The prerequisite for the formation of the information services market was the rapid development of the economy in different countries of the world. With the growth of the economy and increased competition, society is aware of the need for information resources. The first information products and services appear in the media and telecommunications. A powerful impetus for the development of the information market is technological progress. The first commercial computers appear, and over time - the first personal computers. Computer technology is rapidly expanding its potential - becoming more powerful and less expensive. PCs are beginning to be actively used in the scientific field and business, and with the advent and development of the Internet - in all spheres of human life.
Market of information products and services
Currently, intensive formation and development of the information services market continues. A new type of economy is emerging, where information plays an increasingly important role - the production of information products increases, new industries, new professions and new jobs appear.
Market Potential and Statistics
For comparison: according to statistics, the production of world goods and services per year is growing in the region of 10 percent. The production of information products and services is growing annually in the region of 30 percent or more. The potential of the information market and its impact on economic development is difficult to overestimate. So, over the first decade of the 21st century, the share of spending on information resources increased by tens of percent. The market for information products and services is now an essential element of a new type of economy. The successful functioning of the information market is the most important guarantee of the development of the community, region and country as a whole.
Information product - what is it?
The objects of the information market are information products and services. So what is an information product? An information product is information with a sign of expert evaluation, presented in tangible or intangible form for the purpose of commercial realization and satisfaction of consumer demand.
Types of Information Products
It is worth saying that at the moment there is no generally accepted classification of information products and many interpretations of the concept are offered. The most popular is the classification of information products by scope. So, there are five main areas:
1. Business area. The following types of information products are presented here: exchange documentation and financial information (exchange rates, investments, prices, stock quotes, discount rates), statistical data (forecasts and estimates), commercial information on the activities of companies (on its financial condition, areas of work, prices, mergers and acquisitions, transactions, negotiation and legal practice).
2. A highly specialized area. The information product presented here is content of narrow specialization (various kinds of professional information, scientific and technical documentation, archival materials, access to primary sources).
3. The consumer sphere. It includes various news sources - content of news agencies and the press, literature both on physical and electronic media, reference books, encyclopedias, booklets, magazines, entertainment products - gaming, television and video content.
4. Educational sphere. Here are textbooks, teaching aids, training computer content, testing and control systems, training and development techniques.
5. The information industry. An extremely important and developing at a record pace industry information market. Software and information products are presented here - various databases (bibliographic, statistical, informational, documentary), electronic directories, multimedia applications (for business, entertainment, development), electronic archives, general-purpose software products for processing graphics, documents, multimedia content.
This area also includes technical means - computers and accessories, telecommunication equipment, office equipment and related consumables, software development and maintenance personnel - which together form information systems. The information product of the system consists of several processes - obtaining information from internal or external sources, processing and adaptation of information, providing information to the consumer and receiving feedback. In this case, the information product is the launch files for programs and applications, spreadsheets, tools for working with content (graphics, videos), personal computer service systems, equipment administration systems. The artificial intelligence system is also an information product.
Scope of information products
The above classification of the areas of application of information products clearly shows that for this period of development of society, information products have found their application in almost all sectors of human life. The production of information products in each individual case is unique, but the general technology of information products includes three stages - collecting primary data, processing and adaptation, proposing a solution in the form of an information product. An example is a book on the popularization of a scientific idea, for writing which the author processes a large amount of source information, adapts it into accessible text and prepares it for commercial sale in the form of a book on electronic or physical media.
Information Product Properties
An information product is a unique indicator of the era of universal automation and informatization and has a number of distinct differences from a material product.
So, any information product has a quality that is inherent in information as a whole - it is not subject to depreciation, physical wear and tear. You can repeatedly use the information product and it will not lose in quality and uniqueness. For example: repeated reproduction of a film will not affect its content. The film does not get worse with every viewing.
But it should be said that the information product is subject to the so-called moral obsolescence. Information that was up to date yesterday may lose all its relevance and relevance today. At the current pace of technological progress, a record pace is becoming obsolete and losing in value, for example, office equipment.
Also an indicative property of an information product is that the costs of its production, as a rule, are several times higher than the further costs of its replication. Writing a unique work once is always more difficult than then multiplying it by thousands of copies.
An important property of an information product is its targeting. Depending on the group of consumers, the manufacturer chooses the form and method of manufacturing the future information product. So, the publication of scientific work in the professional community will be different from the way of popularizing the same scientific idea for students.
An information product has the property of universality - it can be valuable for different fields of application, used with different purposes in different projects.
The specifics of the information market
The uniqueness of the functioning of the information market is that the demand for information products is regulated by the specifics of the very concept of “information”. An information product can be truly claimed only in the short term. In the market of information products and services, it is impossible to keep the palm with the same product for several years. To be interesting to the consumer, it is necessary to constantly improve the existing product or create something fundamentally new.
The future of the information society
Now the process of increasing the share of the information product in comparison with the production of material is actively going on, which suggests that our information society is rapidly evolving. The value of the material product is reduced, but the value of the information is increased. Intelligence, knowledge, expertise, and the ability for creative thinking are in greater demand. In the modern market of professions, the share of mental labor is growing. Prerequisites for the further development of the information society can significantly improve the quality of life and reach a new level of development of civilization.
Potential threats to a new society
Nevertheless, the rapid development of the information society carries a number of threats. The possession of valuable information can oppose a small community to the majority, a single user - to the state or the whole system. There is a danger of the formation of the so-called intellectual elite with access to development and valuable sources, and the dependence on it of the ordinary consumer. The threat of lagging developing countries is also very real, since information resources are distributed unevenly. Unfortunately, progress always brings new challenges. Will modern society be able to withstand them with dignity - time will tell.