Federación de cajas de Ahorros Vasco-Navarras

ABSTRACT

The digital revolution, the New Economy and social integration comprise the three central pivots on which this work evolves. These are dealt with jointly since they are highly interrelated and it is therefore impossible to demarcate each one.

  Real life today has been characterised by a series of deep structural changes which have occurred extremely fast; it is precisely this speed and persistence of the change which is one of the differential aspects which best defines this new situation and which differentiates it from pre-existing situations. In addition, such changes fall within a context in which the development of new technologies is combined with a process of democratisation in information access and dissemination and where concepts such as the New Economy have emerged.

  In this respect, it is worth asking ourselves what the term New Economy really means. Among the most popular meanings in the economic domain, those which stand out refer to it as a polyhedric reality associated to the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the various socio-economic spheres. It is therefore a difficult concept to define precisely and even harder to quantify and measure. The European Central Bank says that the most important result of the New Economy is technological innovation, while using methods of organisation, productivity, etc. as a transmission belt, the final result of which is greater sustained economic growth, without this resulting in greater inflationary pressures.

  Various stances have emerged around the New Economy which question the very novelty of the phenomenon, disputing whether it really is novel or not, or if, on the contrary, it concerns an already known phenomenon which has just been packaged and "sold" differently. A recent report by the European Central Bank states that the phenomena that we are witnessing in connection with the New Economy are not totally different from those seen previously, to the extent that they affect basic economic rules and destroy pre-existing structures; although the influence of technology on this process is clear, the fact that technology does not change the basic economic rules is emphasised.

  Another way of looking at the phenomenon concerns its degree of incorporation in Europe in comparison with the United States, provided Europe is able to take over from the USA in times of economic recession such as the one the American economy is currently going through, as a result of the events of September 11th.

  However, in an attempt to analyse what is currently happening, we should not exclude the impact of the digital revolution and the New Economy on the social aspect. It is a question of overlapping the economic and social aspects, as closely connected elements and indissoluble and component parts of the same reality, highlighting, in addition to the positive aspects, some of the underlying imbalances which are reflected in aspects such as the so-called digital divide. On the one hand, it is obvious that with the increase in ICTs, an acceleration phenomenon is produced with an increase in the number of transnational contacts and, consequently, in e-commerce transactions, thereby improving the efficiency of the different markets. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the fact that there are various bad elements. In this regard, it should be stressed that there is an underlying risk of advancing towards a scenario in which, on the one hand, there are more inequalities between those who have access to the new technologies and the advantages associated with these and those who don't (the haves and the have-nots) or, on the other hand, towards a scenario in which international community agreements, based on political dialogue, culminate in the reduction of such differences.

   In order to illustrate these differences on an international level, something which serves as an example is the fact that the percentage of Internet users in the United States is 54%, whereas this percentage is only 6.7% for the whole world, or that in Africa the number of web pages which are normally used by newspapers, hospitals, NGOs, etc. has increased dramatically, etc., and yet, their share in the total number of web pages in the world has fallen from 25% to 22%.

  Similarly, web experts, such as Ernest J. Wilson, highlight the fact that the introduction rate of the telephone, in spite of a sustained increase, is lower than the rate by which the population has increased, which entails an ever decreasing rate in terms of telephone use per capita, and this in turn supposes a more in-depth analysis of the differences of access to the advantages inherent to the use of ICTs. Consequently, the digital divide is conceptualised as " the fundamental asymmetry between two or more populations in the distribution and use of information and communication resources ", and has its origins in access limitations on one hand (e.g. physical, financial, cognitive, political, or to production or content), together with demographic and social components (not all social groups have access to ICTs), where aspects such as gender, geography, income, education, age, race, etc. condition social distinctions. As a result, the appearance of the digital divide on an international level is not merely a theoretical exercise, but rather, as Wilson states, essential when putting policies and programmes into practice in order to reduce the differences on the planet.

  In this way, the positive aspects associated with the New Economy contrast with the risk of deepening the digital divide. The prevalence of one or the other leads us to a scenario of uncertainty about the future in accordance with the extreme complexity of present interrelations. It is this apparent paradox which dominates the process of social and economic transformation in which we find ourselves immersed.

