In the traditional heading "Leaders of the Information Society" an article of Lucy Abrahams, director LINK Centre of the University of Witwatersrand from South Africa, is represented. In this article, specially prepared for the "Information Society" and published in this issue, instead of an exclusive interview on the background of the extensive statistical information the process of development of information society in South Africa is showed. A marked differentiation of the population in terms of access to information and communication technology in general and the Internet in particular, due to sharp differences in income and the high cost of digital services. Attention is drawn to the lack of definition of public policies in this area.

Once again the editors gladly publish the findings of our constant author Ludmila Baeva, Doctor of Philosophy from Astrakhan State University.The article presents an analysis of megatrends (the most promising fronts) in research programs in areas such as health and the uniqueness of life, new educational technologies, quality of life, e-culture and cultural security. Based on the analysis of statistical data on the development of information society in Russia the most significant challenges of the man and the society in terms of development of high technologies are characterized and the and the perspectives of possible studies in these areas are defined.

Under the heading “Information Society: Policy and Drivers” the article of renowned expert in the field of electronic development Professor Nagy Hanna was represented. The article “Transforming to a Networked Society. A Guide for Policy Makers” analyses goals, objectives and functions of government in the process of e-transformation and the formation of the networked society. The author pays attention to the painful process of implementing a new social paradigm; recommendations are formulated to overcome the barriers.

Under the heading “The Human in the Information Society” the article of Doctor of Economics Olga Vershinskaya presents preliminary results of research studying students’ preferences of reading and writing on paper or with digital media. The author concludes that for the most part young people clearly differentiate spheres of using traditional and new media. Candidate of Philosophical Sciences Aleksey Ilyin from Omsk studies in his article the phenomenon of information consumerism (sliding consumerism) - non-reflexive, superficial, with no criteria of differentiating between truth and myth.

Under the topic “Information Society and State Power” the article of Alexey Efimov, Aleksander Raykov, Aleksandra Shubenkova “Regional Informatization: Powers Allocation Optimization” is published. Comprehensive analysis of the federal, regional and municipal legal framework regulating the activities of local authorities in the field of informatization indicates the need to achieve balance in the allocation of powers in the field of informatization on municipal level. The article proves the possibility and reasonability of the transfer of some powers in this area from the municipal level to the level of region of the Russian Federation. 

Under the traditional for the Journal heading “Culture in the Information Society” the article of Candidate of Technical Sciences Elena Chernenko from Khakass Technical Institute “3D Graphic Reconstruction and Visualization of an Archeological Monument” is represented. The results of 3D simulation allow to get an idea of archeological sites that existed earlier but now are fully or partially destroyed. The author consideres site reconstruction methods and presents the simulation results.

As usual there are topics "Information Society and Media" and "Information Society Technologies" in the issue. Professor Mikhail Nazarov from the Higher School of Economics, representatives of Sholokhov Moscow State University for the Humanities Tamara Rostovskaya and Tatiana Kipshara, representatives of Tambov State Technical University Vladimir Nemtinov, Ivan Gorelov, Maria Vorobyova became our authors.