Abstract EN:

This work is an attempt at a critical assessment of the past 25 years efforts toward the establishment of information systems in developing countries and at articulating a systematic review of the critical issues involved. It relies upon a selection of the author's publications, based on the observations and analyses made in the course of his consulting activities in the same period, mostly in africa and latin america. The main topics considered are: the suitability of the concept of the "information society" for the developing countries are discussed and the cultural factors imbeded in the information cycle; the various "social measures" of information are described as well as the index of information utilization potential (iup); the defects of the information policies and requirements for their successful implementation; the major features of the national information infrastructures in the developing countries; the modalities for the implementation of programmes in support of the development of information activities; the inefficiency of isolated endeavours and the requirements for building effective networks; the need for establishing information management within organizations and most suitable approaches to that end; the advantages of modern information technologies and the specification which appropriate tools shoud meet; the constraints which limit the role of developing countries in international information exchanges and the avenues for a more active participation; the radical changes which education and training for information work should undergo; the limitations of research on information and development and the series of major research topics on which it should concentrate.