Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
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OskarWolski
latteristheresearchonhowdifferentgroupsofpeopleareengagedintheuse
oftechnologiesandhowtheyusethemineverydaylife,whichrelatestodigital
competence(cf.Ilomäki,Kantosalo,Lakkala2011).Thisistheresearchonthe
diffusionofICTsamongpeopleandtoregions.
Inbroadercontext,theproblemofthe(non-)accessibilityofICTsanditssocial
andeconomicconsequencescanbeconsideredviatheconceptsofequalityand
justice,withparticularattentionto“theruralpenalty”(vanDijk2006;Malecki
2003;cf.Hite1997).Duetothefactthatruralareascanbenefitmoresignificantly
fromtheproperuseofICTsthanurbanareas,itisinferredthatthelatterhave
abuilt-inadvantageininteractingwithICTs,andthepresenceofICTsisrather
anurbanphenomenon(Poncet,Ripert2007;Skerratt2010;Grimes2003;Vicente,
López2011).Thisexplainswhy,ingeneral,theroleinequalisingopportunitiesand
capabilitiesiscreditedtodigitalinfrastructure(Janc,Czapiewski2013),interms
ofbothindividualsandregions.However,thereisnotonlythequestionofwhether
agivenruralareaorindividualhastheaccesstoICTsornot,butwhatcomesfrom
it.ProvidingaccesstoICTsonlyopensthedoor,andthereisaneedtotakeitone
stepfurther.ThismeansthatifweconsiderICTstobefactorsofruraldevelopment,
thewaytheyareadoptedandusedisdecisive(Hageetal.2013).
Basedontheliteraturereview,Idistinguishthreemainfactorsthatimpact
theadoptionandtheuseofICTs,whichareintertwined.Firstareenvironmental
conditions,bothsocialandnatural,whichresultfromalocationinaparticular
geographicspace(ageographicfactor).Secondareusers’abilities,whichIunder-
standnotonlyasdigitalskills,butalsoinabroadersenseaseducationorwillingness
toexplore(asocialfactor).Thirdarefacilities(aninfrastructuralfactor).Both
theadoptionandtheuseofICTsareaffectedbymanyvariableswithinallofthese
threefactors.Intermsofthegeographicfactor,itisfirstandforemostthedistance
fromtheurbancentresofthediffusionofnewtechnologies(Forman,Goldfarb,
Greenstein2005;Goldfarb,Prince2008;Goggins,Mascaro2013),whichseems
particularlyinterestinggiventheabove-mentionedroleofICTsinovercoming
thephysicaldistance,and“thedistance”fromthepeoplewhoarethemselves
facilitatorsofnewtechnologies,i.e.thepeopleidentifiedaswell-educatedandwell-
situated(Whitacre2008).Intheanalysesofruralbusinesses,thecontextofaplace,
consistingofnotonlyphysicaldistance,butalsoculturalandinformationaldis-
tances,hasalsobeenhighlighted(Goggins,Mascaro2013).Thesocialfactorsareon
theonehandtheknowledgeofwhatICTscanbeusedforandtheskillsinhowto
usethem,andontheotherhandtheaiminusingICTs,areallrootedinthesocial
contextinwhichanindividuallives(Helsper2012;Selwyn2006;Mitzneretal.
2010).Inaddition,theageofusersandthecircumstancesthathaveprompted
themtotakeupactivitiesinavirtualrealityatagiventimehavebeenprovedto
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WieśiRolnictwo2(183)/2019