State, Economy, Society and Recent Information Society Policies in Greece

Building on recent literature on national cases of information society (IS) and the knowledge-based economy, the paper examines the evolving processes and shapes of the Greek IS, by looking into recent policies promoted by the Greek state. In doing so, it deploys a state/society conceptual approach, which highlights the ways in which European IS policy and its national interpretations are articulated or confronted by national socio-cultural, political and economic idiosyncrasies, as well as the role of the state in articulating global policies with national characteristics. The emphasis of the study is on the period 1998-2007, a period including the first comprehensive IS strategy in Greece, as well as enabling a critical examination of its effects.