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Theme 3: The Role
of ICT in Economic Growth and Socio-Economic Development |
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Number
of abstracts currently posted to this Theme: 1 | 2 |
3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
12 | 13 |
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to List of Themes |
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(Last updated:
November 28, 2005) |
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ICT as Catalyst for Development:
Strengths and Weakness |
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Edvins
Karnitis, Commissioner |
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Public Utilities Commission
of Latvia |
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Latvia |
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Information processing, wide and ramified knowledge
flows are substantial keystones for evolution in
the 21st century, while rapid development of ICT
provides necessary technical opportunities. |
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ICT sector has become a profitable business sphere,
but much more important is close relation of given
sector with general growth, strengthening positive
long-term feedback. Economic growth means increasing
public and private investments in ICT technologies
and usage of services, that in one’s turn
strongly supports dynamic development of all sectors,
increase of productivity and capacity of businesses
and administration, growing competitiveness of
countries and regions, increasing public social
expenditures. |
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Analysis shows that there is a strong correlation
between ICT and economic growth. There is much
higher level of GDP and investments in regions
where advanced ICT services are used in comparison
with regions that are underdeveloped in this sense. |
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Number of activities should be included in national
ICT strategies. The maximum advantage is achievable
not just by simply “informatizing” different
processes and maintaining their essence, but by
following an innovative approach – modifying
and modernizing processes and procedures, increasing
their effectiveness by exploitation of capabilities
offered by ICT that were not achievable before.
On the other hand user interfaces should become
simpler. |
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Growing vulnerability of society, its dependability
on information processing remains the most critical
risk. If information flows will be destroyed, it
will result as inoperative power networks, destroyed
supply chains, collapsed logistics, interrupted
financial transactions. |
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Broadband Demand Aggregation
to Accelerate Regional Economic Development |
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Ed Brown, Chief
Executive Officer |
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Adit North |
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Newcastle Upon Tyne, England |
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United Kingdom |
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Adit North is a UK Government initiated,
regional partnership focussed on aggregation
of demand, procurement and commissioning of
broadband networks and facilities spanning
some of Britain’s largest metropolitan
centres and England’s sparsest rural
communities. This paper positions the initiative
within national and regional economic strategies
together with information society developments
over recent years. It contrasts experiences
in the north of England, where it was possible
to build on previous relationships and developments,
with other regions that have found difficulty
in starting from scratch. An extensive regional
communications network will be illustrated
with cross-sector partners providing services
and support to businesses and the public sector. |
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Early achievements and projects will be
reviewed, including: |
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• ADSL enablement of remote and rural
exchanges, providing > 98% availability to
the population served |
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• Real Broadband. Regional collaboration
to bring fibre connectivity to the kerbside for
homes and businesses. |
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• The Northern Internet Exchange, a 155MB
link from the north of England to London and
international services/markets. |
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• Network integration for health, education,
communities (urban and rural) and e-government
will be outlined together with the route to self-financing. |
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Frank discussions of lessons learned along
with how some of the residual obstacles may be
addressed. This will include some pre-requisites
for success together with cultural and organisational
behaviours that influence the ‘competition/collaboration
paradox’. |
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The paper will conclude with existing and
potential opportunities for international collaboration. |
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How are Mobiles Empowering Local
Communities in Developing Countries? |
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Chaitali Sinha, Research
Officer |
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International
Development Research Centre (IDRC) |
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Several studies have documented the increased
proliferation of mobile handsets in developing
countries. This paper examines the impact of mobile
handsets and how they are enabling communities
to realize opportunities, whether they are social,
economic or political. Network, social capital
and scaling up theories are drawn upon to highlight
the empowering effects of mobiles. Several case
studies are used to show how different communities
are leveraging mobiles to improve their livelihoods.
The paper argues that mobiles are strengthening
networks and allowing marginalized communities
to participate more effectively in the global economy.
