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TIROLS: LOCAL WEB-BASED NETWORKS CENTRED ON SELF-GOVERNMENTAL
WEBSITES VS. LOCAL ACTIVITY – A PROJECT OUTLINE1
JAN W. OWSIēSKI
ANETA M. PIELAK
KRZYSZTOF SĉP
Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences
RAFAŁ PONICHTERA
Warsaw School of Information Technology
Summary
The paper presents an outline for the project, entitled TIROLS, dealing with the
analysis of the local networks, based on links and connections related to the local
authority websites at the level of municipalities. The project has been recently
started, and the empirical work is in the initial stages. The aim is to gather sufficient
data on the networks in question, to assess the essential properties of these networks,
and to juxtapose them with the data on socio-economic development level of the
respective municipalities. Thereby, important hypotheses concerning the relation of
such local networks to local socio-economic development would be formulated and
verified.
The paper provides the prerequisites to the project, including previous work of
the team of authors, the initial empirical results and the conclusions from these
initial results, as well as methodological and substantive perspectives of the work to
do.
Keywords: Internet, websites, local administration, local networks, socio-economic development,
social networks.
1. Introduction: the background
The research project TIROLS, being the subject of the present paper, brings together several
streams of thought and perspectives, which relate to the areas of (i) the ICT as represented by the
world wide web, the internet, and specifically the websites, focusing on the websites of local (selfgovernmental) administration, (ii) the local networks, perceived similarly to social networks, and
the potential link to (iii) the level and dynamics of the local socio-economic development.
Within these three areas specific methodologies and aspects are referred to – and in view of
the width of the entire domain of the paper, as well as the initial stage of work on the project
described, we shall refer here only to, first, the general theoretical and methodological
prerequisites of the project, and then to some selected issues, essential for the work already done
and envisaged.
1
Research reported was done within the project, funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education
“TIROLS” No. N N516 195237.
Jan W. OwsiĔski, Aneta M. Pielak, Krzysztof Sep, Rafał Ponichtera
TIROLS: local Web-based networks centred on self-governmental websites
vs. local activity – a project outline
21
TIROLS shall try to assess the span, density and “topological” character of local networks,
formed by the links realised through the web, starting with the website of the local administration
(in Poland: self-governmental administration of municipalities, LAU2 = NUTS5 in the EU
nomenclature). Assessment of these local networks is then juxtaposed with the data on local socioeconomic development in order to check whether there is a connection, and if so – what is its
nature. The results are expected to bring to light not only the interdependences of local reach, but,
supposedly, given a relatively representative character of the units investigated, of a broader
significance. These results should add to cognition and practical assessment of the junction
between ICT on a local scale, web-based networking and socio-economic development. It is also
hoped that policy-oriented recommendations could be formulated on the basis of these results.
2. The rationale – a narrative
2.1. The component elements
As mentioned at the outset, there are several component elements of the thought background
and methodology that ought to be referred to when explaining the rationale of the project. They are
schematically presented in Fig. 1 below, and then commented upon from our perspective.
„Information Society / Knowledge Economy”:
ICT vs. socio-economic development
Local communities
Social networks
Local self-governmental
authorities
Websites of the local authorities and the networks
around them
Methods of study: graph theory, clustering,
regression models, etc.
Fig. 1. Schematic presentation of the component elements behind the rationale of the project
2.2. Information Society? Knowledge Economy?
The slogans of “information society” and “knowledge economy” became so popular that
hardly any thought goes now any more into their actual meaning. Definitely, if information is
a property of a message related to its unexpectedness and usefulness (much in line with
information theory of Shannon and Weaver), and knowledge is a verified set of rules (models,
theories,…) that can be applied to make decisions and drive choices, then an additional effort
would be required to prove that we live in an information society and our economies are based on
knowledge to a higher extent than at any time before (despite the deep conviction of the “flood of
information”).
22
POLISH ASSOCIATION FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Series: Studies & Proceedings No. 34, 2010
What proportion of messages that we constantly receive via various media go over the
threshold of unexpectedness & usefulness? Do we really dispose of better rules of deciding and
choosing (also among the messages…) in business, government, science, and life at large, than
before?