  On one hand, the verification of the dichotomy which exists between the favourable aspects of economic and social development attached to the new emerging reality supported by the development of ICTs, in which the digital revolution is an important stage in the transformation process and, on the other, the possibility that such benefits are not distributed homogeneously, but instead increase the pre-existing inequalities attributable to multiple factors which characterise the situation at the outset, have helped to direct the contents of the ninth edition of the editorial series Ekonomi Gerizan , entitled " The Digital Revolution: New Economy and Social Integration ".

  As is customary, the publication of this book is but the final stage of the previous process, and among other milestones, this has culminated in a Seminar at the Summer Courses organised by the University of the Basque Country, and which have been held continuously over the last eleven years. The design of the central framework of this seminar started at the beginning of this financial year and this in turn served as a support on which the printed edition was based. The objectives originally outlined coincide in both cases. Various other specialists have participated in the printed version and these additions have enriched the contributions presented at the previous seminar. Consequently, aspects of interest have been included which were either not covered at all in the academic sessions, and it was thought convenient to include them, or which were only partly covered. All with the final aim of offering the reader a wide, up-to-date view of the current situation which is the central theme of the publication.

  The book is divided into four large chapters, each of which is developed from a specific perspective. The first part offers an overview of the different aspects which converge in the central theme of the book. In order to achieve this, attempts are made to measure the phenomenon of the New Economy on the one hand, and on the other, to complete this with an examination of the problems and solutions relating to the digital divide. The new setting favours commercial transactions and exchange, the most immediate consequences of which can be seen in the tax framework, where the different tax systems influence the extent to which these are developed. These features of a more economic nature are completed with a more in-depth look at the sphere of culture and the appearance of new spaces for human and social action.

  The second chapter focuses on the interrelation between the new technologies and their application in the field of education and, therefore, to their consequences on employment. This trinomial acquires special relevance to the point of becoming one of the most important distinguishing factors. The new environment needs training profiles and skills which fit in with the new requirements, as web as innovative ways of accessing knowledge which take advantage of the inherent potentialities and advantages. In this way, new training opportunities and new labour requirements combine with education possibilities through the use of virtual classrooms, where the rhythm of knowledge acquisition develops in manner which is consistent and fits in with the needs of the students.

  The different initiatives for digital inclusion which comprise that known as e-inclusion are outlined in the third chapter of the book, with its marked social nature. In this respect, the appearance of community networks is a reflection of the new ways that positive synergies have been created by combining the efforts shared by the citizens, who are becoming aware of their potential when it comes to modelling social reality by actively participating in their closest spheres, and it may therefore be said that it is a pure expression of participatory democracy. It is foreseeable that networking and network cooperation, based on new pillars such as communication, creative development, initiative and sharing responsibilities due to the greater development of emotional intelligence, is a common element in the new era, where new ways of job creation will emerge, bringing with them opportunities for people to increase their level of integration through digital contact networks. Likewise, other potentialities of the new technologies lie in the securing of greater levels of integration among those more underprivileged groups, such as the elderly or the disabled.

  Finally, the fourth link of this chain comprises the examination and diagnosis of the situation in the ACBC regarding the new technologies, from the perspective of the quantification of their impact on the main sectors of the Basque economy, as well as a comparison of their penetration, degree of knowledge and use according to the main economic agents. The need to urgently improve the model of infrastructures which support the traffic of interwoven information, together with the more immediate needs and applications in the development of rural society, constitute elements which complete the synthetic overview of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.

  The book begins with the article by Professor Antonio Argandoña Ramiz , entitled " Economic dimensions of the New Economy ", which questions the existence and nature of the New Economy with its technological revolution revolving around computers and which is developed thanks to the parallel progress of telecommunications. This New Economy opens new possibilities for creating, storing and spreading information and knowledge, the consequences of which extend to all economic and social spheres, being noticeable in the aggregate economic growth rates of the different economic systems. The analysis centres around the increase in productivity, and also the repercussions of this on people's standard of living and quality of life through product increases. He also states that the New Economy is not exclusively an American phenomenon, but may occur in any country which makes an innovative effort in ICTs and can facilitate the spreading of new technologies to every sector. On the other hand, he defends the validity of the economic cycle, as well as the economic laws which are not affected by the New Economy .