It assesses the mobile penetration trends in developing
countries; describes how mobiles are strengthening
social networks by connecting isolated individuals
and communities; discusses how innovative uses
of mobiles are generating economic opportunities;
and considers how mobiles are being used to influence
policy beyond the locality by raising issues at
the national and/or global level. |
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The Influence of Demographic
and Socio-Economic Factors upon Using Information
Technology among More, Moderate, and Less Developed
Countries in the Globe |
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Ashraf Ragab EL-Ghannam, Professor |
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Department
of Sociology, United Arab Emirates University |
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United Arab Emirates |
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There is now a growing cross-national empirical
literature on the information technology, but it
is limited, and an important lacuna remains. Although
widely hailed as a new, powerful engine of global
social and economic change, there has been very
little sociological theorizing and research on
the globalization of the information technology.
This study deals with what happened in global and
countries variations regarding the information
technology (IT). It investigates whether level
of human development and the presence of a sizable
growth of Internet host around the globe. The objective
is to identify and explore the relationships between
the demographic, socio-economic factors and using
(IT) among different level of development in the
globe. The sample involved 120 countries. This
countries divided by level of development as following:
41, 47, and 32 countries as more, moderate, and
less developed countries, respectively. The statistical
methods include descriptive analysis and regression
analysis. In more developed countries, the results
suggest that GNP per capita and percent of public
expenditure on education were statistically significant
upon using IT. The results in moderate developed
countries indicate that about 49% of the variance
in using IT are explained by percent of rural population,
age dependency ratio, and GNP per capita. Percent
of educated youth, and percent of expenditure on
telecommunications were the best predictors variables
of using IT in less develop countries. Clearly,
Without governments’ policies and strategies
and national organizations’ efforts, the
world countries will continue to divide into the
information rich countries and the information
poor countries. |
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Corporations, NGOs and IT Training: Blending private and non-profit approaches to achieving socio-economic outcomes |
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Raul
Roman, Research
Associate |
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Center for Internet Studies,
University of Washington, Seattle, USA |
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Chris Coward, Director |
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Center for Internet Studies,
University of Washington, Seattle, USA |
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Maria Garrido, PhD Candidate |
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Department of Communication, University of Washington,
Seattle, USA |
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Beth Kolko, Associate Professor and Director of PhD Program |
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College of Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA |
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Andy Gordon, Professor |
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Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, Seattle, USA |
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Discussions on telecenters in developing countries
frequently emphasize the critical role of local ‘champions’,
particularly telecenter managers, in enabling the
viability and prosperity of such operations. However,
there is hardly any empirical evidence about who
these individuals really are. There is little we
know about telecenter managers’ needs and
wants, their interests, and their capacity to carry
out their work. In response to this gap, this paper
reports the results of a study that surveyed over
200 telecenter managers in different countries
of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Based on this
unique data set, the paper analyzes telecenter
managers’ skills and characteristics (including
individual social capital), needs for training
and support, and perceptions about the contributions
of telecenters to socioeconomic development. The
paper concludes with a set of program planning
recommendations for telecenter practitioners and
support organizations. |
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ICT, Knowledge Networks, and
Poverty |
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David Prosperi, Professor |
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Department of Public Administration,
Florida Atlantic University |
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Iliana Mizinova, PhD
Student |
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Department of Public Administration,
Florida Atlantic University |
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Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA |
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The correlation between poverty and access to
information has been widely acknowledged along
with the proposition that access to information
leads to opportunities generating resources. Three
major frameworks are captured in analyzing the
relationship between poverty and the access to
information: ICT, economics, and institutional
structures. The relationship between ICT and economics
has implied transnational processes that increase
the gap between prosperity and poverty. Other propositions
exist that these processes grow and dominate only
if the outcome of opportunities and profits is
reciprocal; where institutional structures provide
limitations and additional costs for both sides,
other scales of activities prevail. The discussion
becomes less abstract when the transnational forces
interact with national institutional structures
that bring geographical scale and specific context
to change. |
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The paper outlines the relationships between
the three frameworks - ICT, economics, and institutional
structures – to discuss customized approaches
to poverty by using ICT tools. An argument is developed
that ICT intervention directly through education
is the most effective approach to the problem.