Several hundred years ago a free European peasant, even if illiterate, had to memorise and
effectively use in a flexible manner, depending upon weather, previous year conditions, time
budget available and other activities, well over one hundred technological processes of wide
diversity, ranging from flax processing, through preparation of manure-based fertilisers, to house
building. Women had, perhaps, to master an even broader scope of technologies, including
(besides child bearing and rearing, and also fieldwork and animal husbandry) all those related to
clothes making and repairing, as well as food processing. This practical knowledge was much
beyond what nowadays an average high school graduate in modern civilisation hears about and
can practically grasp.
Yet, there is another deep qualitative difference, which can be expressed through two notions:
change and speed. Knowledge tends nowadays to be superficial just because of these two
characteristics. Actually, the aim tends to be learning to learn. In older times, a lot had to be
learned, which, however, stayed valid for the lifetime. Now, it is lifelong learning that becomes
a must, while at the same time the technical possibility of realising it relatively easily has
appeared.
It is also this speed and change that impose the need of managing knowledge in a dynamic
setting, knowledge, which otherwise was just a steady resource that one had or not. Knowledge
has to be managed if it is to be gained and used effectively by the “information society” in the
“knowledge-based economy”. This is the gist of considerations of various aspects of the “new
civilisation”, and the precepts thereof, coming from, to call upon just a sample, such publications
as [14], [15], [9], [22], [31], [58], [61], [65], [68], [71], [76], or [79].
So, the visions of McLuhan, [41], and the Tofflers, [72], [73], came true through the flood of
messages and the onset of the new media, constitutive elements of a new civilisation, however we
call it, [77]. This global media civilisation appears, though, to create a new barrier to both
equitable and effective development, the digital divide (see, e.g., [12], but also [5], [16], [33], [36],
[69], or [77]), implying the existence of those left out from the development processes in both
active (creative participation) and passive sense (acquiring added value or even being perceived at
all).
2.3. The new civilisation and (rural) space
The promise of the “information society” has been particularly attractive for rural areas, and
especially for the marginal and peripheral ones. The new media and infrastructures, starting with
the “prehistory” of radio, telephone and TV, followed by the web and new communication
devices, were supposed to overcome the friction of space, at a much lower cost (both socially and
in market terms) than borne by providing for physical mobility. This concerned, essentially:
distance learning, that would allow for catching up in educational level with the urban areas,
distance work, allowing for moving of jobs (far) out into the countryside, even to the
periphery (see, e.g. [67], on this and the preceding aspect),
e-administration, facilitating administrative functions, especially in thinly populated areas,
marketing to the end customers – not only rural tourism and leisure (e.g. [79]), but also health
food and regional products, as well as anything else that countryside can offer,

23
business-to-business marketing and networking, allowing for effective cooperation across
farther distances than otherwise, also within broader business communities.
The spatial friction was partly overcome, but the promise was not truly fulfilled. A part of the
blame went to the digital divide, but it was also “discovered” that there are things that happen
uniquely, or sufficiently effectively, through direct interpersonal contact, [25]. Some friction also
persists in terms of cost considerations, [7], motivation, skill, and other differentiating factors.
Soon, it was noted that whatever the ultimate impact of the new infrastructures and their
actual take-up, i.e. effective use, the presence and quality of these infrastructures follows the well
known spatial pattern of wealth and development. Thus, rural space appeared to enjoy more of and
better take up of the ICT technologies in the more developed and wealthier countries and regions,
with special emphasis on suburban, peri-urban and urbanising areas, even if formally rural.
Convincing evidence has been collected that there exists a positive feedback, realised through
the functions listed above: general socio-economic development → ICT penetration and uptake →
general socio-economic development, with the respective multiplier effect depending upon the
starting point (for a discussion on relation between ICT and development, see [18], [19], [24],
[30], [32], [37]). Hence, additional stimulus appeared to be necessary to set the positive feedback
in real motion, wherever the original setting had not provided for it. This is the basis for numerous
efforts at, e.g., the European level, aiming, in particular, at “broadband for everyone”, meaning
countries, regions, as well as local differentiation (see, e.g. [29], [16], [17], [11]), although it is
obvious that the gist of the matter is in use, and availability is just a necessary condition.
