Civil Society in Greece: Shaping new digital divides? Digital divides as cultural divides Implications for closing divides

Transcription

1 Civil Society in Greece: Shaping new digital divides? Digital divides as cultural divides Implications for closing divides Key words: Information Society, Cultural Divides, Civil Society, Greece, EU, ICT Regulation and Policy Introduction By investigating the Greek case, this paper aims to develop an alternative perception of digital divides in developing countries as well as countries that still lag behind. Such a perception differs from the common perception of digital divides as being the result of information inequalities. The alternative perception of digital divides proposed here will rather take into account the role of the cultural factor in shaping divides among states at the EU level of analysis and will, consequently, examine the impact on the policy, regulation and future evolution of the EU Information Society, in order the observed and long-standing divides across the EU to be finally closed. Hence, this paper proposes the alternative term cultural divides suggesting that occurred policy and regulation failures in EU Member States, such as Greece, might largely derive from cultural differentiations and consequent negative attitudes, as well as reactions and rejections of the particular civil society, rather than from political failures of the Narional Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) in charge. From this perspective, this paper aims at shedding light on the possible role of the civil society under scrutiny and the increasing attention that European policy-makers and regulators should pay to the goal of cultural harmonization of information cultures across the EU through the cultivation of an even European civil society which is aware of ICTs, interested in the Information Society and can significantly contribute to the target of stimulating the Information Society, regardless of any cultural particularity and divergence. 1

2 Why the Greek case? Greece is a particularly interesting case-study, as, although a full EU Member, it experiences severe failures in adopting consistently and timely the EU policy on the Information Society (EC, 2003a; EC, 2003b; EC, 2004). It, thus, questions, the future of the Information Society itself and raises the digital divides issue from a rather cultural and societal perspective. Greece appears to be a problematic country, in terms of compliance and adoption of the EU telecoms policy and regulation, highlighting, thus, the role of the cultural particularities and the national ICT environment in the degree to which the rapid developments of the European Information Society can be evenly followed by all interested parts. By investigating the Greek case, this paper takes a sociological rather than a political economy perspective, suggesting that under the umbrella of the current EU telecoms policy and regulation, the aim of closing divides should derive primarily from a substantial account of cultural varieties and divergences in the Member States, rather than from a rigid political economy consideration of the decision-making procedures. Thus, this papers attempts to view rather critically the prevalent thesis among regulators and policy-makers regarding the sustainance of a uniform and equally imposed telecoms policy and regulation framework throughout EU borders. Greek Information Society: Civil Society at the epicentre Greece is, according to the 2002 White Paper, relatively behind in the course towards the emergence of the Information Society, as inactivity, lack of appropriate initiatives and of preparation for the circumstances of the new emerging society risks cutting us off from European and global developments (Greek Ministry of Economy and Finance, 2002). Hence, this White Paper concerning the course of Greece in the Information Society acknowledges the necessity for new rules for the protection of data, the protection of privacy, the commercialization of material protected under intellectual property rights, etc (ibid), as well as the need for citizens participation 1 (emphasis added) (ibid). 1 Citizens right to participate in the Information Society is proclaimed in the Article 5A/par. 2 of the revised Greek constitution which ordains further that the state has an obligation to facilitate production, exchange and dissemination of and access to electronically handled information. 2

3 The above statement on the distinctiveness of Greece and the potential role that citizens might play in the Information Society is empirically confirmed by the 2001, 2002 & 2003 national GRNet surveys (GRNet, 2001; GRNet, 2002; GRNet, 2003) that provide useful and, to a certain degree, contrasting figures and statistics regarding the particularities of the Greek case, both in terms of ICT diffusion and culture of non-adoption. As Greece is still struggling with the legacies of the past, attempting to create great prospects for the future, the Greek Information Society presents many interesting and at the same time contradictory characteristics in comparison to other European countries. More specifically, those three national surveys illustrate the serious delays that Greece experiences compared to other EU Member States in terms of ICT diffusion and usage. In some sense, Greece fails to take advantage of the eeurope initiative and to significantly increase the indicators of new technologies and information society, as, while the Internet penetration in December 2001 in the European households was 38%, Greece is an outlier with Internet penetration less than 10% 2 : Graph 1: Internet Penetration (% EU Households connected, December 2001) Source: EC, 2002c: 5. Figures are based on Eurobarometer, December 2001 Moreover, the Flash EB 112 survey illustrates the weak relationship between Greek citizens and the Internet. Indicatively, to the question does your household have access to the Internet? only 10% of the Greek respondents answered positively, presenting, thus, a decreasing rate of access to the Internet from 12% in October 2000 to 10% in November 2001 (EC, 2002a: 6). According to the same survey, Greece has 2 Internet penetration is a significant indicator relating to the technology penetration and the Information Society in general, indicating, thus, that, although substantial advances have been achieved in Greece over the last years, the Internet and ICTs have not yet penetrated substantially Greek citixens everyday life settings. 3

