Social, Economic, Legal and Educational Challenges of Network Economics

Dear Colleagues,

There has been a big shift in the conceptual understanding of global economic development. It is based on the formation of a new type of economic system – the network economy – which is characterized by the emergence of new economic entities – network structures – and new ways of cooperation, the fall of hierarchical logic, and the emergence of new forms of management. Therefore, the study and promotion of the development of network systems should be given much attention at the current stage of economic development, as highly integrated structures are the main engine of economic growth. This is possible, taking into account the elements of support for the development of the network economy: social, economic, legal and educational.

Particularly, under these conditions, one of the important tasks of legal science is the creation of theoretical, legal and regulatory frameworks for the introduction of information technologies in various areas of social life. The law should regulate social relationships that are related to information technologies, as well as respond to threats and challenges of the information society.

Accordingly, we can observe how in modern society, within the framework of the new ideology of post-industrialism, a qualitatively new type of society has emerged – the information society. Its emergence had certain theoretical roots, as the ideas of the information society were formed in the discussions of futurologists, techno-optimists, eco-pessimists and globalists, but this concept is constantly improving, taking into account the specifics of social development. These discussions were fueled by the pessimistic ideas of environmentalists, who predicted the disappointing development of civilization through the thoughtless and large-scale industrialization of all spheres of production. It is against this background that scientists have begun to think about the problems of the future and form theoretical preconditions for its change, as the shock of the future, combined with the collapse of theories of infinite progress, encourages them to develop new theoretical and predictive models of human development.

The information society ensures the involvement of a large number of people in information resources, helps to improve the exchange of information between the various subjects of information relations, and accelerates the development of information relations. In general, the formation of the information society is a long-term activity of relevant actors, both in terms of organizational measures and the formation of information and legal legislation in this area, so there is a need for research to improve the model of information society and make forecasts of its formation and development.

The concept of the information society expresses the idea of a qualitatively new socio-economic order, which replaces the industrial society and is associated with the introduction of information and communication technologies and the information revolution, which extend to all spheres of social life. One of the main and defining features of the information society is the growth of diversity, which affects lifestyles and thinking, the formation of consciousness and worldview.

The processes of information and computer technologies and Internet communications are increasingly covering (with that in global terms) almost all areas of human activity: economics, management, innovative technologies, education, science, culture, etc. Replacing the sectoral-territorial principle of the organization of the economy with a network one is the most important feature of the information-network economy, which is established in global terms. That is, the defining feature of the information-network economy is its planetarity. The information network is, on the one hand, a fundamentally new form of organization and operation of the economy, and, on the other hand, it is a system-forming platform, a kind of global matrix of civilization development in XXI century.

The planetary geoeconomy, which is based on the network foundation, serves as a basic platform and, at the same time, a civilization challenge for national economies. Countries that are unable to organically combine the two factors of civilization development – information innovation and high organizational and management support for their practical effect – are doomed to civilizational and, in particular, geoeconomic backwardness of a cumulative nature.

Prof. Dr. Svetlana Drobyazko
Guest Editor

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• Information-network economy
• Economics
• Legislation
• Sociology
• Education
• Information society
• Development