2.4. The local authorities and their websites – role, functionality and quality
With the above in mind, in the development of “information society” emphasis was put on
provision of functionality and information on the web by the public bodies. This concerns, first,
the e-administration and e-government functionality, meant to serve the public purpose – the
citizens at large, institutions and businesses. Many programs have been put in motion in this
domain, aimed at establishment, development and improvement of the public body websites and
web services, including introduction of respective legal stipulations ([8], [59]). Monitoring and
quality evaluation surveys were launched on national and international scales, [6], [42], [70], as
well.
For the majority of European countries this development stage is still underway. Although
some countries reached the level at which most of the functions that could “in principle” be
realised on the web actually are, but even there a lot remains to be done. The instances are related
to electronic signature and its substitutes, functionalities for the handicapped and the security
issues.
It seems obvious that the role and significance of local authority websites are far more
pronounced in rural, especially deeply rural, marginal and peripheral areas than in towns. This
applies equally to the external and to the internal functionality of the websites, that is – as
perceived from the outside and the inside of the area. The cause is both in relative scarcity of other
(web) nodes providing similar service (obvious for administrative functions, but less so for the
other ones) and in relative scarcity of easily recognisable signposts of the area that could be a
facile hit for the outsiders (the presence of such foci, usually tourist attractions or industrial
developments, being a major step away from deep rurality, or even rurality at all), see also [34] for
the role of networks.
24
As it is assumed that in rural areas local authority websites play a special role, higher
requirements on the expected quality and functionality of these websites are put, while, at the same
time, given the otherwise expected lower level of skills and resources available, there may be
definite difficulties in satisfying the requirements mentioned (for some empirical studies and more
in-depth analyses, see, e.g., [2], [20], [54], [56], [57], [66], [74]). This opposition is coupled with
the issue of the (functional) level and magnitude of the respective administrative units, the latter
expressed primarily in terms of population numbers. In conditions of rural communities the role of
local authority websites becomes particularly important for the establishment and strengthening of
attachment, feeling of identity, networking and the like imponderables, essential for the proper
functioning and the development of the community as a whole.
2.5. Local networks, other factors and socio-economic development
Existence and effectiveness of networks has been seen as an important factor in local
development since long. The examples quoted referred primarily to small-scale (family)
businesses in rural areas of Italy after the World War II. Importance of networks as a factor was
noted particularly for exactly the rural areas, where the action of agglomeration factors is
nonexistent, and networks, to some extent, substitute for it. There is, however, yet another
dimension to the existence and effective functioning of networks, especially the informal ones. It
is, namely, a sign of a definite degree of trust, which is considered to be the crucial component of
the social capital, necessary for sustainable local development. Thus, networks appear to be one of
fundamental factors in local socio-economic development, while the local authority, and the
websites of this authority may play an important role in creating, maintaining and strengthening
such networks.
It should be noted that we speak here not of any kind of networks that may exist in the
“cyberspace”. Many of such networks established through social portals have little bearing on the
capacity and facilitation of the socio-economic development. We primarily mean the networks
offering: (a) useful information (service), (b) business opportunity. Thus, even if we might speak
of the “old-boys-networks”, it is in the context of their actual use for practical purposes. TIROLS
concentrates on networks traced through the web-based links and references open to the public.
The study is oriented at the references (active links, web addresses, e-mails, etc.) offered through
the websites, starting with the local authority website.
Regarding the connection between local networks and local development, the study shall also
account for other factors of development, and their synergy, or interrelations, with the networks
and the associated aspects, including, especially, trust and cooperation. We should also add that we
believe that there are both correlation and synergy between certain development factors, and,
which is very much to the point here, they are, in particular, the ones linked with networking, on
the one hand, and knowledge and education on the other. A broader hypothesis would imply
a cultural connection, involving trust, networking, education and knowledge (see [10], [24], [67]).
