The development of information and communication technology: An empirical study

Information and communication technology (ICT) can be regarded as a universal technological system, which is closely linked to all of the previous systems and creates new, more complex technological systems. ICT's main characterizing function is to assure acquiring, storing, processing, delivering, distributing, handling, controlling, transforming, retrieving and using information. The rich literature of the information society discusses its diversified functions in detail. During my analysis, I have taken the information society as a normative future plan for Hungary, and I have also been looking for the answer of what progress has been made in building the information society in the studied Hungarian economic sectors. In this paper I examine the following issues to what extent we can speak about the information society in Hungary nowadays; what is the development level of the information society in several economic sectors and company sizes compared to each other and to the member states of the European Union; how this development level can be measured and calculated; how the development level of information and communication technology increases in certain company sizes; what trends can be observed in the development process of the individual economic sectors and various company sizes. I extend my examination to the static, momentary state of the development level of ICT devices used in various economic sectors as well as to their dynamic analysis, expected pace of growth and their qualification.