 m (di 0  d 0 ) 2 ¦ mi1

The values of the synthetic development measure di are in the interval [0,1], and a higher value of the measure means that the object is closer to the pattern.

5.3.2 Methodology of Building the Sustainable Information Society Index Applying the Hellwig’s development measure method presented above, the building of the composite index SISI took the following steps: 1) The first step: ten CSFs determining effective and efficient ICT adoption were identified, separately, for people (section 2.4), business (section 3.4), and public administration (section 4.4). The

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identified CSFs were ranked in descending order according to the arithmetic mean. 2) The second step: based on the correlation analysis between the identified CSFs for people, business, and public administration, and the evaluation of the ICT adoption level by people (section 2.5), enterprises (section 3.5), and public administration (section 4.5), using literature studies and brainstorming techniques, a set of indicators most adequately describing each of the identified CSFs was identified. It was assumed that the indicators must meet the following criteria –suitability, availability of data, and convergence with international measurement standards. 3) The third step: using logical reasoning, the final list of indicators describing the identified CSFs was developed, also taking into account their universality, volatility, and correlation. The list of CSFs and indicators is presented in Table 5.2. Table 5.2. Main components of sustainable information society index Sub-index of ICT adoption by people (pICTs) CSFs for ICT adoption by people 1. Technological availability of ICTs

2. Need to make people’s lives easier 3. Financial situation of people 4. People’s satisfaction with e-products and eservices delivered by enterprises and public administration 5. ICT costs 6. People’s ICT competences

Indicators p.1.1. Speed of internet connection p.1.2. Technological constraints of ICT adoption p.2.1. Facilitation of everyday professional and personal life arising from ICT adoption p.2.2. Changes in people’s daily lives arising from ICT adoption p.3.1. Financial capabilities of people for adopting ICTs p.3.2. People’s wealth p.4.1. People’s satisfaction with e-services and eproducts delivered by enterprises p.4.2. People’s satisfaction with e-government services p.5.1. Expenditure incurred by people for adopting ICTs p.6.1. ICT competences of people

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p.6.2. Mentors of ICTs 7. People’s awareness of ICTs 8. Open source software licences 9. Economic benefits for people arising from ICT adoption 10. ICT security

p.7.1. Awareness of the need to adopt ICTs to make everyday personal and professional life easier p.8.1. Usage of open source software p.9.1. Economic benefits for people arising from ICT adoption p.10.1. Level of ICT security

Sub-index of ICT adoption by business (bICTs) CSFs for ICT adoption Indicators by business b.1.1. Improvement of enterprises’ financial situation 1. Economic benefits arising from ICT adoption for enterprises arising b.1.2. Improvement of management in enterprise from ICT adoption arising from ICT adoption b.2.1. Financial capabilities of enterprises for adopting ICTs 2. Financial situation of enterprises b.2.2. Profit of enterprises 3. Customer satisfaction with e-services and eproducts delivered by enterprises 4. Quality of front- and back-office information systems in enterprises 5. ICT competences of enterprise employees 6. Information security in enterprises 7. Integration of frontand back-office information systems in enterprises 8. Management personnel awareness of ICTs

b.3.1. Customers’ satisfaction with e-services and eproducts delivered by enterprises

b.4.1. Quality of front- and back-office information systems b.5.1. ICT competences of enterprises’ employees b.5.2. Training of employees in ICTs b.6.1. Legal regulations concerning information security and personal data protection b.6.2. Technological security of front- and back-office information systems b.7.1. Implementation of ERP system b.7.2. Implementation of Business Intelligence system b.8.1. Management personnel awareness of the need to adopt ICTs to improve enterprise performance b.8.2. ICT competences of management personnel

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b.8.3. Training of management personnel in ICTs 9. Top management support

10. Competition in the ICT market

b.9.1. Coordination of ICT projects in enterprise b.9.2. Alignment between business and ICTs b.10.1. Conducting competitiveness analyses of ICT product prices and quality in the ICT market b.10.2. Intensity of competition in the ICT market

Sub-index of ICT adoption by government (gICTs) CSFs for ICT adoption by public administration 1. Financial situation of government units 2. Public outlay on hardware, networks, and telecommunications 3. Integration of frontand back-office information systems 4. Electronic communication between government units 5. State standardisation of solutions for egovernment

Indicators g.1.1. Financial capabilities of government unit for adopting ICTs g.2.1. Public outlay on hardware, networks and telecommunications g.2.2. Public outlay on hardware, networks and telecommunications per full-time employee g.3.1. Integration of functional area information systems (ERP modules) g.3.2. Integration of functional area information systems (ERP modules) and front-office information systems g.3.3. Implementation of EZD system g.4.1. Interoperability of information systems g.4.2. Implementation of ESP system for supporting G2G relations g.5.1. State standardisation of e-government services g.6.1. ICT competences of government employees

6. ICT competences of government employees

7. Top management support

g.6.2. Training of employees in ICTs g.6.3. Employees’ awareness of the need to adopt ICTs to improve government unit performance g.7.1. Management personnel’s awareness of the need to adopt ICTs to improve government unit performance g.7.2. Management personnel support for ICT projects

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g.7.3. Coordination of ICT projects g.7.4 Formalised information society strategy g.7.5. Training of management personnel in ICTs g.7.6. ICT competences of management personnel g.8.1. Legal regulations concerning information security and personal data protection g.9.1. Quality of e-government services

8. Information security in government units 9. Quality of egovernment services

g.9.2. Maturity of e-government services g.10.1. Employees’ participation in creating organisational changes g.10.2. Implementation of new management models

10. Information culture in government units conducive to the use of ICTs

g.10.3. Employees’ participation in creating and improving e-government services g.10.4. Motivating employees to adopt ICTs g.10.5. Implementation of Business Intelligence systems g.10.6. Implementation of ICT adoption procedures

4) The fourth step: standardisation of variables according to formula (2). 5) The fifth step: determination of the pattern coordinates according to formula (3). The pattern represents the best value for each variable. 6) The sixth step: assigning weights to the respective variables based on the participation of the CSF arithmetic mean in the total average of the ten CSFs (in the case of two or more indicators describing a given CSF, the weight was calculated proportionally). 7) The seventh step: calculation of the Euclidean distance of the object from the development pattern according to the modified formula (5), accounting for the weight of individual variables: k

(9) d i 0

¦ (z

ij

 z0 j ) 2 w j

j 1

where: zij – the standardised value of the variable j for the object i

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z0j – the standardised maximum value of the variable zij when the variable is a stimulant (or minimum, when it is a destimulant) – the so-called pattern k – number of variables wj – weight of the variable j satisfying the conditions 0