  Continuing with this same line of dealing with the "state of the question", Professor Emilio Fontela Montes looks in greater depth at one of the subjects which casts most shadows and uncertainty on the future of the information society. In the article entitled " The digital divide: problems and solutions ", the author examines some of the economic consequences attached to the digitalisation, with special emphasis on the existence of real risks such as those relating to the digital divide , with its striking epidemiological nature, highlighting its existence inside and outside countries. At the same time, he declares access to ICTs to be a "public good" and, after examining the connections of the digital divide with production, consumption and work, he portrays it as an opportunity for the development of the Information Society, to the extent that it allows productive structures, work and consumption to be transformed. In the same way, he proposes that public powers act in order to attempt to correct such imbalances by promoting active digitalisation policies, essentially educational and cultural. He defends the notion that these should be brought closer to citizens and that proactivity should be encouraged.

  Besides the alterations which are observable in the virtual domain, it is necessary to highlight that the influence of the new situation has also been transferred to the sphere of physical transactions relating to the exchange of raw materials, capital, articles and labour. This physically more tangible aspect needs to be covered by a non-discriminatory tax environment which is capable of controlling the movements of the different markets, with new marketing channels which operate on novel products and, therefore, on the profits generated. In this line, the article entitled " The tax system in the New Economy ", written by Arthur Kerrigan , completes the initial overall view. After looking at the role of taxes on the added value and analysing the suppositions which underlie any VAT model, he examines the implications deriving from the VAT system for the European Union, which hover around the potential increase in competitive distortions in order to tax certain products and services, as well as the administrative challenges relating to the control of transactions.

  This new economic environment is necessarily accompanied by new cultural features which comprise the digital age. These are examined by Professor Artur Serra iHurtado in his article " New type of culture: understanding the knowledge society ". The author defends the view that the new technologies are in short knowledge, newly-coined engineering focusing on what is possible and what may exist, with a decidedly theoretical nature. After examining the determining factors of the new R&D model which is needed in this situation, the author describes the scientific and technological policy of the new era as one which tends towards the attainment of an innovation culture which, in turn, needs a prior profound cultural change for it to be consolidated. Consequently, he calls for the participation of universities, governments, financial institutions, firms and civil society in innovation, technological research and the digital culture, all of which are essential elements capable of avoiding new social exclusion.

  The appearance of new spaces is another of the identifying features of the new digital reality. This is the point of reflection of Professor Javier Echeverria Ezponda in his article " Electronic space, new space for social action ". The article states that a kind of large electronic market is generated around the ICTs which can be accessed by Internet and allows the search for, exchange and transaction of information and content. In this space, characterised by the superimposition of previous spaces, an electronic time is also created. This "third environment" allows a variety of activities to be developed within it, including those relating to the generation of wealth and those of a productive nature such as teleworking, although a specific or "digital" type of training is needed which allows them to be developed.

The second part of the book begins with some reflections about " Work and employment in the knowledge society " which are examined in the article by Joan Majó Cruzate . The emergence and consolidation of the knowledge society represents the death certificate of industrial society.The technological shock associated with the digitalisation phenomenon is the catalyst for this change in the productive and social model. Along this line of thought, the author states that training cycles are shorter than people's life cycles and that the education system must reorientate its efforts towards lifelong learning. In the author's opinion, we are moving towards a more flexible society, with a change in labour relations as a result of time and space becoming more flexible. In this scope, it is important to learn how to unlearn, incorporating new skills and flairs and leaving aside those which are obsolete, as a philosophy of personal behaviour.
   In this same vein, Professor Antonio Pulido San Román develops his article " The challenges and opportunities in training and at work in the information society ", in which a series of measures are proposed aimed at integrating employment demand with the formative profiles. He is in favour of encouraging continuity of work for pensioners, either part-time or as advisers, and also to support company training initiatives and joint actions between competitors and enterprise universities from the public sector, attempting at the same time to establish public programmes in order to introduce marginalized communities to ICTs. In this respect, besides the need for reform of the education system and integration of learning at work with formal studies, developing professional training and stimulating in-service training under the patronage of the employers. Finally, he advocates that universities be developed towards flexible educational centres, with greater degrees of freedom of access to multiple institutions at any time of life, which would require a parallel adjustment of the organisations themselves, taking advantage of the technological potentials of the new information society.

