Information technology in rural Hungary: plans and reality

Rural areas cover 87% of the territory and are inhabited by 45% of the population in Hungary. These areas have the same problem as most of the rural areas in Europe: migration of the active, well-trained labour force, depopulation, unfavourable age structure, high unemployment rate with critical labour market situation in the small settlements. Information and Communication Technology – if used properly – can serve as a solution to these problems, although there is much to be done in this field. The authors have started to examine the current situation of the basic ICT-indicators in Hungary, with a special focus on small settlements, and they have also given a historical overview on the past years’ governmental strategies (especially the National Information Society Strategy), the new National Rural Development Strategy and civic efforts (ex. The telecottage movement) to boost the widespread usage of these technologies, as well as an evaluation of the impact of the aforementioned factors

Information flow in agriculture – through new channels for improved effectiveness

Agriculture has undergone significant changes since the industrial revolution. The industrial age and the market economy have moulded agriculture in their image just as much as the characteristics and tools of the information age have recently been transforming its previous operation. Information and communication technology (ICT) take-up in agriculture remains low, and the reasons behind this barely changed in the last 20-30 years. Information technologies are regarded as mediating channels and a vehicle for new services. It is important to research the various aspects of adoption of new information technology, and also not only the use, but the “effective use” of it (Gurstein, 2003). Information-intensive agriculture is fundamentally determined by information, knowledge and the decision-making farmers, in effect the human factor; therefore, studies aimed at the improvement of the situation of agriculture with ICT tools must be centred on the human element.</jats:p

Mobile devices in agriculture: attracting new audiences or serving the tech-savvy?

The latest wave of ICT-innovations are based around mobility (smart phones, tablets, wireless networks etc.). Mobility can be a decisive success factor of ICT-adoption, because of the spatial, local and remote nature of farming. New generation mobile devices can also have a lower barrier to entry in terms of skills and cost for the user/farmer. The question is whether these new devices, especially smart phones and tablets are adopted by the farmers who are already using computers and Internet or they are attracting new audiences as well? The author’s research in Hungary on the supply and demand side of the phenomenon shows that the “agri-app-economy” is still in its infancy, and both the supply and demand side are reflecting the current state and the earlier development of ICT-usage in agriculture. At the moment, new generation of mobile devices are not acting as a tool to overcome earlier and existing barriers of adoption, rather as an indicator of the general level of ICT-use in agriculture. Mobile devices are mainly used by “tech-savvy” farmers, as a general purpose technology – partly because of the lack of relevant applications in agriculture.</jats:p

Beszámoló a „még50év” konferenciáról – várostervezés az információs korban

A Kortárs Építészeti Központban (KÉK) került meg- rendezésre a Magyar Urbanisztikai Társaság (MUT) ál- tal a brit Royal Town Planning Institutionnal (RTPI) együttműködésben szervezett még50év konferencia, melynek témája az urbanisztika elkövetkezendő ötven éve volt, apropójául pedig az RTPI által a témában ké- szített Planning Horizons kötetsorozat szolgált

Aki (információ)szegény, az a legszegényebb? Az információs szegénység megjelenési formái

A tanulmány áttekinti az információs szegénység fogalmának kialakulását, valamint jelentéstartalmának fejlődéstörténetét, az információs szegénység értelmezési keretének és hatókörének folyamatos bővülését az 1970-es évektől elindulva. A különböző megközelítések és elemzések alapján elmondható, hogy az információs szegénység egy olyan állapot, amelyet jelentősen meghatározhat ugyan a gazdasági értelemben vett szegénység, vagy a különböző információs technológiák hatékony használata, de legfőbb jellemzőjeként a cselekvésképtelenség, az egyén által a mindennapi élet kihívásaira adott válaszok elmaradása azonosítható.&#x0D; &#x0D; ---&#x0D; &#x0D; Are the poorest the information poor? The various forms of information poverty&#x0D; &#x0D; This study looks at the development of the concept of information poverty, the evolution of its meaning and the continuous expansion of the understanding and the scope of this term, starting from the 1970s. Based on different approaches and analyses, information poverty can be identified as a state, whose main feature (which can, however, be significantly influenced by economic poverty or the effective use of different information technologies) is the inability to act: the failure of individuals to respond to the challenges in their everyday lives.</jats:p