Information Technology Reference
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ence people's evaluation and usage of ICTs in
general and mobile telephony in particular.
As regards the exceptional case of mobile
telephony, the interviewees supported the conten-
tion that the socio-cultural distinctiveness of the
Greek context can precisely explain why mobile
telephony differs in its reception from other ICTs
and how this contrast should not be viewed as
a surprise. Indicative are the words of George
Papapavlou, Officer at the EC DG Information
Society and a Greek national, who has worked
at the EC for implementation of the European
telecommunications regulation in Greece. George
Papapavlou argued that a particular culture exists
in Greece, which he called 'Mediterranean' and
linked to the country's geographical location.
He argued that Greek identity and culture are
illustrated by the adoption of new technologies
and the contrasting adoption rates of different
technologies in the country, such as mobile tele-
phony and the Internet:
Empirical Reflections
Both the interviews with elite actors and focus
groups of ordinary people aimed to help the study
understand how mobile technology differs from
other ICTs in the Greek context and the particular
role that socio-cultural factors play accordingly.
Elite actors in the Greek information society:
the Internet vs. mobile telephony?
The intention of the elite actors' interviews
was to view Greece as part of a 'whole', as a
case among others in the European region, and to
explore the elements making the Greek informa-
tion society diverge from other countries in this
region. Nevertheless, the interviewed elite actors
argued about 'Greek distinctiveness', particularly
in relation to Internet adoption.
More specifically, they framed and associ-
ated the theme of 'Greek distinctiveness' with
arguments concerning the existence of a non-
technocratic culture in Greece. Most interviewees
recognised the existence of a cultural identity and
argued that this identity drives Greece to maintain
traditions and dissociate the country from the in-
creasingly powerful world of new technologies.
The interviewees decoded cultural identity in a
pessimistic way, referring to the existence of a
non-technocratic and technophobic culture in
society, policy and regulation, to social ignorance,
as well as to what they generally perceived as a
Greek lifestyle:
…the difference is that we [Greece] are a Medi-
terranean country, we live more 'outside' than
'inside'…we are fans of short- and not long-term
work… I think this is why we are better with mo-
bile phones than with the Internet… On the other
hand, if we understand what exactly the Internet is
about, if we realise that Internet services can do
more things…because we are clever, adventurers,
because…we look at the future, we have fantasia,
because of all these I believe we will use to a
certain degree all the things the Internet offers.
Such arguments concerning the disparity in
the way mobile telephony and Internet technolo-
gies are received in Greece may support what
the literature and historical analyses of the Greek
context (as briefly presented above) have shown
about the broader socio-cultural characteristics of
the country, their complex linkages with politics
and their important role in technological devel-
opment. From this perspective, the elite actors
precisely indicated the complex interlinkages
between social culture and politics in the Greek
People in Greece are still attached to a traditional
lifestyle because they are not informed or because
they have not seen examples of people in other
countries using new technologies successfully
(Costas Balictsis, Director of Telecommunications
at the Greek National Regulatory Authority for
Telecommunications).
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