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International Geographical Union - Union Géographique Internationale
Commission on the Geography of the Information Society
REPORTS FOR 2004-2008
AND PROPOSAL FOR THECOMMISSION ON THE GEOGRAPHY
OF GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY
2008-12
Submitted to the Executive Committee
International Geographical Union (IGU)
by
Prof. Aharon Kellerman
Chair, Commission on the Geography of the Information Society
Prof. Mark Wilson
Proposed Chair, Commission on the Geography of the Global Information Society
Supported by the steering committee of the
IGU Commission on the Geography of Information Society
Officers:
Chair: Prof. Aharon Kellerman , Vice-Chair: Prof. Henry ,
Vice-Chair: Prof. Mark , Executive Secretary: Prof. Maria Paradiso
Outline
This document consists of three parts:
- The 2004-2008 report of the Commission on the Geography of the Information Society (C-10), prepared by the commission Chair, Aharon Kellerman (Israel).
- A proposal for a renewed commission for the term 2008-2012, entitled the Commission on the Geography of the Global Information Society, prepared by its proposed Chair, Mark Wilson (US).
- The 2004-2008 report for the commission journal NETCOM, prepared by its Editor and Vice-Chair of the commission, Henry Bakis (France).
1. Commission on the Geography of the Information Society: 2004-2008 Report
Annual meetings
2004
The annual meeting took place in Glasgow, within the IGU Congress. Aharon Kellerman (Israel) organized six sessions with 24 papers under the general theme "The interface between society and space in the information society".
2005
The meeting, jointly sponsored with the Digital Communities project, was co-organized by Maria Paradiso (Italy) and Mark Wilson (US), and took place in Naples and Benevento, Italy. Some 40 colleagues from 15 countries attended the conference which included also site visits to high-tech nuclei in the CampaniaProvince. Its central theme was "Digital communities: Technology, knowledge and place".
2006
The annual meeting took place in Sydney, Australia, one week before the IGU Brisbane regional conference, and it was organized by John Langdale (Australia). The general theme for the meeting was "Shifting into global leadership in telecommunications and information: The Pacific and Asia". Some 21 colleagues from 12 countries attended the meeting, which included several site visits to high-tech parks and media production sites.
2007
This annual meeting was held in Tallinn, Estonia, and in Helsinki, Finland. It was co-sponsored with the Digital Communities project and was co-organized by Rein Ahas (Estonia), Tommi Inkinen (Finland)and Mark Wilson (US). Some 40 colleagues attended this meeting which included several site visits in both cities. The general theme for the meeting was "Mobility/Mindset/Maturity".
2008
The annual meeting this year will take place in Tunis, within the IGU Congress. Its central theme will be "Information society: A regional perspective", with a special focus on the Mediterranean basin.One session will be jointly organized with the MRP project. A visit to the TunisianScienceCity is planned.
Special events
2005
Two special events took place in Rome in February 2005, both organized by Maria Paradiso (Italy). The first one was a one-day workshop, co-sponsored by the Italian Geographical Society, at the Home of Geography for young Italian scholars, in which Emmanuel Eveno (France) and Aharon Kellerman (Israel) made presentations, and which was attended by the late IGU President, Adalberto Vallega. This was followed by a special seminar for the Italian CNEL organization, which is an umbrella organization for business and public bodies, co-sponsored by the Italian Geographical Society. Keynote addresses were made by Emmanuel Eveno (France), Maria Paradiso (Italy) and Aharon Kellerman (Israel).
In November 2005 the commission organized a session with five presentations at the invitation of the UN WSIS (World Summit for the Information Society), held in Tunis.
2007
In February 2007 the commission held, in cooperation with the Italian Geographical Society, a special workshop at the Home of Geography in Rome, celebrating the publication of three new books by commission members Edger Einemann (Germany), Kenneth Corey (US), Aharon Kellerman (Israel) and Mark Wilson (US). The event was organized by Maria Paradiso (Italy).