4 the lowest percentage of citizens accessing the Internet from their household among all EU Member States, followed by Spain and Portugal where only one quarter of the population has Internet access in their households (ibid) 3. However, the 2001, 2002, 2003 GRNet surveys also point out the increasingly improved picture of ICT diffusion and usage in Greece over the last few years, contrasting, thus, manifestly the Flash Eurobarometer 125 survey for the year 2002, as the latter argues about the relative increase in the digital gap between Greece and the EU (EC, 2002b). More specifically, a comparative examination of new technologies use, such as WAP services, Internet use, computer use and a four layered indicator of new technologies use, can illustrate the gradual and increasing diffusion of ICTs in Greece for the years : Table 1: Greek citizens and ICT use ( ) YEARS Usage of INDICATORS WAP New Technologies Use (%) Services 1 [four layered use] 2 _ Internet use (%) 3 Computer use (%) % ,7 6,3 10,6 20, % 32, ,9 17,2 25, % 29,1 27,4 19,6 10, ,9 27,1 1. Source: GRNet, 2003: Source: GRNet, 2003: Do you use the Internet? Source: GRNet, 2003: Do you use the Computer? Source: GRNet, 2003: 5 According to the above table, mobile phones are rapidly entering the Greek society, as in % of respondents had a mobile telephone, although other mobile services, such as WAP services, are, according to the same survey, still largely unknown to the majority of Greek people, with 97.3% of Greek people not using WAP services in 2003 (GRNet, 2003: 49). 3 The Flash EB 112 survey also concluded that Greece is the last in line in terms of Internet usage. More specifically, to the question do you personally use the Internet, 16.8% of the Greek respondents answered positively. This percentage was the lowest among all EU Members, and it was followed by Italy (33%), Spain (29%) and Portugal (29%), whilst the EU average was 47.9%. On the other hand, Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Iceland), Netherlands and Austria had the highest percentages of positive responses to that question (EC, 2002a: 16). 4

5 Furthermore, the GRNet 2003 survey, surveying individuals between 24 October and 24 November 2003, detected an even more widespread use of new technologies across Greece, concluding, as the table above shows, in an important increase of the four-layered indicator of new technologies use in 2003, with a 2.1% increase of the population using all main new technologies (mobile phone, PC, the Internet and bank cash machines) compared to 2002, and a 3.9% decrease in the percentage of the population not using any new technology respectively (ibid: 80). Additionally, as the above figures show, while in 2002 Internet usage had increased by almost 7% (10.6% in 2001 and 17.2% in 2002), as more than 1 out of 3 Greeks was a computer user and almost 1 out of 5 was an Internet user, the picture was even better in 2003 with Internet usage being increased by 2.7% and reaching 19.9% of the population (73.3% of computer users) (ibid: 21). Graph 2: Internet use Do you use the Internet? Yes No Source: GRNet, 2003: 21 5

