The Network Society - University of Massachusetts Amherst

These models that can be given the names of Silicon Valley, an open
society model guided by the market; Singapore, the authoritarian
information regime model; and, finally, the Finnish model of an information-welfare
society.
If classification of a society as an information society is based on a
solid information technology at the infrastructure, production and
knowledge levels, what position do these countries have in terms of
these dimensions?
Table 2.1 Technological Achievement Index (2001)
Country TAI Position Group
Spain 19 Potential Leaders
Italy 20 Potential Leaders
Czech Republic 21 Potential Leaders
Hungary 22 Potential Leaders
Slovakia 25 Potential Leaders
Greece 26 Potential Leaders
Portugal 27 Potential Leaders
Poland 29 Potential Leaders
Argentina 34 Potential Leaders
Chile 37 Potential Leaders
Uruguay 38 Dynamic Adopters
Brazil 43 Dynamic Adopters
Source: UNDP, 2001.
Societies in Transition to the Network Society 29
Most of the countries classified here in terms of the technological
development index in 2001 (UNDP, 2001) were in what we can call
the second division of countries—the so-called potential leaders—
whereby this second division is led by Spain (19th place) and Italy
(20th). Brazil closed the list of countries in transition to the network
society in analysis here.
However, Brazil is worthy of special attention, for, according to the
IMD (2004), if we consider the competitiveness dimension for the
whole of Brazil, the country occupies 53rd place. If we consider only
the state of São Paulo, where a number of high-potential technological
centers are centered around the University of Campinas, the contribution
to the GDP in 1998 amounted to roughly to one third of the
Brazilian total, then the position of São Paulo at the global level places
it in 47th place. However, this is by no means a peculiarity of Brazil, as,
as far as societies in transition are concerned, there would seem to be
geographic differences in terms of integration in the global economy.