Information

The entire history of mankind can be associated with the term Information, which is widely used today. The term " information" comes from the Latin " informatio" - information, clarifications, presentation.

There are many definitions of information that only emphasize the complexity and multidimensionality of this concept.

Information is information that removes uncertainty about the world around us.

The federal law “On Information, Informatization and Information Protection,” which was adopted in Russia in 1995, provides the following definitions of the concept information

Information - information about persons, objects, facts, events, phenomena and processes, regardless of the form of their presentation.

Information exists on media, objects that carry information. Objects of living and inanimate nature can act as carriers. Carriers come in different types, shapes, and purposes. The information carrier can be a person, a sheet of paper (hard copy), CDs, DVDs, flash cards, HDD computer (electronic media), wall, sky, trees, etc.

Information exists in two main forms:

· discrete (discontinuous) – in this form information exists on digital media,

· analog (continuous) – in this form information about continuous processes can exist (for example, the process of moving from one point in space to another).

In order for information to exist, a receiver of information, a source and a communication channel between them are necessary. Information is transmitted from the source of information to the receiver in the form of messages.

Message – information prepared for transmission.

A message is transmitted over a communication channel using a signal.

A signal is a process that carries information.

Types of information (according to the way a person perceives it):

visual (information about visual images),

auditory (information perceived by ear),

tactile (skin sensations),

· kinesthetic (orientation in space),

· organoleptic (information about taste and smell).

Information properties:

· Objectivity. Information is objective if it does not depend on anyone’s opinion or judgment.

· Credibility. Information is reliable if it reflects the true state of affairs. Objective information is always reliable; reliable information may be biased.

· Relevance. Up-to-date information – information received in a timely manner.

· Completeness. Information is complete if it is sufficient for understanding and making decisions. Information on completeness is divided into: complete, incomplete, redundant.

· Accuracy - the accuracy of information is determined by the degree of its proximity to the real state of an object, process, phenomenon, etc.

· Usefulness. The value of information for the recipient.

You can perform various operations on information:

· Creation/destruction,

· treatment,

· receiving/transferring,

· collection/storage/accumulation.

Information process– a process associated with performing any operations on information.

Data is information prepared for processing or storage on a computer.

In any society, information performs the following basic functions:

· integrative - uniting members of society and social groups into a single whole;

· communicative - communication and mutual understanding;

· instrumental - participation in the organization of production and management;

· cognitive - as a means of reflecting objective reality and transmitting data.

Information society

Information today has turned into a powerful, tangible resource that has even greater value than natural financial, labor and other resources. Information has become a commodity that is bought and sold. Information turned into weapons, arises and ceases information wars. Cross-border communication is actively developing and entering our lives. information network Internet.

The development of mankind was accompanied by an increase in the volume of accumulated knowledge and information, both about man himself and about the world around him. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the pace of information has increased dramatically. So, if in the 19th century the total amount of human knowledge doubled every 50 years, then by 1950 - every 10 years, by 1970 - every 5 years, and since 1990. - annually. The current situation is often characterized using the expression: “information explosion.” Specialists in the field of computer science have established a quantitative law of increasing information in society. This law is represented as an exponential function.

Civilization in general and each of us in particular are at the stage of forming a new type of society - the information society. The social system and law, as one of the main regulators of this system, lag significantly behind the pace of development of the information society.

In accordance with the concept of Z. Brzezinski, D. Bell, O. Toffler, supported by other foreign scientists, the information society is a type of post-industrial society. Considering social development as a “change of stages,” proponents of this concept of the information society associate its formation with the dominance of the “fourth” information sector of the economy, following the three well-known sectors - agriculture, industry and the service economy. At the same time, they argue that capital and labor, as the basis of an industrial society, give way to information and knowledge in the information society.

The information society is a special society, not known to history. It is difficult to define it, but we can list the main features and characteristics:

Availability of information infrastructure, consisting of cross-border information and telecommunication networks and distributed in them information resources as stocks of knowledge;

New forms and types of activities in TITS or in virtual space(everyday work activity in networks, purchase and sale of goods and services, communication and recreation, recreation and entertainment, medical care, etc.);

The ability for everyone to almost instantly receive from TITS complete, accurate and reliable information;

Almost instantaneous communication of every member of society with everyone, everyone with everyone and everyone with everyone (for example, “chat rooms” based on interests on the Internet);

Transformation of media activities, integration of media and TITS, creation of a unified environment for the dissemination of mass information - multimedia;

The absence of geographical and geopolitical borders of the states participating in TITS, the “clash” and “breaking” of national legislations of countries in these networks, the formation of a new international information law and legislation.