6 Likewise, computer usage in years has increased by 1.3%, reaching 27.1% of the overall population in 2003 (ibid: 5) 4. Graph 3: Computer use. Do you use computer? Yes No d.k/n.a Source: GRNet, 2003: 5 Greek Information Society: Cultural divides into shaping The 2002 and 2003 GRNet surveys attempted to go further and investigate why the majority of citizens in Greece reject, either directly or indirectly, ICTs in general and the Internet in particular. More specifically, the obtained data in 2002 indicate that it is the lack of interest of the majority of Greek citizens and the sense of not needing to use computers and the Internet, rather than any particular fear or the cost of those technologies, that lie behind the decision of people in Greece not to use computers and the Internet. Hence, 1 out of 6 Greeks who do not use either computers or the 4 The percentage of the households owning a PC and having an Internet connection also appears much improved, as in 2003 more than 1 out of 3 Greek households owned PCs (GRNet 2003: 87), whereas almost 1 out of 7 households (15.2%) had an Internet connection (ibid: 91), diminishing, thus, the longstanding gap with the EU in the general population and the households as well. Furthermore, 8.6% of the households state their intention to obtain an Internet connection within the next six months (ibid: 93), indicating, thus, a prospect for rapid expansion of Internet connections in the immediate future. On the other hand, the high cost of getting an Internet connection (7.8% of the households) seems to play a less important role in the decision of Greek households not to obtain an Internet connection, whilst lack of interest (49.3%) and the feeling of not needing to acquire an Internet connection (25.3%) prevail from this point of view (ibid: 94). 6

7 Internet say that they do not need them or that they are not interested in them, and 3 out of 10 who do not use computers respond by saying that they have never dealt with computers (GRNet, 2002: 11). Similar results were obtained about computer users who do not use the Internet, as 5 out of 10 do not use the Internet either because they are not interested in it or because they have never used it before and they do not need it, whereas just more than 3 out of 10 do not use the Internet because they do not have an Internet connection (ibid: 12) 5. Likewise, in 2003, even more people (30.7%) than in 2002 (23.1%) state that they do not need the Internet, whereas the concern about the cost of connecting to the Internet appears smaller (4.2%) than in 2002 (9.2%) (GRNet, 2003: 32). Equally important, the lack of Internet connection is articulated in 2003 (25%) as a less frequent reason for people not using the Internet than in 2002 (30.8%) (ibid), justifying the claims about a decreasing digital divide in Greece over the last few years, on the one hand, and a persistent culture of low degree of interest and involvement of the Greek society with new technologies, on the other. Table 2: Reasons for not using the Internet* ( ) YEARS REASONS I do not need it 23,1 30,7 No Internet connection 30,8 25 I am not interested 16,2 15,6 I have never used the Internet 10,9 14,6 No available PC 2,5 4,3 It is very expensive 9,2 4,2 Other reason 3,4 3 Its usage is difficult 2 1,1 *Respondents are computer users that do not use the Internet Source: GRNet, 2003: 32 5 Nevertheless, computer- and non-internet users show by far a more positive attitude to the prospect of using the Internet than the non-computer and non-internet users, as in out of 11 of the former argued about their positive predisposition to using the Internet in future for a number of reasons. Also, 1 out of 12 households that do not own a PC declared their intention to buy one within the next six months, which entails an increase in the percentage of PC occupation in Greek households by 8% in only six months, namely from 29% to 37% (GRNet, 2002: 19). Likewise, 1 out of 10 households that did not have Internet connection declared their intention to obtain an Internet connection in the next six months, leading to an increase in the respective percentage by 9% (from 13.4% to 22%) in only six months (ibid: 20). 7

8 Therefore, what is actually worth paying attention to is the negative attitude and lack of interest in ICTs, and the Internet in particular, that the Greek citizens show compared to other Europeans. In other words, more illustrative than the actual numbers of Internet usage and technology penetration are the measures of public attitudes towards the new communications technology, as Greeks present a lack of interest in ICTs in general, displaying, more specifically, among all other Europeans in the EU, the highest percentage of non-interest in the Internet at the office and the second highest at home (Greek Initiative Information Society: ICT Use. Available at: The most recent survey conducted in Greece in the first quarter of 2004 by the National Statistical Service (ESYE) confirms the above remarks and concludes that the non-appreciation of the Internet is the main reason for people not using it, as the majority of the respondents, 52.62%, stated that the main reason for not accessing the Internet is the belief that the information provided online is not of particular usefulness and interest (ESYE, 2004a). In conclusion, it seems that Greek citizens suffer from a lack of familiarization with new technologies and electronically mediated ways of communication, pointing, thus, to new challenges and bringing to the fore the existence of cultural rather than purely digital divides: In our country today there is a tendency to distinguish the few (but rapidly increasing in number) users of computers and communication networks such as the Internet from the many who treat the new technologies at best as a mystery and at worst as a danger for their future (emphasis added) (Greek Ministry of Economy and Finance, 2002: 12). Cultural Divides and the EU Policy in charge The above shaping of cultural divides within the Greek civil society stimulates further research regarding cultural, economic, historical and socio-political factors into play. This paper maintains that the empirical evidence coming from the failures and shortcomings of the EU to achieve the broad diffusion of ICTs across EU borders, call the EU to reconsider its policy options and shift its administrative policy towards a more flexible, mediating and socio-culturally oriented direction for transposing and implementing its telecoms regulation and policy initiatives. For this paper, the core of 8