  A closer perspective in the sphere of virtual training is offered by Mercé Gisbert Cervera in her article " Education in the digital age: the virtual classroom ", in which she analyses the pivots of education in the digital age together with the role of virtual technological environments. In the 21st century, the reference elements which define the knowledge society are based on the distinction between data, information and knowledge and on these the reflexive and decision-making processes must be consolidated in order to improve every aspect of life. She defines three categories of basic learning activities: formal, not formal and informal. In turn, she states that computers are not yet a part of the education system with the same intensity as they are in other spheres. Consequently, Internet is regarded as a virtual educational space, based on the so-called virtual classroom, where cooperative and permanent work is made possible both synchronously and asynchronously. The virtual classroom is defined as a symbolic space in which participants involved in a teaching/learning process relate with one another and where, in order to interact with each other and to access information, a computer-based communication system is used.

  Within this chapter on the new technologies, education and employment are also included in the article by Professor Fernando Sáez Vacas on " Infotechnology and new jobs ", in which the author verifies the perennial mutation of the so-called "infotechnology" and, consequently, the parallel deficit in exact knowledge to cover the so-called "infojobs". We are faced with a discrepancy between needs and knowledge, which is no more than a reflection of the lack of adjustment between supply and demand among educational profiles, which in turn condition the knowledge and professional needs of the workers. Throughout the article, the author attempts to identify and measure these deficits, before suggesting certain solutions or practical approaches which would alleviate them.

One of the largest ways in which we should adapt our behaviour is to leave behind presential culture and move on to the transfer not of bodies but of minds and ideas. This is the transformation suggested by Michel Icks and José Carlos Alía González in their article " New forms of employment and education in the informational society ". Both authors share the opinion that this is a question of cultural change, and involves altering both organisations and traditional concepts, which will result in organisations working in groups and with networks in a distributed manner. As with any transformation process, this involves setting up new learning methods in an environment of horizontal relations based on ICTs, so that both organisation and learning become two indissoluble aspects in the new information society.

  The overview, together with reflections on the relation between new technologies and education and employment, leads to initiatives for digital inclusion and these are examined in the third chapter of this book. Certain novel initiatives are also analysed, which since they are based on ICTs, have helped to increase levels of incorporation, either of socially marginalized communities, or of those citizens willing to adopt a proactive attitude in any of the multiple facets which result in membership to a particular population group.

  In this line, the article " Redes ciudadanas: la Internet de las personas " by Manuel Sanromá Lucía and Vicenç Badenes Teixido extols the leading role which community networks play or can play in the organisation of the information society, as a means of the socialisation of technologies geared towards and for people. On the other hand, the authors are also aware of the dangers associated with the digital divide and are critical of corporate strategies which, seeking protection in a universal service supposition of access for everyone, do in fact develop strategies based on business concepts. The authors believe that both the infrastructures and the quality and price of IP access have limited Internet development in Spain. Consequently, community networks have emerged as an alternative to the materialisation of the aforementioned digital divide, as a result of a greater literacy in the use of new technologies, the development of their social use and the search for alternatives to the loss of importance of the public space.

  In terms of the implementation of the new technologies and their secondary advantages, it is necessary to stress the non-homogenous and non-general nature of such positive effects. There are in fact groups such as the disabled, the elderly, the unemployed, or untrained workers who require specific, special attention in order for them to make the most of the potential advantages, and achieve higher levels of social integration, since it is precisely these groups which are most exposed to the risk factors. In the article entitled " New technologies and disability: inclusion experiences " the author Francisco Alcantud Marín firstly examines the possible causes of exclusion which the application of the new technologies in the development of the "Information Society" may create on the disabled. Secondly, on the basis of the Imserso study, certain successful experiences are presented and these are classified by areas: Internet, Education, Advice Centres, Access to the media, Rehabilitation Technologies and Support Technology, and other experiences. Finally, the author calls for the establishment of some control mechanism which would ensure that norms of Internet accessibility be established for those disadvantaged groups, who are further disadvantaged by cultural and economic factors (main barriers for the development of the information society).