Journals
The commission has continued to publish its own scientific journal Netcom, now in its 21st volume. This refereed journal is edited by Henry Bakis(France) and is reviewed separately below. The commission has continued its close cooperation with the Journal of Urban Technology, edited by Richard Hanley (US), which has published several special issues based on commission meetings.
Mailing list
The commission has some 170 members worldwide and all are on its mailing list, which is used regularly for informing members on events and professional news in information geography and cognate fields. The list is maintained by Aharon Kellerman (Israel).
Website
The commission has its own website, containing information on its structure and activities, as well as on new books and courses in our field. The website is maintained by Mark Wilson (US), and is hosted by Michigan State University (US). Its address is:
Cooperation
The commission has continued its close cooperation and work with the Digital Communities project headed by Kenneth E. Corey (US) and Mark Wilson (US). Every other year the annual meeting of the commission has been co-organized with this project.
Commission members have been active on the two general IGU projects established by the late President Adalberto Vallega. Maria Paradiso (Italy) and Aharon Kellerman (Israel) served on the management team of the CCHD (Cultures, Civilizations and Human Development) project. Maria Paradiso has further served as Executive Secretary for the MRP (Mediterranean Renaissance Program) project, and Theano S. Terkenli (Greece) and Aharon Kellerman (Israel) have been members of its Executive Committee.
National specialty groups
New groups have been established in our field in Italy, South Africa, and the US, joining the already existing ones in France, Germany, and the US.
New Books
Several new books have been published by commission members during the term 2004-2008.
Corey, K.E. and Wilson, M. 2006. Urban and Regional Technology Planning: Planning Practice in the Global Knowledge Economy. London and New York: Routledge.
Einemann, E. 2006. The Internet in Germany: Cities, Divides and Differences. Marburg: Schüren.
Kellerman, A. 2006. Personal Mobilities. London and New York: Routledge.
Zook, M. 2005. The Geography of the Internet Industry. Oxford: Blackwell.
2. Proposal for the Commission on the Geography of Global Information Society
Rationale
The evolving information society and its associated spatial, technological and political dimensions, has become a worldwide phenomenon linked by networks of information and communications technology. The complexity and scope of social and economic change connected with global information society has rapidly outpaced our ability as social scientists to understand and predict how social change will evolve. The primary objective of the Commission on the Geography of Global Information Society is to address the spatial context for the relationship between places, people and the information society.
The Commission on the Geography of Global Information Society builds on the strong foundations of prior commissions including the Commission on Telecommunications and Communication (IGU 96-CO4) with its focus on technology and communications, and the successor Commission on the Geography of Information Society with focus on the intersection between information technology and the emerging knowledge economy. The Commission on the Geography of Global Information Society builds on a sixteen-year tradition of active research and engagement across six continents, and advances geographic scholarship around several core spatial and social phenomena.
Global Information Society
Among the forces shaping global information society are three major trends that are often related and interdependent: information/knowledge economy, globalization, and the network society. The information/knowledge economy captures the growing emphasis on the significance of science and technology, the importance of education for growth and development, and the implications for people of an information dominated society. As structural change progresses in terms of what is made and how products and services are delivered, there is also a geographical restructuring with production systems fragmented to locate in the lowest cost and most advantageous areas. This globalization of production affects people and places as they now compete across the world rather than locally. The third phenomenon, network society, reflects the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on how people live, work, and interact. Members of the global information society are therefore shaping, and shaped by, strong forces that have the potential to change cultures and identities, and the relationships between people, technology, and places.