9 the problematic is that the failure and only partial applicability of the EU Information Society (EC, 2003a; EC, 2003b; EC, 2004) are fundamentally rooted in the absence of substantial and constant consideration of the socio-cultural particularities of EU Member States such as Greece and of the fundamentally cultural character of the persistent divides. Hence, whereas the new EU telecoms regulatory framework recognizes, for example, the necessity for flexibility, constant revision and focus on local circumstances, it aims at the launching of a single European communications market through the attainment of the goal of harmonization and the simultaneous transposition of the regulatory provisions from all Member States (DG Information Society, Factsheet 2), in order not to jeopardize the often conflicting market interests within the EU. This inconsistence is more than obvious in the mid-term EU reports and evaluations of the implementation of the EU policy and regulation on the Information Society, as delays, inconsistencies and divergences constitute a commonplace, shedding thus light on the particular role of culture in shaping new divides 6 : In some Member States which have adopted legislation, the objectives enshrined in the national legislation do not directly reflect the regulatory objectives set out in Article 8 of Framework Directive. In some cases this is because the regulatory objectives provided for have been significantly reformulated (perhaps to reflect the legislative culture or traditions of the country concerned) (EC, 2003b: 26) 6 A lengthy literature addresses the issue of required changes and shifts in the mechanisms and bodies through which the EU attempts to achieve the timely and effective regulatory performance of its Member States. Indicatively, the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (AMCHAM EU, 2004) proposes administrative shifts in terms of a stronger focus on implementation, consistency in implementation and further mechanisms of enforcement of regulation. 9

10 Conclusion By investigating the Greek case, this paper articulates a major critique on the current EU policy process regarding the failure of the EU to recognize and adjust its policy to the existing cultural particularities of its Member States. This paper also illustrates the functionality of the alternative perception of digital divides as cultural divides, in order for cultural particularities and their role in the full application of the EU policy in all Member States to be fully recognized and for the closing of divides to be finally achieved. Therefore, this paper raises the question of whether digital divides constitute cultural divides, questions the conventional perceptions of information inequalities and addresses the necessity of a new line of EU policy which would be culturally adjusted and fully harmonized to the socio-cultural particularities of the EU Member States, without losing, at the same time, its broad scope and common aim throughout the EU. 10

11 BIBLIOGRAPHY AMCHAM EU (2004) Implementation and Enforcement of EU Law. Available at: DG Information Society, Factsheet 2: A Three-Pronged Approach to the Information Society. Available at: EC (2004) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. European Electronic Communications Regulation and Markets COM (2004) 759 final. Brussels, EC (2003a) Telecommunications: Five Member States have transposed new regulatory package into national law on time - Commission to start proceedings against latecomers (IP/03/1121). Available at: htpp:// EC (2003b) Report on the Implementation of the EU Electronic Communications Regulatory Package. COM (2003), 715 final Available at: ESYE (2004a) Available at: (in Greek) European Commission (2002a) Flash Eurobarometer 112: Internet and the Public at Large. Brussels: DG Press & Communication. Available at: European Commission (2002b) Flash Eurobarometer 125: Internet and the Public at Large. Brussels: DG Press & Communication. Available at: Greek Initiative Information Society, ICT Use. Available at: Greek Ministry of Economy and Finance (2002) White Paper: Greece in the Information Society, Strategy and Actions. Available at: ftp://ftp.cordis.lu/pub/greece/docs/wpgreeceinfosoc_mnec_2002_en.pdf. GRNet (2003) National Survey on New Technologies and the Information Society.. Athens. Available at: (in Greek) GRNet (2002) National Survey on New Technologies and the Information Society.. Athens. Available at: (in Greek) 11

12 GRNet (2001) Nationwide Survey on the Use of Computers, the Internet and Mobile Telephony in Greece. Athens. Available at: (in Greek) 12