Academic literature on the topic 'Communication in economic development Community development Economic development Community organization Communication in social action Community power'

Unequal city development, namely the faster development of large centers and concentration of power, globalization and local specificities in certain locations, have caused a lack of balance between large city centers and smaller settlements and villages. In Serbia, there are major differences in the level of development, as well as in cultural features of settlements. There are significant economic differences between settlements in the north, the east, and the south of the country, since settlements developed in valleys and hence had better traffic communication, and could therefore be competitive and stay abreast of transformations. Smaller settlements and villages (especially those along the borders, in National parks and in difficult to access rural regions), are marginalized, and face many problems, most often caused by lack of infrastructure, decrease of the number of inhabitants, the dissolution of the secondary and tertiary sector. Today, a quarter of the total population lives in the capital city of Belgrade, while a considerable number of settlements are completely shutting down. These settlements once had their identity and a harmonious balance of all elements constituting the life of the community and the individual. A distinctive social aspect contributed to a rich cultural heritage, but over time this was gradually lost and begins to disappear. The question is if any of the processes (globalization, technological revolution), which contribute to the demographic and economic decline of rural regions, could form a basis for renewal. A classical planner’s approach would imply the networking of settlements and providing equal population distribution by investing in infrastructure and providing conditions for settlements through the development of central functions, requiring considerable investments. The other possibility relies on the development of information and communication technologies (ICT), which could provide for many necessities: access to and exchange of information, paying bills and ordering products from a distance, working from home, meetings via Internet conferences, etc. The use of Internet technologies in order to develop settlements, by converting traditional into “net” technologies, can make up for disadvantages of life in smaller settlements and enable their revitalization, by networking them into a global net of settlements, without geographical borders and limits.

Community Informatics (CI) is the application of ICT to overcome the “digital divide” both within and among communities (Gurstien, 2000). Taylor (2004) further asserts that CI is a connection between theory and practice in community networks. In this case, CI refers to the use of ICT for community practice, which Glen (1993) elaborates as encompassing concepts of community development, community service delivery and community action. With the emergence of CI, it is possible for remote communities to enjoy the benefits of ICT for economic and social development. For example, in India, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation established six Village Information Shops, which enabled rural families to access and exchange a basket of information using ICT (Balaji & Harris, 2000). In Costa Rica, there is a project involving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to implement “digital town centers” in remote villages (Harris, 1999).

Broadband Internet access is important for rural and remote areas to access e-commerce, e-government, e-learning, e-healthcare, Internet telephony, and other online resources. This chapter discusses the main opportunities and challenges of developing telecommunication infrastructures for rural and remote areas. In addition, affordable high-speed Internet access is important for communication (voice, data, Internet, etc.), community empowerment, job search and career development, and weather and climate monitoring. Expanding Internet access to rural areas, in particular, faces a number of challenges, such as lack of sustainable and affordable power supply, limited funding opportunities, and selecting a suitable technology. The authors discuss these issues using anecdotic evidence from a number of projects and case studies developed in the last 30 years by International Telecommunication Union (ITU). They conclude the chapter with recommendations of successful practices and policy guidelines.

During the crisis periods of modern times, it was seen that the changes in the vectors of practical activity are not only related to the economic sphere of Russia and many other countries but the trends that form the communications market in general and the mass media, in particular, are transformed to the greatest extent. This was especially evident in the first half of 2020 when the world was overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic, and digital technologies defined the essence and prospects of not only professional or interpersonal relations but also the sphere of politics, economics and culture. Therefore, it is logical that in the fifth and final part of the monograph “Mass Media as a Mediator of Communicative-Cultural Memory”, the authors described and systematized the ways of transformation of communicative-cultural memory, characteristic for “analogue” and “digital” generations of the mass audience, as well as highlight­ed the actual problems of forming the priorities of personal awareness of their socio-cultural identity. It is shown that the model of effective transmission of communicative-cul­tural memory to the “digital” generation, developed based on theoretical analysis and empirical data obtained during a decade, differs from other social models primarily by such essential elements as creative and technological and dialogic components of everyday work of subjects of information activity. It is they who determine the effectiveness of generational mutual influence through the media, acting as a mediator. At the same time, the hypothesis that mass media consumers are considered to be of different generation groups is confirmed. It is proved that the rapid and irreversible process of the global Network expansion has transformed many executive intents of the power structures of society in the majority of vital spheres not only socio-political, economic, professional, edu­cational, etc. of individuals’ activity, but, first of all, in the socio-cultural sphere formed by the resources of the communicative memory of the nation. On the example of the mass media of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug and the Russian-speaking press of the United States, it is also proved that one of the fea­tures of the modern development of multicultural countries and regions, as well as individual societies included in them, is the use of a strategy of ethnocultural neo-traditionalism, which is most often reflected in the actualization of historical memory and potential of the past, in focusing on artefacts characterizing certain aspects of communicative-cultural memory, in ethnocultural consolidation, in reproduction, “invention” and “promotion” of traditions, etc. The study concludes that the effective functioning of the media as a mediator of communicative-cultural memory, especially in the context of its transmission to the “digital” generation, involves the use of modelling principles not only to plan but also to predict the effectiveness of this activity. Since the social and managerial approach to the problem of generational mutual influence under conditions of permanent technological transformations is the least studied in media theory, the authors have fixed the basic elements of the model of devel­opment of regional journalism of the digital age in the context of professional culture. These include self-organization of the media community, mobilization and activation of public authorities’ resources, public control through the media and citizen journalists over the effectiveness of criticism of the region’s power structures, changes in the system of journalism training and media education, and some others.