Let us note here that we are not suggesting that networking and connectivity are absolute
safeguards in the sense that their growth must lead to better and safer development. A very careful
hypothesis would be that there is an optimum, both in terms of quantity and the nature of structure,
beyond which additional risk may arise (see the recent financial crisis, e.g., [4]).
25
2.6. Social networks and their analysis
In recent years there has been a very high interest in the study of social networks. This interest
arose, on the one hand, from some new paradigms in the domains that hitherto referred to different
types of analysis, relying to a higher extent on formal relations and structures, especially in
management and organisation sciences. Analysis of the actual social networks in an organisation
and at the workplace was to uncover the true processes and to direct the efforts towards more
effective and efficient solutions. On the other hand, such studies were made possible (or at least
facilitated) by the new technological developments in the domain of telecommunications and the
web.
The studies of social networks try to establish their essential features, including the nature of
structures, the focal points and their character, and the substructures (relatively or absolutely
separated subnetworks). Specific notions and measures were developed for the study of social
networks, originating from computer science and graph theory. Identification of the characteristics
of the networks analysed implies definite characteristics of the counterpart organisations,
communities, or other human systems, and, so, also the respective remedies, if needed, see, e.g.,
[60], [62].
A comment apart is due on the use of webometrics (see, e.g., [21]) in analysis and assessment
of social networks. These methods, based on direct information from the web may, namely, also
serve to characterise the respective structures, emerging from such data. TIROLS shall not directly
use methods of webometrics, although some experience from this domain shall be referred to.
3. Methodology
In the study undertaken a sequence of stages are envisaged, forming an open-ended
methodology, composed of a set of technical blocks, to be used according to need and possibility.
Before presenting these stages, we shall comment shortly on the pragmatic prerequisites of the
study.
3.1. The pragmatic prerequisites of the methodology
The object of study. The study is carried out for the municipalities (“gminas”), the lowest
administrative level in Poland (NUTS5 = LAU2 in EU nomenclature), of self-governmental
character. Communes form counties (“poviats”, NUTS4 = LAU1), of which there are some 350,
and which are also of self-governmental character. At the third level there are 16 provinces
(NUTS2), which are of mixed administrative-self-governmental character. There are some 2,500
communes in Poland, roughly 1,600 of them, formally, rural. The population in a vast majority of
rural communes ranges between 5,000 and 10,000. These units are composed of a couple of
villages, with a bigger one, or a very small town, being the seat of the commune. Population
density ranges from less than 20 persons per square kilometre up to more than 400, but most
feature densities between 30 and 100. With such dimensions, we can speak of local communities,
which, on the one hand, feature a certain whole of functions of administrative and social character,
and, on the other, allow for relatively good cognition of the area, main activities, businesses,
organisations, and individuals across the commune. Hence, formation of effective (cooperation)
networks is also possible.
The ICT aspect. We start with the websites of the communal authorities. The team has been
involved in the study of communal and county websites since 2003 ([54], [56], [57]). So,
26
significant experience has been gathered in the domain of measuring the functionality and quality
of the local authority websites. Within TIROLS, though, we will be looking more into the links,
provided via these websites, to the local businesses, institutions, organisations etc. We shall also
take a look at the websites (if any) of these entities that are referred to on the local authority
websites. Thereby at least some basic features of the thus formed networks would be identified.
Note that we do not mean such measures commonly used in webometrics, as the number of visits,
clicks time spent, etc., but, instead, the information provided, its correctness, ampleness, and
reciprocity.
The sample, the dimensionality and the effort. In view of purely technical obstacles, the
empirical work cannot be done by automatic means (agents, crawlers), but has to be done “by
hand”. This means quite an effort on the side of the team. Let us only note that in a previous study
of web-provided information on the area as many as 70 binary criteria (attributes) were assessed
per website, which, given that some 25-30 units were assessed, results in some 2,000 scoring
decisions to be made, while the work has to be done within a specified time frame (e.g. within
a week) in order to preserve comparability between websites.