A typical example of the information infrastructure of such an information society is the Internet. Today, the Internet actively fills the information space in all countries and on all continents and is the main and active means of creating an information society.

The volume of information resources on the Internet is growing exponentially.

Japanese scientists argue that in the information society, the computerization process will give people access to reliable sources of information, relieve them of routine work, and ensure a high level of automation of information processing in the industrial and social spheres.

The basis of the information society is the production of information. Other products are becoming more information-intensive, with innovation, design and marketing making up most of their value.

A person in the information society is assigned the role of a creator, possessing not only specific knowledge, but also mastering techniques and technologies for their processing and accumulation. The information society is based on various kinds of systems computer equipment And computer networks, information technologies, communications and telecommunications. The employment of members of the information society is mostly related to the maintenance of information technologies and their use; material production will be entrusted to automated and intelligent devices.

All types of information functioning in society can be called social information.

The following types of social information are distinguished:

Political;

Economic;

Scientific and technical;

Mass;

Legal;

Statistical;

About emergency situations;

About citizens (personal data);

Computer;

Political information - information about the statics and dynamics of political relations, the political line of the state, the activities of political parties and public associations, the image of political figures, and all elements of the political system of society.

Economic information- a set of information reflecting economic processes and relationships.

Scientific and technical information is documented or publicly disclosed information about domestic and foreign achievements of science, technology and production.

Mass information means printed, audio, audiovisual and other messages intended for an unlimited number of people.

Information about citizens (personal data) is information about the facts, events and circumstances of a citizen’s life that allows his or her personality to be identified. The main elements of information about citizens are first and last name, gender, date and place of birth, place of residence, education and marital status, information about social status, affiliation with political parties and associations, physical and mental health, financial status, property ownership, criminal record and etc.

Term computer information introduced by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in 1996. Article 272 defines this type of information as information on computer media, in an electronic computer (computer), a computer system or in their network.

By access modes, information can be divided into:

Open (public);

Information limited access(state secret, confidential information, commercial secret, professional secret, official secret).

State secret - information protected by the state in the field of its military, foreign policy, economic, intelligence and operational investigative activities, the dissemination of which could harm security Russian Federation(Article 2 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On State Secrets” dated July 24, 1993).

Confidential information is documented information, access to which is limited in accordance with the law. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On approval of the list of confidential information” dated March 6, 1997 defines the types confidential information. These include:

Information about facts, events and circumstances of a citizen’s private life, allowing his identity to be identified (personal data), with the exception of information that is subject to dissemination in the media in cases established by federal laws.

Information constituting the secret of investigation and legal proceedings.

Official information, access to which is limited by government authorities in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and federal laws (official secrets).

Information related to professional activities, access to which is limited in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws (medical, notarial, attorney-client confidentiality, confidentiality of correspondence, telephone conversations, postal items, telegraphic or other messages, and so on).

Information related to commercial activities, access to which is limited in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and federal laws (trade secret).

Information about the essence of the invention, utility model or industrial design before the official publication of information about them.

A trade secret is defined as information that has actual or potential commercial value because it is unknown to third parties, there is no free access to it on a legal basis, and the owner of the information takes measures to protect its confidentiality ( the federal law RF “On Trade Secrets” dated July 9, 2004).

As humanity developed, the role of information in the life of society and the individual constantly increased. The most important human achievements in computerization- This:

• the emergence of writing (about $3000$ years BC, Egypt);
• the invention of printing ($X$ century – China, $XV$ century – Europe);
• means of communication (telegraph, telephone, radio, television; late $XIX$ - early $XX$ centuries).

Now it is believed that we are gradually moving from an industrial society to a post-industrial (information) society.

Definition 1

Information society– this is a stage of development of civilization at which information and knowledge become the main products of production.

Definition 2

The transition to an information society is often called informatization.

Japan, the USA and some European countries (for example, Germany) have already moved closer to the information society. This can be judged by the following signs:

• introduction of computers and information technologies into all spheres of life;
• development of means of communication (communications);
• teaching computer literacy to any person;
• freedom of access to any information;
• development of distance education using the Internet;
• changes in the economic structure from the point of view of informatization;
• changing the way of life of people (communication via the Internet, social networks, online stores, e-commerce...).

