Multistructural measurement and analysis of societies oriented to the industrial production and distribution of information: The case of selected African countries

This study (1) analyzed the information sectors of selected African countries by examining the relationship between the information workforce and its corollary--information work force support infrastructure and (2) created a multistructural model of an information society. The analysis of the information sector and the creation of a new model are based on the theory that the transition to an information society is a multifaceted and multidimensional process.; Changes in the composition of the information workforce of selected countries were analyzed in relation to the growth of the information workforce support infrastructure. The results show that the relationship between the information workforce and the development of information support infrastructure is negative. Societies with this kind of relationship were labeled inverted pyramid information societies.; The new model provided three orientations to information: "producer," "consumer" and "neither" and identified three freedoms: freedom of information, of press and of speech as the foundation of an information society. A society can be classified information society only if it guarantees these freedoms and is oriented to the industrial production and distribution of information.