Based on conceptual and empirical evidence, the
research recommends a strategic undertaking to
involve decentralized and customized knowledge
networks managed by regional educational nuclei
employing GIS to map poverty. ICT decision-making
and poverty mapping tools are argued to provide
optimal customized support of regionalized knowledge
networks. |
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The research concludes its argument by outlining
the priorities of direct educational development
approach over economic policies for poverty alleviation. |
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Broadband Developments
in the New Member States: Experiences and Lessons |
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Pal Gáspár, Director |
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International Center for
Economic Growth - European Center (ICEG EC) |
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Renáta
Anna Jaksa, Researcher |
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International Center for Economic
Growth - European Center (ICEG EC) |
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Budapest, Hungary |
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Broadband has become a central policy priority
in the European Union reflected among others in
the eEurope and eEurope 2005 initiatives. The New
Member States (NMS) are particularly interesting
area for broadband analysis as compared to the
average of the EU their economies and information
societies are less developed, while they have higher
growth rates, more flexible economic structures
and are expected to catch up fast. This may allow
them to leapfrog in several areas of information
society development, including broadband. The paper
analyses the special conditions and recent experiences
of broadband development in NMS countries. |
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The first part gives a comparative evaluation
on spread of broadband in NMS by using various
demand and supply side indicators. Next part briefly
describes recent broadband policies: the institutional
and regulatory framework, the links between the
state and market in broadband development and the
special public tasks (demand aggregation, development
in remote areas, etc.). This part highlights the
special features of broadband development in NMS:
broadband development shared between pubic and
private sector, loopholes in regulation, presence
of market distortions, accompanying policies to
stimulate broadband use by the private sector.
The paper also presents some of the measurable
macroeconomic consequences of broadband developments
in the NMS countries. |
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Finally, based both on good and bad experiences
of the NMS countries, the paper makes some conclusions
for other middle income countries concerning the
institutional, regulatory and macroeconomic preconditions
for fast broadband development. |
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Achieving the MDGs through the
Use of Information and Communication Technologies |
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Evika Karamagioli,
Grants Coordinator |
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access2democracy |
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Athens, Greece |
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New technologies can facilitate the emergence
of new types of development solutions and economic
opportunities for developing countries. The bring
efficiency and new opportunities to areas from
small enterprises development to international
trade, to education and health care. |
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There use is considered as a priority for the
achievement of MDG as it is outlined in the UN
Millennium Declaration. “…Ensuring
that the benefits of new technologies, specially
information and communication are available to
all." |
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They can enhance accountability, transparency,
Development effectiveness but also facilitate networking,
collaboration of stakeholders. |
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The proposed paper will explore the potential
benefits of using ICT in achieving the MDGs, will
highlighted best practices and stress potential
risks and conditions for their successful implementation. |
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Information Technologies and
Employment in Serbia |
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Gordana Stojic Atanasov, Faculty
of Philosophy |
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University of Nis |
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Serbia and Montenegro |
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The paper deals with the possibilities of creating
new jobs based on ICTs development in Serbia.
Employment effects of information technologies
development are: creation of new jobs, possibilities
for part-time jobs and self-employment, increasing
opportunities for employment of women, disabled
people and other vulnerable groups. ICTs are
changing the nature of work, the occupational
structure and the skills requirements of workforce.