Note 1

As a result of industrialization, machines replaced humans, and as a result of informatization, computers begin to independently collect and process information, replacing the mental work of people.

On the one hand, the transition to an information society makes people's lives easier, because all routine work is performed by a computer. On the other hand, there are also negative consequences:

• increasing the influence of the media (through mass information, a group of people can influence the human masses, which leads to tourist acts);
• as a result of the availability of information, the privacy of people and entire organizations is destroyed;
• the gigantic flow of information makes it difficult to determine its reliability;
• personal communication is increasingly being replaced by communication on the Internet (social networks, chats, blogs...);
• older people cannot adapt to changing conditions.

As a result of informatization, information is accumulated in libraries, banks and databases, which are called information resources country and the world as a whole. Currently, information resources have become a commodity. Many companies provide information services:

• search and selection of information;
• personnel selection;
• education;
• advertising;
• consulting;
• creation of automated information systems and websites.

One of the signs of the information society-wide introduction of information technologies in all spheres of life.

Definition 3

New information technologies– these are technologies associated with the use of computer technology for storing, protecting, processing and transmitting information.

Information technologies include:

• preparation of documents;
• search for information;
• telecommunications (computer networks; Internet, e-mail);
• automation of control systems (creation and use of automated control systems);
• CAD (implementation of computer-aided design systems);
• geographic information systems (implementation of systems based on maps and satellite images);
• training (computer simulators, distance learning; electronic textbooks, multimedia development).

The increasing role of information in modern society requires from each person a certain culture of handling information and information technologies, i.e. information culture.

Information culture of society is the ability of society:

• effectively use information resources and means of information exchange;
• apply achievements and advanced information technologies.

Human information culture is his ability to use modern technologies to solve their problems related to searching and processing information. A modern person should be able to:

• formulate your need for information;
• find the necessary information using various sources;
• select and analyze information;
• process information;
• use information to make decisions.

A person’s success depends on his ability to competently work with information.

Concept « information culture» includes the ethics of using information.

Unethical:

• suppress the speech of others;
• threaten someone;
• distribute statements, images, photographs, personal files, opinions of others without their consent;
• preserve authorship;
• "hack" websites mailboxes, personal pages in in social networks, blogs;
• Create malware for the purpose of stealing information.

All of the above is a criminal offense and is punishable by imprisonment for up to $5$ years (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, article $272$).

In Russia there are several stages of informatization of society.

At the first stage ($1991-1994) the foundations in the field of informatization were formed. Second stage ($1994-1998) led to the development of state information policy. Third stage, which continues to this day, is the stage of policy formation in the field of building an information society. In 2008$ it was adopted Strategy for the development of the information society up to $2020$. The expected final result of the Strategy will be the availability of a wide range of opportunities for using information technologies for production, scientific, educational and social purposes. These opportunities will be available to any citizen, regardless of his age, health status, region of residence and any other characteristics. Opportunities for using information technologies are provided through the creation of appropriate infrastructure, provision digital content and user training.

The informatization of society depends entirely on computerization and the introduction of new means of communication. Information society- a society in which the majority of workers are engaged in the production, storage, processing and sale of information, especially its highest form - knowledge.

Note 2

On the one hand, the development of computer technology and communication technologies provides ample opportunities and apparent complete freedom. On the other hand, in the information society, all the rules of law and morality that humanity has developed throughout history continue to apply.

Information revolutions and information society .

Several times in the history of human society there have been radical changes in information area, which can be called information revolutions.

The first information revolution was associated with the invention of writing. Writing has created opportunities for the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge, for the transfer of knowledge to future generations.

The second information revolution (mid-16th century) was associated with the invention of printing. It has become possible not only to save information, but also to make it widely available.

The third information revolution (late 19th century) was driven by the progress of communications. The telegraph, telephone, and radio made it possible to quickly transmit information over any distance.

Fourth (70s of the XX century) is associated with the invention of microprocessor technology and the emergence of personal computer .

Computers, computer networks, and data transmission systems (information communications) are created using microprocessors and integrated circuits. This period is characterized by three fundamental innovations:
The transition from mechanical and electrical means of information conversion to

electronic;

Creation of software-controlled devices and processes.