It is envisaged that the minimum number of communes actually analysed would be in the
teens, the maximum not exceeding 30-40 communes. This depends upon the results from the first
stages of work, when first local networks of the kind studied shall be empirically assessed. It can
namely be assumed that a single communal website would provide information on 20-40 other
bodies within the area, and hence so many websites of these other bodies would have to be
assessed. For just 15 communes this amounts to thoroughly checking “by hand” some 500
websites.
The minimum number envisaged results from the consideration of the requisite variety within
the sample, from two points of view: (1) leading functions of the commune (farming [possibly
forestry], residential & service, urban [within the suburban areas], leisure & tourism, industry,
peripheral [i.e. “no distinct economic function”]); (2) diversity of the economic situations (as
expressed through a small number of indicators, such as value of personal income tax per capita,
number of businesses per capita, etc.). It is assumed roughly that it would suffice to account for
5x3=15 respective communal situations in order to have the sample fully representative.
The communes in the sample are all from the capital province of Poland, Masovia. This
choice may seem biased in view of a special position of the capital province (e.g. the highest GDP
per capita among the Polish provinces), but is sufficiently justified, see Table 1 below.
Table 1. Some characteristics of Masovia against the Polish background
Characteristic
Population density (persons per sq.km)
Urban population share (%)
Share of agricultural land (%)
Share of forested land (%)
Protected areas of high natural value (%)
Population served by wastewater treatment (%)
Unemployment rate (%)
Wages and salaries (Polish average=100)
Poland: average (min and max
across all 16 provinces)
122.3 (min: 59.0; max: 384.6)
61.8 (min: 40.5, max: 79.1)
58.7 (min: 49.7, max: 69.8)
28.5 (min: 20.9, max: 49.7
33.1 (min: 16.4, max: 62.0)
57.1 (min: 44.6, max: 75.8)
18.1 (min: 13.9, max: 28.8)
100 (min: 83.7, max: 129.2)
Source: Concise Statistical Yearbook, GUS (2003).
Province of Masovia
144.0
64.6
69.8
22.3
30.1
45.1
13.9
129.2
27
Thus, of all counts, shown in Table 1, it is only for the one of “wages & salaries” that Masovia
takes a clear “urban” lead, and, just like in the case of GDP per capita – uniquely owing to the
presence of the capital city of Warsaw. Otherwise, Masovia represents a good image for rural
Poland, with, in addition, high diversity among its commune level units (especially along the axis
from the metropolitan area towards the peripheral, deeply rural areas). All this justifies the choice
of the province of Masovia for selecting the communes to be included in the study.
3.2. Envisaged methodological steps of the project
The list below specifies the sequence of the planned steps within the project, especially
regarding the methodology adopted, with short comments, pertaining also to the current state of
work:
1. Definition of the initial set of communes for further selection (30 rural communes from the
province of Masovia have been specified, based on socio-economic data and functionality
of these communes, including differentiation of their location with respect to urban areas).
2. Preliminary check of the websites of the initial set of communes (30) with respect to their
quality, and, in particular, the links and references to the local institutions and organisations;
a short report from this empirical work is provided in Section 4.
3. Based on the results of Step 2 and analysis of socio-economic data a thorough check on the
links and references for the 2-tier system is being now carried out for a limited subset of
communes from the initial set (6-9 communes); this is equivalent to gathering data for the
initial sample of communes for the Levels 1 and 2 of Fig. 2 further on.
4. On the basis of results from Step 3 the technical details of the proper empirical study will be
prepared (depth and precision of information gathered), including the envisaged final
number of communes considered.
5. Main body of empirical data will be gathered according to methodology adopted in Step 4.
So, the entire set of data gathered shall span the sample websites of the Level 1 and all those
indicated by the websites from Level 1, located in Level 2 of Fig. 1, with objects from
Levels 0 and 3 not studied, but just mentioned, as referred to by websites from Levels 1 and
2.