The educational structure of the labour force
in Serbia is inadequate to the requirements set
by the modern technological development. Without
access to information, computer and Internet,
as well as adequate skills, one is excluded from
new occupations. Growth of the “e-economy” changes
links between producers and consumers and enable
new forms of work and self-employment. Computer
literacy increased chances of the unemployed
to find a job. |
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The Ideology Underneath the
Technology: Chilean Microenterprises and Public
ICT-Policies |
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Dorothea Kleine, Doctoral
Student |
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London School of Economics
and Political Science |
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London, England |
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Digital Divides reflect the social and regional
inequalities between and within countries. This
paper presents a case study from Chile, a country
which is among the leaders in Latin America both
for levels of e-readiness and for social and
regional inequality. The ICT policies of the
left-of-centre government reflect its “Third
Way” approach, showing a tension between
neoliberal economic policy and state programmes
to support weaker sectors of the economy such
as microenterpreneurs. |
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The paper presents a multi-level policy analysis
of two ICT initiatives: Chilecompra, an online
public e-procurement system aiming at transparent
and competitive transactions in line with neoliberal
economic theory, and Red Comunitaria, a network
of Community Information Centres which offer
free Internet access and training to microenterpreneurs.
Interviews were conducted at the national, regional
and local level. |
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It is argued that while Community Information
Centres have opened the Internet to the microenterpreneurs
who cannot afford cybercafes, these microenterpreneurs
are only just beginning to draw economic benefits
from their Internet usage. Meanwhile, the premature
shift to e-procurement directed by central government
means that the same local microenterpreneurs
lose vital orders from the local public sector
to larger companies located in the regional and
national capitals. |
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The paper argues that these two conflicting
state ICT policies in Chile mirror the underlying
tension between a neoliberal economic model and
concerns of social and regional equality. More
widely, it calls for a closer analysis of the
economic and social models underlying state ICT-interventions. |
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Macroeconomic and Social Determinants
of ICT Diffusion and Economic Growth |
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Michelle Commosioung,
Doctoral Student |
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Department
of Economics, Manchester Metropolitan University |
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Manchester, England |
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In September 2000, at its 55th General Assembly,
189 Member States of the United Nations adopted
the Millennium Declaration. The Declaration commits
to the achievement of eight Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) designed to bring about an improvement
in living conditions of the worlds’ poor.
With regards to technology, the Millennium Declaration
clearly states that adherents should “in
cooperation with the private sector make available
the benefits of new technologies, specifically
information and communications”. Undoubtedly,
over the last decade, the global ICT industry
has evolved at an astonishing rate and increased
ICT diffusion is commonly seen as an effective
way of promoting higher economic growth and have
the ability to generate social, cultural and
political changes. However, much of the variation
in a country’s technology outcomes may
be determined by the type and level of both macroeconomic
and social factors at its disposal. |
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Within the context of the MDGs, the focus of
this paper is centred on macroeconomic and social
factors that influence ICT diffusion within a
country. A logistic growth model and data for
up to 212 countries, from 1998-2002, is used
to examine the rate of technology diffusion in
both developed and developing countries. Results
show that the speed of technology diffusion is
faster in developing countries, as they are able
to take advantage of their “late-comer” status
and use ICT to “leapfrog” development.
Important determinants of diffusion are per capita
income, openness to trade, economic freedom and
civil and political liberties. (243 words) |
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Mobilizing
Digital Resources for Social Change and Development |
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Royal D. Colle, International
Professor Emeritus |
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Department of Communication,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York |
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The
converging of Millennium Development Goals
initiatives and the World Summit on the Information
Society reflects the importance of mobilizing
resources to create digital opportunities especially
related to poverty, health, and education.
The establishment of telecenters around the
world signifies an effort to bring information
and communication technologies within the reach
of those who are stuck on the wrong side of
the digital divide. The challenge is to look
beyond the connectivity issues, where we are
making enormous progress, and increase the relevance and accessibility of
the digital world for all. Largely ignored
in this challenge is the role of universities
whom one expert suggests need to be "reinvented" in
developing countries to play a larger role
in development. This paper lays out a specific
plans for building developing country universities
into partnerships with telecenters and into
the information and communication technology
for development movement. |
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