SOCIAL CHALLENGES OF A KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY Andrejs Berdņikovs Institute of Economics of Latvian Academy of Sciences, Riga, Latvia

Widespread optimism about the role of ICT in social relations Possibility for e-governance and e- administration (access to government services). Possibility for direct participation in politics (e-democracy). Democratization of information (demolishing of bureaucrats’ monopoly on information).

Problems For the most part, groups with higher levels of access to the Internet are the same groups (whites, men, residents of urban areas) that have greater access to education, income and other resources. In the same conditions some kinds of people are more likely to use the Internet than others because of both skills and motivation. The new technologies might prove to exacerbate inequality both between states and between social groups within the states rather than diminish it. There are huge asymmetries between the town and countryside; possibility of age inequality. “Info-exclusion” is not only a question of access to information, but also of education and cognitive ability. It results from the knowledge divide as much as from the digital divide, and relates to educational, cultural and linguistic barriers.

Changing the emphases (1): problem is not only “digital divide” “Information literacy”: the ability to select, classify, interpret and utilize efficiently the information. Teamwork skills, communication skills, learning skills, problem-solving skills. Orientation to innovation, experiments, creative thinking; ability to understand and anticipate change, intuition.

Changing the emphases (2): there is not a single model of KS Rich countries: (1) transforming of previous approach to education (basic training in new technologies as one of the main components of education; introducing of experiments, innovations and creative approach in contents of curricula), (2) intergeneration solidarity, (3) overcoming of psychological impediments. Poor countries: (1) struggle against illiteracy, (2) access of all to basic education, (3) checking of “brain drain”.

Two concepts of KS First: (1) belief in the omnipotence of ICT in the contemporary social relations, (2) exclusive “scientific community” approach to the building of KS, (3) knowledge as a tool for survival for separate state in extremely competitive international environment. Second: (1) human capital is the principal source of progress and any achievements, (2) all members of society participate in the creation of new knowledge, (3) knowledge as a public good, not a matter of rivalry.

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