The preeminence of knowledge and information is central to the many social, economic and political actions that shape our lives. Almost forty years ago, the significance of information and knowledge was forecast by Toffler (1970) and Bell (1973) among others. Bell presents a postindustrial society where science and technology rise to a central position to fuel a services economy based on knowledge. At the same time, analysts, such as Gershuny (1978), started raising questions about the negative implications of the knowledge economy, such as its power to alienate and to divide groups within society. The significance of this change is examined in detail by Manuel Castells (1996) who opens The Rise of the Network Society by recognizing a “technological revolution” that is “reshaping, at accelerated pace, the material basis of society.” The implications of this revolution range widely, affecting many elements of our daily lives, such as the work we do, the sources of information we receive, our individual and cultural identities, the spatial structure of production, and the growing division between those who benefit from an information based society, and those who cannot find a role or who are excluded.
Over the past sixteen years, commission members have offered leadership and intellectual development to the debate about the impact of knowledge and ICT on people and places. We can proudly point to a wide range of strong scholarship that establishes a respected literature on the geography of communications networks and information society. Scholarship by current commission members shows the important role they play in analyzing and defining study of the geography of information society. In addition to scores of articles we can indicate many books on different geographical dimensions of information society. For example, studies on the impact of the Internet (Brunn and Leinbach 1991, Roche and Bakis 1997; Kellerman 2002; Zook 2005; Wilson and Corey 2000); mobility (Kellerman 2006), mapping cyberspace (Dodge 2000); e-business (Leinbach and Brunn 2001); cities (Graham and Marvin 1996; Aoyama, Warf and Wheeler 2000; Corey and Wilson 2006), and country and regional studies (Paradiso 2003, Einemann 2006)
The Commission on the Geography of Global Information Society is therefore designed to draw together several strands of emerging and contemporary social science inquiry around the focal points of the information/knowledge economy and the impact of information and communication technologies. Of the many possible dimensions of the subject matter, we will primarily address the spatial context for changes in ICT, knowledge economy, and information society. In addition, the Commission endorses multidisciplinary perspectives and will welcome a wide range of participants in its activities.
Questions for Study
Among the emerging characteristics of global information and network society are the growth in mobility and influence on our movements, perspectives on information and networks as part of management and policy making mindsets, the global reach of the information/knowledge economy, civil society and security, and relationships, place and culture. The potential of ubiquitous information access and maturity of the basic technologies prompts consideration of our past experience and future preparedness.In particular, core foci include:
- Mobility: The social, economic, and spatial implications of information technologies that span the spectrum from enhanced mobile phones to ubiquitous computing shape our ability to move and access information. As information technologies enable new forms of communication, the geography and mobility associated with ICT prompts questions about our relationships between people and places.
- Mindset: The way that individuals, organizations, and governments understand ICT and exploit and plan for future advances in information technologies. How do we conceptualize ICT; and do we need to change the way we perceive these technologies? What changes in mindset accompany the transition to ICT enabled intelligent development?
- Global Reach: Considers social and cultural contexts for the information/knowledge economy and ICT enabled and mediated society. How does economic change vary across space? How do different societies view knowledge and creativity, and position themselves for global competition? How are identical information technologies utilized differently in different regions, cities, and countries?
- Civil Society and Security: Explores how ICT can be a force for public discourse and can shape the nature of governance in an information society. Related topics would include the use of ICT for surveillance and security, along with issues of privacy in a networked world.
- Relationships, Place and Culture: Investigates how relationships between people and position within cultures can be affected by ICT. Among topics for discussion are the ability of ICT to both reinforce and erode cultural values and identities and the relationship between minority and majority populations.
- Maturity: ICTs are no longer emerging technologies but, in many societies, well established elements for government, business, and social interaction. What does the maturity of ICT mean for development, policy and communities? What will life be like in places with ubiquitous access to ICT? And Who will benefit and who will lose from the maturation of network society?
Structure and Scope
The Commission will include a steering committee composed of 12 members from Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia, and North America. The twelve members of the steering committee of the Commission will be geographers and those in related fields. In addition, the commission will continue to welcome members from all countries and world regions, and from academic disciplines that share our interest in the geography of global information society.