  The authors José Luis Pardos Pérez, Anders Andersen and José Félix Barrio Barrio , in their article " Interaction experiences in the New Technologies with the disabled and elderly ", also attempt to highlight the use of the new technologies in the integration of disadvantaged groups, emphasising the importance of the human component in the new environment, where when speaking of integration and innovation we enter the age of connections between concepts, people and the environment, with technology being one factor which increasingly strengthens such connections.

  The reference to the situation in the Autonomous Basque Community closes the overview offered in this book of the subject of digitalisation, the New Economy and social integration. In order to do so, the article" Analysis of the economic dimension of the new economy in the ACBC ", written by Cristina Prado Valle and Nieves González Gómez , attempts to establish the extent to which the ACBC has developed in the sphere of the New Economy. For this, the extent to which ICT industries and knowledge-related activities have been developed are compared with other European countries. Results show an impact on the economic structure of the ACBC, judging by the comparison parameters chosen, with R&D activities being those which require greatest effort, as well as the strengthening of medium and high-tech industries in the transformation and migration process of recent years. For the first time for the Basque economy, the article develops a simulation based on the analysis of the Input-Output tables on the impact of a greater use of the new technologies in ACBC prices and production costs.

  The effect of the new technologies in the sphere of the firm in the ACBC could not be omitted from this review. Consequently, in the article entitled " The implementation of ICTs in Basque firms ", María Victoria García Olea examines the availability and use of elements such as personal computers, Internet access, email, etc. in Basque firms, compared to a selection of leading countries in this matter, attempting to offer a view of the extent to which firms have adapted to this new environment. Finally, the analysis looks at more advanced applications in the development of the information society such as e-commerce, from the perspective of size, situation and corporate activity.

  In the article " Infrastructures for the Information Society in the regional-local framework: trends and situation in the ACBC ", Professor Josu Aramberri Miranda details the strategies which more advanced countries follow in order to deploy "future-proof" infrastructures from public undertakings. He considers infrastructures to be the foundations for services, and their absence or instability to be one of the elements which determine the "digital divide". In his article, he makes a detailed analysis of the situation of ACBC infrastructures and services, including the backbone or wholesale networks, Internet service providers and corporate networks, with specific references to emblematic cases such as that of UrnietaTel. Similarly, he highlights the general limited public planning in the sphere of infrastructures, with planning and public impetus being precisely two essential elements to guarantee the development of the necessary infrastructures at all levels, from local authorities to regional and autonomous institutions, establishing rational models of capillarity to the end user, backbone networks and public points for Internet service providers to exchange traffic, as shown by more advanced international experiences.

Due to its intrinsic features (rugged geography, proliferation of small holdings, an aging farming community), the rural environment is yet another example of groups which are at great risk of marginalisation in terms of the incorporation of the advantages inherent to the information society. The article entitle " Rural development and telecommunication infrastructures in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country " by Xabier Arruti Olazábal and Luis María Zaldua Echave examines the situation of cattle farms in the ACBC from the point of view of communications, highlighting some novel initiatives promoted by the Basque public sector. Although tangible progress has been made in this field, in the authors' opinion it is necessary to promote policies designed to re-establish the territorial balance of the Basque farming world, in living conditions comparable with urban areas and to favour the maintenance of culture and traditions, while encouraging the settling and increase of the population and the improvement in the quality of life. Otherwise, there is the risk of rural areas being technologically underdeveloped in terms of telecommunications.

  Having outlined the contents of this book, it only remains to reiterate the editors' aim which is to contribute to the idea of cultural heritage, fostering the contrast of ideas and opinions about such a current and unavoidable topic as that of the new society in which we find ourselves immersed. At the end of the book, there is a CD-ROM with all of the above articles in pdf format, with a suggested bibliography and a complete text reference, thereby providing a greater in-depth analysis and much wider view of the topic. Similarly, sound files of the opening and closing conferences presented at the Seminar which took place under this same title in September 2001, within the Summer Courses organised by the University of the Basque Country. This is all available to the public on the Federation of Basque-Navarre Savings Banks' website: www.fcavn.es.