This title was first published in 2000: A study of the diffusion and effective use of ICT in industry in Hungary, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. It explores quantitative and qualitative overviews of the current state of affairs with respect to computer-networking in industry, and examines prospects and obstacles.

First published in 1998, this deeply engaging volume describes the ‘great transformation’ of our time. While transformation, it is definitely not a transition to the market economy, civil society and democratic rule. Instead, this book maps the growth of the economic jungle, clan society and a corrupted, criminalised state. Capitalists but no capitalism. Watching Warsaw, Prague and Budapest, one should not forget about Zaporizhzhya. After this book, one cannot.

"A fascinating set of ideas . . . Politicians of all stripes should take note. And so should the people who vote for them." — Financial TimesWe know that our world is undergoing seismic change—but how can we emerge from the crisis as a better society?Over the past two centuries or so, capitalism has undergone profound changes—economic cycles that veer from boom to bust—from which it has always emerged transformed and strengthened. Surveying this turb...

'Ground-breaking and ambitious' - Nick Srnicek, author of Platform CapitalismWhoever controls the platforms, controls the future. Platform Socialism sets out an alternative vision and concrete proposals for a digital economy that expands our freedom.Powerful tech companies now own the digital infrastructure of twenty-first century social life. Masquerading as global community builders, these companies have developed sophisticated new techniques for extract...

Since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009 several hundred different ‘cryptocurrencies’ have been developed and become accepted for a wide variety of transactions in leading online commercial marketplaces and the ‘sharing economy’, as well as by more traditional retailers, manufacturers, and even by charities and political parties.Bitcoin and its competitors have also garnered attention for their wildly fluctuating values as well as implication in international money laundering, Ponzi sch...

For every person who reads this text on the printed page, many more will read it on a computer screen or mobile device. It’s a situation that we increasingly take for granted in our digital era, and while it is indicative of the novelty of twenty-first-century capitalism, it is also the key to understanding its driving force: the relentless impulse to commodify our lives in every aspect.Ursula Huws ties together disparate economic, cultural, and political phenomena of the last few ...

This book traces the development of e-government and its applications across Europe, exploring the effects of information and communication technology (ICTs) upon political action and processes.Explores a range of concepts and topics underpinning e-government in Europe:the degree to which e-government translates into genuine reform of government and public administrationthe dual role of the EU as both a provider of e-government through its own internal activ...

The ICT sector is crucial as a driver of economic and social growth. Not only is it an important industry in its own right, but it also provides the communication and infrastructure without which modern economies could not function. How does this sector work? Why is it stronger in some countries than in others? What should companies, governments and regulators be doing to enhance its contribution? In The New ICT Ecosystem, Martin Fransman answers these and other questions by developing the...

This comprehensive book provides a detailed overview of EU internet regulation in all its key areas, as well as giving a critical evaluation of EU policymaking and governance. This thoroughly revised second edition includes latest developments in the case law of the Court of Justice. It also discusses pending proposals in telecommunications, copyright and privacy laws as well as the new directions in internet regulation resulting from the Commission’s 2015 strategy document.

Given the powerfully negative and ongoing impact of the Great Recession on western economies, the question of whether historically wealthy nations--the US, Western European countries, Japan--can stay wealthy has become an overriding concern for virtually every interested observer. Can their middle classes remain comfortable as more and more good and technically jobs disappear to other parts of the world? Can they support themselves as they devote more and more economic resources to an agin...

The fourth industrial revolution, characterized by digitization, artificial intelligence and augmented reality, and megatrends such as globalization, urbanization, demographic changes, and the knowledge-based economy, will trigger a series of profound technological, economic, social and environmental changes that will permanently and irreversibly change the role of the state in meeting social needs. Industry 4.0 will also change the type, nature, and scope of public goods and how they are ...

Government information systems are big business (costing over 1 per cent of GDP a year). They are critical to all aspects of public policy and governmental operations. Governments spend billions on them - for instance, the UK alone commits £14 billion a year to public sector IT operations. Yet governments do not generally develop or run their own systems, instead relying on private sector computer services providers to run large, long-run contracts to provide IT. Some of the biggest compan...