The SJVG-MAS Project addresses, in an interdisciplinary approach, the development of MAS-based tools for the simulation of the social production and management processes observed in urban ecosystems, adopting as case study the social vegetable garden project conducted at the San Jerónimo Park (Seville/Spain), headed by the confederation “Ecologistas en Acción.” The authors aim at the analysis of the current reality of the SJVG project, allowing discussions on the adopted social management processes, and also for investigating how possible changes in the social organization (e.g., roles assumed by the agents in the organization, actions, behaviors, (in)formal interaction/communication protocols, regulation norms), especially from the point of view of the agent's participation in the decision making processes, may transform this reality, from the social, environmental and economic point of view, then contributing for the sustainability of the project. The MAS was conceived as a multi-dimensional BDI-like agent social system, involving the development of five components: the agents' population, the system's organization, the system's environment, the set of interactions executed among agents playing organizational roles (e.g., communication protocols for reaching agreements) and the normative policy structure (internal regulation established by SJVG community). The aim of this chapter is to discuss the problems faced and to present the solution found for the modeling of SJVG social organization using JaCAMo framework. The chapter shows the integration of the considered dimensions, discussing the adopted methodology, which may be applied in several other contexts.

The SJVG-MAS Project addresses, in an interdisciplinary approach, the development of MAS-based tools for the simulation of the social production and management processes observed in urban ecosystems, adopting as case study the social vegetable garden project conducted at the San Jerónimo Park (Seville/Spain), headed by the confederation “Ecologistas en Acción.” The authors aim at the analysis of the current reality of the SJVG project, allowing discussions on the adopted social management processes, and also for investigating how possible changes in the social organization (e.g., roles assumed by the agents in the organization, actions, behaviors, (in)formal interaction/communication protocols, regulation norms), especially from the point of view of the agent's participation in the decision making processes, may transform this reality, from the social, environmental and economic point of view, then contributing for the sustainability of the project. The MAS was conceived as a multi-dimensional BDI-like agent social system, involving the development of five components: the agents' population, the system's organization, the system's environment, the set of interactions executed among agents playing organizational roles (e.g., communication protocols for reaching agreements) and the normative policy structure (internal regulation established by SJVG community). The aim of this chapter is to discuss the problems faced and to present the solution found for the modeling of SJVG social organization using JaCAMo framework. The chapter shows the integration of the considered dimensions, discussing the adopted methodology, which may be applied in several other contexts.

People in the developing countries who lack basic services and economic opportunities are primarily concerned with improving their living conditions. At present, unemployment problem in the rural areas of the developing countries are diversifying the moral values and social responsibilities of unemployed youth. To solve the problem, rural development centres (involving vocational training, IT services and other productive activities) can contribute significantly for the upliftment of these rural youths and can transform them into grass-root entrepreneurs. One critical factor hindering the esta

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are transforming every area of economic and social life all around the world. New types of jobs different from the traditional ones are created rapidly. The demand for highly skilled staff who uses technology effectively has become a requirement for success of companies and the growing industry. However, the number of IT graduates is not keeping up with the current demand. In addition, companies have little or no training programs to develop ICT skills. Initiatives from the European Economic Area (EEA) and Norway Grants to support transnational