6. These data shall be analysed with selected group of techniques, shortly commented upon in
Section 3.3.
7. The analysis shall be extended to the relation between the characteristics of the networks, as
resulting from Step 6, and the general socio-economic data for the communes, with the aim
of establishing whether there is an association, or not, and if so, what is its nature. Special
attention shall be paid to the differentiation of the functional and spatial characteristics of
the communes, and to the “activity & wealth” indicators.
8. The results of the study shall take the form of a comprehensive report, but also a database
and an executive summary, provided to the organisations and agencies, responsible for
respective policies and programmes.
3.3. Techniques of network analysis
In analysing the web-based networks, a set of formal tools shall be used, originating from
several domains. First, simple indicators of the network magnitude, density, and connectivity, shall
28
be calculated for each of them. Distinction shall be made of inward and outward connection
characteristics. Even though the networks analysed are by definition centred on the commune
authority websites, some of the notions form social network analysis shall be used, as well.
The characteristics of the networks shall be assessed via the graph theoretic methods, with
orientation towards connectivity, existence of substructures, cliques etc., [38], [39], [40]. Since the
strength of links shall also be assessed, the techniques of cluster analysis shall be applied at two
levels: for individual communes to assess the potential existence of more than one cluster in the
respective networks, and for the entire sample of communes, in order to identify the potential
clusters of similar communal networks. The techniques to be applied are largely the ones
developed by the team ([45-50]). It is intended to apply novel techniques, related to asymmetric
similarities and distances to the networks obtained, see [53].
Level 0: websites & services (objects) from
higher levels (regional, national, international)
Level 1: websites of the communal
self-governmental authorities
Level 2: (websites
of the) local entities,
referred to by the
communal websites
Level 3: (websites of) other local
entities, referred to from Level 2
Fig. 2. Schematic view of the scope of study. Level 1 and 2 websites will be thoroughly studied,
while those of Levels 0 and 3 just listed. Arrow style shows nature/strength of links/references
Clustering of networks shall be associated with the search for the different models of relations
between networks and socio-economic development levels and dynamics. For this purpose the
clusterwise regression methods shall be applied, derived from various backgrounds, [1], [13], [27],
[35], [43], [44], [49], [64]. Identification of such models is among the primary goals of TIROLS.
4. Results of the preliminary investigations
4.1. A summary of results
After the initial sample was defined, the websites of the communes from it were investigated,
primarily as to the links they provide to other local entities. Attention was focused on services of
local character, largely remaining (or supposed to be so) in connection with local authority, due to
their public mission. A simple scoring system was applied, whose results are summarised in Table
2, in terms of overall scores for the websites, ordered in the table according to decreasing scores.
29
The scores reflect the volume and the quality of information, provided by the respective
websites, regarding other local entities, in terms of “connections” – links, e-mail addresses,
locations, telephone numbers etc. The existence of negative scores results from the inclusion in the
scoring system of lack of or mistaken information. The information compiled for each website
concerns more than 20 categories of local entities, related to different spheres of local service,
social infrastructure and other types of activity. For each category scores reflect various kinds of
potential connection-related information (its presence or absence, and correctness), altogether
some 10 positions per category. Thus, we deal, for the whole sample, with quite an ample set of
data, resulting from this initial stage of work on the project (altogether a table with roughly 7,000
entries).