The Commission has a long tradition among its members and prior commissions of meeting regularly and engaging in many scholarly activities. The Commission will organize at least one conference every year and actively participate in IGU Congresses. It will maintain a website, publish a newsletter, and will continue to support the journal NETCOM established by the IGU Study Group on Telecommunications in 1987, and published continuously since then by successor IGU commissions.
The organizational structure of the Commission includes:
Chair:
Prof. Mark Wilson
MichiganStateUniversity
School of Planning, Design and Construction
101 UPLA Building
East Lansing MI 48864 USA
Tel; +1 517 353 9054
Fax: +1 509 472 8102
E-Mail:
Vice Chairs:
Prof. Henry Bakis
Universite de Montpellier III
Department de Geographie
Route de Mende, B.p. 5043
F-34199 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
Fax: + 33-67 14 20 52
E-mail:
Prof. Maria Paradiso
DASES Department
Università degli Studi del Sannio
Viale delle Puglie
82100 Benevento, ITALY
Tel +39-3280095624
Fax +39-824.50552
E-mail:
Executive Secretary:
Prof. Becky P.Y. Loo
Department of Geography
The University of Hong Kong
Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Tel. + 852-2859-7024
Fax +852-2559-8994
E-mail:
Steering Committee:
Prof. Peter Graef
University of Aachen
Geographisches Institut RWTH
Templergraben 55
52056 Aachen, Germany
Tel: +49 241-8888- 336
Fax: +49 241-80- 60- 60
E-mail:
Prof. Kenji Hashimoto
WasedaUniversity
E-Mail:
Prof. Woo-Kung Huh
Seoul National University
Department of Geography
Seoul 151-742, Korea
Tel: +82-2-880-6450
Fax: +82-2-876-9498
E-mail:
Prof. Tommi Inkinen
Department of Geography
University of Helsinki
00014 Finland
E-Mail:
Prof. Aharon Kellerman, Honorary Chair
President, Safed College
Safed 13206, Israel
Ph. +972-54-20-65-300
Fax +972-4-826-2134
E-mail:
Prof. John Langdale
Maquarie University
School of Earth Sciences
Sydney NSW, Australia
Tel: +61- 2-805-8385
Fax:+61- 2-805-8428
E-mail:
Dr. Feng Li
University of Strathclyde
Department of Management Science
40 George St.
GlasgowG1 1QE, United Kingdom
Tel. +44-141-548-3612
Fax +44-141-552-6686
E-mail:
Dr. Sten Lorentzon
University of Göteborg
Dept. of Human and Economic Geography
P.O.Box 630
40530 Göteborg, Sweden
Tel: +46-31-773 1412
Fax: +46-31-773 1398
E-mail:
References
Aoyama, Y, Warf, B and Wheeler, J (Eds) (2000) Cities in the Telecommunications Age: The Fracturing of Geographies New York; Routledge
Bell, D (1974) The Coming of Post Industrial Society London: Heineman
Brunn, S and Leinbach, T (Eds) (1991) Collapsing Space and Time: Geographical Aspects of Communication and Information London: Routledge
Castells M (1996) The Rise of the Network Society Volume 1. Oxford: Blackwell
Corey, K E and Wilson, M(2006) Urban and Regional Technology Planning: Planning Practice in the Global Knowledge Economy. London: Routledge.
Dodge, M (2000) Mapping Cyberspace London: Routledge
Einemann, E (2006) The Internet in Germany Schueren Presseverlag
Gershuny, J (1978) After Industrial Society: The Emerging Self Service Economy London: Macmillan
Graham, S and Marvin, S (1996) Telecommunications and the City London: Routledge
Graham, S and Marvin, S (2001) Splintering Urbanism: Networked Infrastructures, Technological Mobilities and the Urban Condition. London: Routledge
Kellerman, A (2002) The Internet on Earth: A Geography of Information. London: Wiley
Kellerman, A (2006) Personal Mobilities. London: Routledge