The impact of e-readiness in the development of knowledge society; a case study of Albania

Information Society emphasizes amount of information available and accessible. It emphasizes technology (ICT). Knowledge Societies are identified as societies where information is used and applied in various fields for learning and development. Knowledge society deals with technology which now offers many more possibilities for sharing, archiving, retrieving, combining and generating new knowledge. In a society where information and knowledge are of vital importance for the purpose of development, the role of ICT is growing. So, ICTs play the role of an enabler of development. All these developments have incited various world institutions in pursuing and examining the development of information and communications technology (ICT) in different world economies, and evaluated and ranked their relative digital progress. The last attempt is to gauge the extent to which ICT and selected ICT-enabled services are being used, given that it is the use of technology which ultimately contributes to the overall economic progress of a country. The notion of preparation lent itself to the term e-readiness. The aim of this paper is to study the e-readiness in Albania and to show how the situation has affected in different aspects of Information and knowledge society. Different secondary data from international sources and reports are used to make time comparisons for measuring the progress in our country. E-readiness has generally been defined as the extent of readiness in accessing network infrastructures and technologies. It can also be seen as the degree to which a society is prepared to participate in the digital economy with the underlying concept that digital economy can help to build a better society. Regardless of a country's level of development, e-readiness is assessed by determining the relative standing of its society and its economy in the areas that are most critical for its participation to the networked world. If we see the economic situation in Albania, we can understand the need to embrace the development of ICT is very important and it is clearly stated in the strategy constructed by the Albanian government. It could also help with lower employment levels in the country and generally low performance in some sectors of the economy, which can make good conditions not only for building but also for implementing the ICT strategy.