Table 2. Summary scores of commune websites for information on other entities (November 2009)
Commune
Jabłonna
NieporĊt
Nadarzyn
Łochów
ĩabia Wola
Karczew
Lesznowola
Belsk DuĪy
Korczew
Klembów
Klwów
Michałowice
Olszanka
Ceranów
Łąck
Score
53
50
49
44
44
40
35
28
24
23
22
15
15
14
14
Commune
Nowe Miasto
Sanniki
Raszyn
Leoncin
Grudusk
Stara Biała
Jedlnia Letnisko
PrzyłĊk
RzekuĔ
Zakrzew
RoĞciszewo
Szulborze Wielkie
Kuczbork Osada
Izabelin
Wieczfnia KoĞcielna
Score
11
10
8
7
4
4
0
-4
-5
-7
-8
-15
-16
-19
-23
italics denote the communes located next to the city of Warsaw or closely connected with it
4.2. Some conclusions
Although Table 2 is just an illustration, it definitely allows for drawing of some important
conclusions, especially against the background of the entire ample set of results. Thus, let us note
some of these conclusions:
-- the scoring system developed and the actual content of the websites checked yielded a wide
diversity of total score values; this is insofar important as enabling a true comparison (in
a similar context, the assessment of e-administration-related quality of county websites,
conducted since 2003, brought already in 2007 a very even level of scores close to
maximum, so that little room has been left for either comparison or development);
-- the score-based ranking is quite distinctly organised into groups of similar qualities: very
high, with scores between 53 and 35; medium high, with scores between 28 and 22;
medium – between 15 and 7; low – between 4 and -8; and very low – from -15 to -23;
-- the scores are relatively strongly correlated with the general quality and functionality of the
same websites, as evaluated through the standard WAES (WAES, no date) or the extended
WSOSI systems, the latter developed by the authors of this paper (see, e.g. [55-57]);
30
-- likewise, there is a definite correlation of these scores with the location of the communes; as
indicated in Table 2, quite a share of the best ones are situated next to the city of Warsaw,
actually largely within its metropolitan area (five among the top ten communes); yet, there
are also clear exceptions to this regularity (Raszyn, and, notably, Izabelin); certainly,
additional factors, associated with the concrete human factor, come into play.
All in all, the preliminary, exploratory study allowed for (a) definition of the pragmatic
methodology of data gathering in the subsequent stages of research, and (b) formulation of
additional, more specific study hypotheses.
5. Final remarks
The study here outlined tries to grasp several substantive and methodological threads in the
research on the advance and meaning of the ICT for local development, involving, in particular,
the analysis of local (social) networks of specific, inter-institutional character. It is rooted in the
experience, gathered by the project team within the particular fields of this project, such as, in
particular, assessment of quality of the local authority websites, graph theory and cluster analysis.
This body of experience, along with the results of preliminary studies, allow for hoping that the
investigations shall bring tangible results in terms of identification of local web-based networking
structures, and the nature of their interrelations with local development.
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36
TIROLS: LOKALNE SIECI OPARTE NA INTERNECIE ISTNIEJĄCE WOKÓŁ STRON
SAMORZĄDÓW A AKTYWNOĝû LOKALNA – ZARYS PROJEKTU
Streszczenie
W artykule przedstawiono zarys projektu badawczego o nazwie TIROLS,
dotyczącego analizy sieci powiązaĔ lokalnych, opartych na informacji i technice
internetowej, z oĞrodkami bĊdącymi stronami internetowymi odpowiednich
samorządów (zwłaszcza gmin). Projekt rozpoczął siĊ ostatnio i prace empiryczne są
w początkowym stadium. Celem jest zgromadzenie wystarczającej masy informacji
na temat przedmiotowych sieci lokalnych, dokonanie oceny własnoĞci tych sieci, i ich
zestawienie z danymi o rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczym odpowiednich jednostek
terytorialnych.
Artykuł zawiera waĪniejsze załoĪenia projektu, w tym wynikające
z wczeĞniejszych prac autorów, wstĊpne wyniki badaĔ empirycznych, a takĪe
wnioski, jakie moĪna z tych wyników wyciągnąü, zarówno metodyczne, jak
i merytoryczne, dotyczące dalszych prac.
Słowa kluczowe: internet, strony internetowe, administracja lokalna, sieci lokalne, rozwój
społeczno-gospodarczy, sieci społeczne.
Jan W. OwsiĔski
Aneta M. Pielak
Krzysztof SĊp
Instytut BadaĔ Systemowych PAN
Newelska 6, 01-447 Warszawa
Rafał Ponichtera
WyĪsza Szkoła Informatyki Stosowanej i Zarządzania
Newelska 6, 01-447 Warszawa
e-mail: [email protected]

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