Doctor of Philosophy, Professor
Head of Chair of Social Philosophy, Russian State Humanitarian University

Autopoiesis of Information Objects

The article analyzes autopoiesis of complex informational objects, such as stock markets, Internet networks, and social communications. Main thesis of the article is that autopoiesis creates social risks and forces to revise research practices and interaction strategies of humans with complex informational objects.

The author believes that descriptions of self-developing anonymous systems should use concepts from a) contemporary communication theories (N. Luman), 2) non-classical information theories (D. Chernavsky), 3) dynamic theories of nonequilibrium processes (V. Arnold), and 4) object-centered-sociality (K. Knorr-Cetina).

Irina Alekseeva

Doctor of Philosophy
Leading Researcher of Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences

Information and Intelligence as Values of Modern Age

Information and intelligence are viewed in the context of value transformations taking place in modern society. The status of information as a specific value and resource that becomes more accessible as computer and telecommunication technologies develop is aligned with the status of knowledge as classic value while emphasizing the growing impact of market ideology on the attitude towards information, knowledge, and intelligence. Prospects of natural intelligence in the information society are discussed along with the transformation of cognitive abilities influenced by technologies. The intellectualization of person is viewed as a vital factor of informational and psychological security.

Olga Vershinskaya

Doctor of Economic Sciences
Head of the Laboratory of Socioeconomic Issues of the Information Society Development of the Institute of Socioeconomic Studies of Population, Russian Academy of Sciences
Member of the Supervisory Board of Institute of the Information Society

Olga Mahrova

Candidate of Economic Sciences
Researcher of the Laboratory of Socioeconomic Issues of the Information Society Development of the Institute of Socioeconomic Studies of Population, Russian Academy of Sciences

Humanitarian Informatics

The article attempts to define a new inter-disciplinary area of research, humanitarian informatics, studying social effects of ICT use by man. The object of research is the human being and information we consume via ICT. The consumption of information goods and services and the behavior of consumers (i.e. users) are largely unknown. New concepts are proposed: e-actor as an individual acting in the electronic space, and e-portrait as part of the person’s social portrait. The authors substantiate that socio-economic and socio-cultural aspects of information science are increasingly important for the development of information society.

Natal`ya Gendina

Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor
Director of Research Institute of Information Technology of Social Sphere, Kemerovo State University of Culture and Arts
Member of IFLA Standing Committee of Information Literacy Section

Information Culture, Art and Creativity of a Higher School Graduate in the Context of Problems of Human Capital Development in Information Society (P. 2)

Human capital is considered to be one of the conditions and factors of the information society development. In this context, the present article discusses the following questions: Who needs a creative graduate and what does a modern employer want? What is creativity and what is the difference between creativity and art?

Interconnection and consistency of two processes are examined, where the first one is formation of a creative person and the second one – development of personal information culture. The concept of personal information culture is examined in the framework of the higher school.

The content and structure of the curriculum Principles of Personal Information Culture for students and post-graduates of humanitarian higher education institutions are presented, its advantages for the formation of an artistic and creative person are revealed.

Boris Kondratov

Member of the International Federation of Journalists
Head of Project “Internet Journal “Third Age”

“Third Age” and the Internet

The article discusses the integration of seniors into the Internet. Motives for the integration of senior citizens are discussed. The Internet’s vast abilities to facilitate social activity, to get additional education and others are analyzed on specific examples. The author, head of Russia’s first professional website for seniors, “Third Age”, concludes that everyday usa of computers by people over 50 not only improves their social feeling but is also beneficial for the society, economy, politics, family, and other social institutes.

Valentina Bondarenko

Candidate of Economic Sciences
Leading Researcher of Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences
Director of N.D. Kondrat`ev International Fund

Innovation, Information Society and Russia’s Long-Term Development Strategy (P. 2)

The article proves that the issue of information society is within the area of human system theory as a whole. This new knowledge was acquired only through the author’s methodology of discovering patterns in the human society which is goal-oriented, systematic, cross-disciplinary, and enables measurement of all processes via a single parameter and efficiency criterion. This allowed to establish the role of ICT as innovation which irrevocably transforms the way of doing things, formulate the basic strategic goals of Russia’s development and the way to implement it with regard to each specific person.