Today we are experiencing the fifth information revolution, associated with the formation and development of trans-border global information and telecommunication networks, covering all countries and continents, penetrating into every home and simultaneously affecting each individual and huge masses of people.

The most striking example of this phenomenon and the result of the fifth revolution is the Internet. The essence of this revolution is the integration in a single information space around the world of software and hardware, communications and telecommunications, information reserves or knowledge reserves as a unified information telecommunication infrastructure in which legal entities and individuals, state authorities and local governments actively operate. As a result, the speed and volume of processed information are increasing incredibly, new unique opportunities for producing, transmitting and distributing information, searching and receiving information, and new types of traditional activities in these networks appear.

Information society- a society in which the majority of workers are engaged in the production, storage, processing and sale of information, especially its highest form - knowledge.

Scientists believe that in the information society the process of computerization will give people access to reliable sources of information, relieve them of routine work, and ensure a high level of automation of information processing in the industrial and social spheres. The driving force behind the development of society should be the production of informational, rather than material, products. The material product will become more information-intensive, which means an increase in the share of innovation, design and marketing in its value.

In the information society not only production will change, but also the entire way of life, the value system, and the importance of cultural leisure in relation to material values ​​will increase. Compared to an industrial society, where everything is aimed at the production and consumption of goods, in the information society intelligence and knowledge are produced and consumed, which leads to an increase in the share of mental labor. A person will need the ability to be creative, and the demand for knowledge will increase.

Material and technological base of the information society There will be various kinds of systems based on computer technology and computer networks, information technology, and telecommunications.

SIGNS OF INFORMATION SOCIETY

Except positive points Dangerous trends are also predicted:

the increasing influence of the media on society;

information technology can destroy the privacy of people and organizations;

there is a problem of selecting high-quality and reliable information;

many people will find it difficult to adapt to the information society environment.

there is a danger of a gap between the “information elite” (people
involved in information technology development) and consumers.

The transition to an information society is accompanied by a shift in the center of gravity in the economy from direct material (agricultural and industrial

industrial) production for the provision of services, including information.

The second half of the twentieth century, thanks to informatization, was accompanied by a flow of people from the sphere of directof material production into the information sphere. Industrial workers, who made up more than 2/3 of the population in the mid-twentieth century, now make up less than 1/3 in developed countries. The social stratum, which is called “white collar”, has grown significantly - people who are hired, but do not directly produce material assets, but are engaged in processing information (in a broad sense): teachers, bank employees, programmers, etc. Thus, by 1980, in agriculture, a characteristic feature of the economy of the information society was the emergence of a developed market for information products and services. This market includes sectors:

· business information (stock exchange, financial, statistical, commercial information);

· professional information (on individual professions, scientific and technical information, access to primary sources);

· consumer information (news, all kinds of schedules, entertainment information);

· education services

and others.

Real analysis of changes in the structure of employment in developed countries that have advanced most along the path to the information society

at the end of the twentieth century, leads to the following results:

· the share of the population engaged in agricultural and traditional industrial work continues to decrease;

· the share of the population employed in the service sector is increasing, the variety of activities in this area is increasing;

· the number of managerial and technical jobs is growing rapidly;

· the share of workers with average professional qualifications is decreasing with a simultaneous increase at the upper and lower levels of qualifications;

· share of occupations that require high level education is growing faster than for the low-level category.

The differences in these indicators in different developed countries are significant, but the influence of the mass introduction of information technology on each of them is undoubtedly.

Overcoming informational crisis

The information crisis is a phenomenon that became noticeable already at the beginning XX century. It manifests itself in the fact thatthe flow of information that poured into a person is so
face that is not available for processing in an acceptable time.

This phenomenon occurs in scientific research, in technical developments, and in socio-politicallife. In our increasingly complex world, decision makingis becoming an increasingly responsible matter, but it is impossiblebut without complete information.

The accumulation of total knowledge is accelerating at an astonishing rate. At first XX century total volumeof all information produced by humanity doubledevery 50 years, by 1950 it was doubling every10 years, by 1970 - already every 5 years; end of this aboutThe acceleration process is not yet visible.

Let us give several examples of manifestations of informationexplosion. Number of scientific publications by majoritybranches of knowledge are so large, and traditional access toit (reading magazines) is so difficult that specialists cannot