Dimensions of spatial inequalities in the Information Age: the case of Hungary

By today it seems obvious that the use of information and communication technologies is inseparable from many spheres of everyday life. Also increasing number of practical experiences confirm that the information society and the information economy have perceptible influence on socio-economic inequalities, which have necessarily geographical projections as well. Although it is difficult to grab all the motives of geography-related inequalities of the information age, our study still attempts to collect some major dimensions of disparities. The paper aims to present the composite character of Hungarian information society differences in a regional context by applying conceptual and experimental approaches. First, the accessibility dimension of information age disparities is detailed by the application of typical statistical indicators. Secondly, we attempt to draw the picture of e-government disparities, a new layer of information inequalities, to represent differences between users and non-users. Next, we present examples on network-based inequalities as an experimental study on the importance of connectivity in the information economy. And finally, we give examples on novel forms of cyberspace inequalities reflecting regional differences of how people are using and taking advantage of information age possibilities. According to our results it was found that although the different dimensions of disparities reflected other motives of information age inequalities in Hungary, the urban-rural and center-periphery disparities happened to be common features of the spatial structure.