[governance] The Economist on technology in developing countries

[David Goldstein]

Hi all,

The Economist recently ran a couple of articles - an opinion and a news piece - about technology in emerging economies that some may find interesting.

See below.

Cheers
David

Technology and development: The limits of leapfrogging-The spread of new technologies often depends on the availability of older ones
Mobile phones are frequently held up as a good example of technology's ability to transform the fortunes of people in the developing world. In places with bad roads, few trains and parlous land lines, mobile phones substitute for travel, allow price data to be distributed more quickly and easily, enable traders to reach wider markets and generally make it easier to do business. The mobile phone is also a wonderful example of a “leapfrog” technology: it has enabled developing countries to skip the fixed-line technology of the 20th century and move straight to the mobile technology of the 21st. Surely other technologies can do the same?
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10650775

Technology in emerging economies: Of internet cafés and power cuts-Emerging economies are better at adopting new technologies than at putting them into widespread use
Within a few months China will overtake America as the country with the world's largest number of internet users. Even when you factor in China's size and its astonishing rate of GDP growth, this will be a remarkable achievement for what remains a poor economy. For the past three years China has also been the world's largest exporter of information and communications technology (ICT). It already has the same number of mobile-phone users (500m) as the whole of Europe.
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10640716


 
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David Goldstein
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