Az információs kor újszerű egyenlőtlenségei: mi derül ki a térbeli információkból?

Napjaink információs társadalmában kiemelten lényeges változásként értékelhető a térhez való viszonyunk átalakulása. Az IKT eszközök és szolgáltatások általános bővülésén túl egyre nagyobb igény mutatkozik az információk egy különös halmazára, a térbeli információkra is. A térbeli információk használatának elterjedtségét a társadalmi igények, a keletkező térbeli tartalom minősége, mennyisége vagy használhatósága is befolyásolja, sőt ezek vizsgálatából inverz módon épp az információs társadalom fejlettségi szintjére, a fejlődés előrehaladására lehet következtetni. Jelen tanulmány azt vizsgálja, hogy az információs társadalom egyenlőtlenségeit milyen térbeli vonások jellemzik, melyek a térbeli információhasználat különbségei, s vajon mi derül ki a térbeli információs nyomokból a társadalomföldrajzi differenciákat illetően

Determining geographical inequalities of information accessibility and usage : the case of Hungary

In the era of information and communication technologies it is necessary to clarify what motives are in the background of geographical disparities. The paper firstly sets up a theoretical framework that depending on the phase of technological innovation adaptation, main features of inequalities have different basic characteristics. By the multivariable analysis of information accessibility differences in the Hungarian microregions, basically the physical infrastructural constraints of the information society and economy are determined. Secondly, since an increasing number of people have become able to access the new information channels by today, the factor of accessibility could now be treated as a secondary problem. In contrast with accessibility differences the inequalities of usage come into the forefront of the analyses. Finally, the last section reveals that instead of usage volume differences the inequalities in the quality of information usage should be taken into consideration, when dealing with the newest geographical inequalities of the information age

Mapping geographical inequalities of information accessibility and usage: the case of Hungary

In the era of information and communication technologies it is necessary to clarify what motives are in the background of disparities. The paper firstly,sets up a theoretical framework that depending on the phase of innovation adaptation, main features of inequalities have different basic characteristics. By the multivariable analysis of information accessibility differences in the Hungarian microregions, basically the physical infrastructural constraints of the information society and economy are determined. Secondly, since an increasing number of people have become able to access the new information channels by today, the factor of accessibility could now be treated as a secondary problem. In contrast with accessibility differences the inequalities of usage come into the forefront of the analyses. Finally, the last section reveals that instead of usage volume differences the inequalities in the quality of information usage should be taken into consideration, when dealing with the newest geographical inequalities of the information age

Space and virtuality: new characteristics of inequalities in the information society and economy

Recently it is becoming increasingly important to understand the role of information and communication technology factors in shaping social and economic differences. Theoretical as well as practical experiences of analyses confirmed that spatial processes of the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) largely influenced the economy and society of the 21st century. In the last couple of decades ICT became an integral part of our everyday life, with lots of effects on social and economic processes, but we may experience other motives of inequalities today as they were in the past, or we may at least find some new characteristics of inequalities in addition to the existing ones. Basically inequalities are appearing between social groups in dimensions of accessing information. In the background as reasons we could name qualification, age, gender, income and many other factors of differences, and last but not least geography as an important motive. Therefore the first aim of this paper is to emphasize among the complex factors of inequalities the increasing and altering role of space in information age disparities, when speaking about digital access possibilities of different regions and locations. On the other hand, since infrastructure development policies have recognized the necessity of ICT development, an increasing number of people have become able to access the new information channels, resulting that accessibility could now be treated as a background problem. In contrast with accessibility differences, recently a new type of disparity emerges: the differences between users in the quality of usage. This secondary disparity takes place in the virtual world. Therefore the second aim of this paper is to reveal what new elements of inequalities are present in virtual space in connection with usage differences, and how it changed traditional spatial disparities. By analyzing data of Hungarian examples, this paper attempts to make a distinction between first and second order spatial inequalities

