Table 1.

Characteristics of categories of adopters (adapted by authors from [15])

Category	Occurrence (%) [8]	Main personal features	Position in society	Relation to ICT
Innovator	3	The person who assumes the idea to innovate, improve. Takes risks, courages, has high ability to resist the uncertainty	Cosmopolitan. His activity overlaps the local importance. Actively involved in communities via networks. Stands at the beginning and infiltrates new ideas into the social system	Reaches excellent HW and SW skills. Effectively works with local and global networks, exploits the Internet. Not limited by space and time. Homo ludens electronicus
Early adopter	13	Follows enthusiasts, innovators, improvers	Local missionary. Thought leader. Plays role of the leader of the others	Co-operates via networks and the Internet with innovators. Exploits national networks and ICT-relating centres
Early majority	34	Deliberate, level-headed. Progressive, not revolutionary. Improves still existing procedures	In contact with local recognised personalities, non-leading type	Has problems with understanding and adopting new HW or SW which offer actions not conducted before
Last majority	34	Sceptic. Must be fully persuaded about advantages of innovations	Sensitive to social directions and rules. Adopts after strong pressure of the environment	Depends on technical and mental support. Annoyed by absence of standards
Laggards	16	Cannot bear the uncertainty from innovations and new things	Often isolated, lonely	Frustrated by the speed and ubiquitous ICT development. No idea about ICT