Turning towards quality : a Japanese-Hungarian comparative study of the unequal usage of geographical information technologies

General theories explain the altering role of the influencing effects of ICT-related inequalities by diffusion models, in which differences of accessibility slowly turn to inequalities between users in the quality of usage. This paper is focusing on this latter and newer form of inequalities, by examining what differences appear between people in using a specific type of qualitative information, the spatial information. The presented study has chosen Japan, an advanced country, and Hungary, a follower country, to introduce how geographical information technology is used. In the paper outcomes of a comparative survey are presented, focusing on the Japanese and the Hungarian peoples’ relation to map-information applications and services. According to the results it is assumed that Japan entered the “quality phase” of ICT development earlier, but later Hungary mirrored also good numbers on qualitative information usage. In Japan location based services and geolocated searching are unambiguously more common, which is a result of larger numbers of geo-equipped smartphones. The usage of modern devices may have deliberated users from spatial bounds of location; which has already signs in Japan. On the other hand small differences between the two countries are better to be explained by local specifications than by ICT development differences

Examining Neighbourhood Effects in Regional Inequalities of Hungary: a GIS-Based Approach from Topological Relations to Neighbourhood Heterogeneity

There is an increasing number of popular works, which explain regional inequalities of the economy and the society with spatial location. Techniques like spatial autocorrelation or spatial clustering became basic methods of mainstream examinations. These methods put geographical location, or more precisely the neighbourhood effects, in the focus of the researches. The typical research questions originate from Waldo Tobler’s classical law of geography, namely that “everything is related to everything else, but closer things are more closely related”. According to the research assumptions, the regions that are neighbours in geographical space are usually similar to each other also in socio-economic sense. For the examination of neighbourhood effects, GIS (Geographical Information Systems) may serve as a quite useful tool. By the application of GIS programmes, the topological relation of the examined objects can be straightforwardly defined. Additionally results of examinations with different methodological approach can be also easily compared. This paper, on the one hand, introduces both different methods of defining neighbourhood relations and the application of GIS in determining contiguity. On the other hand, it reflects how varied or same consequences can be drawn by the application of these techniques. In the analysis of neighbourhood effects, the most deterministic factors of the Hungarian regional inequalities are examined: the level of personal income and the unemployment rate. The examination points out where stable social and regional clusters were formed in Hungary, in the mirror of the different methodological approaches

Online social networks and location: dual effect of distance on user rate and average number of connections in Hungary

Online social networks (OSN) are major platforms of ICT-enabled communication, supporting place-independent social life; however, recent findings suggest that geographical location of users strongly affect network topology. Therefore, OSNs may be simultaneously related to locations and also unlocked from offline geographies. Our paper addresses this dual-faced phenomenon analysing location-specific impact on the user rate of online communities and average number of online friends. Findings on iWiW, a leading OSN in Hungary with more than 4 million users, suggest that user rate is positively associated with geographical proximity of Budapest, the single decisive urban centre in the country. On the other hand, the average number of connections is independent from geographical proximity of the capital and it is even higher in peripheral regions when controlling for other offline factors

Online social networks, location, and the dual effect of distance from the centre

Online social networks (OSN) are major platforms of ICT-enabled communication, supporting place-independent social life. However, recent findings suggest that the geographical location of users strongly affects network topology. Therefore, OSNs may be simultaneously related to locations and also unlocked from offline geographies. Our paper addresses this dual-faced phenomenon, analysing the location-specific effect on OSN diffusion and OSN usage. Findings on iWiW (International Who Is Who), the leading OSN in Hungary in the 2000s with more than 4 million users, suggest that the rate of users (proxy for OSN diffusion) is positively associated with the geographical proximity of Budapest, the foremost urban centre in the country. On the contrary, the average number of connections (proxy for OSN usage) is independent of the geographical proximity of the capital, and it is even higher in peripheral regions when controlling for other offline factors. © 2015 Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG