MIT 21F 034 - The Developing World and the Role of Information

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The Developing World and the Role of Information and Communication Technologies Media, Education and the Marketplace Presented by Mohamed Haji 12/14/05The Developing World and the Role of Information Communication Technologies There are 4 billion poor people in the world today.1 This is two thirds of the world’s total population. Most of these poor people reside in developing nations where there are limited access to resources. As a result, the developing world today faces challenges in many sectors of the economy. Two key sectors that have been crippled are healthcare and education. Healthcare is a leading issue in the developing world. Epidemics like AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis have claimed many lives and continue to do so. Fighting these epidemics requires a lot of resources. In such countries where resources are scarce, healthcare spending takes away lots of spending that could be allocated elsewhere. Malaria is one of the most lethal tropical diseases. It is estimated that African Nations have spent over US $100 billion in the fight against malaria over the last 30 years. Such huge expenditure on health leaves no much room for anything else. Similarly, Education in developing nations is characterized by poor and limited resources. Lack of funds, lack of qualified teachers and lack of learning materials are only but a few of the challenges. Illiteracy rates are high in these regions, especially among the female population. With education staggering, such nations cannot create the capacity needed to fuel economic growth in a country. The questions I will address in this paper are: 1 C.K. Prahalad and Stuart L. Hart, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, page 3. 21. How can information and communication technologies (ICT) aid development in Third World countries? 2. What are some of the challenges facing ICT implementation in the developing world? 3. Are there any ICT based cases that have proven successful in enabling development? 4. How can we overcome barriers to eradicating poverty using ICT? 1. Information and communication technologies can be leveraged to enable development Extensive studies have shown that ICTs are central to any economy today. Information and communication technologies are pushing boundaries in all disciplines. In agriculture, there have been drought-resistant crops developed. In biotechnology, animals have been cloned. Hybrid cars that are environmentally friendly have been produced. These are just a few of the transformations enabled by new technologies. Unfortunately, the developing world has had limited contribution in these new fronts. If we harness these existing technologies we can create ICTs that match local needs and local conditions of developing countries. Here are highlights of a few key areas where ICTs can be used to solve existing problems: Agricultural Productivity Most Third World economies have been and still are agricultural based. With fast growing populations, it has been difficult to match production and consumption in these economies. Unpredictable or unfavorable weathers have also led to water scarcity and at times drought. Moreover, urbanization has created labor shortages in rural areas where 3agriculture is centered. With growing populations and shrinking labor sources, productivity has suffered. To address low productivity, governments need to encourage innovations that can spur growth in agricultural output to sustain the needs of the population. Developing nations need to look at alternatives to traditional agricultural practices. Governments need to look at better ways of doing irrigation where rains are scarce. In soil management, nanotechnologies like zeolites can provide better and more efficient fertilizers.2 As you introduce new and existing technologies, you need to address issues of sustainability. To sustain technologies and new farming methods, you require the expertise. Such expertise can include technicians who can repair broken equipment, scientists who can design new and better pesticides etc. Without such support services, long term desires in increasing productivity will not be achieved. More important, the government needs to increase efficient market access for farmers. This market access will create profit incentives for farmers thus creating capacity to sustain production. Information Dissemination Information flow is essential as it creates increased knowledge sharing. Knowledge sharing can enhance development of best practices in many sectors. In education, information dissemination can play significant roles. If well established to meet local needs, ICTs can be used to disseminate educational content across borders and across continents. This sharing may overcome some of the space, time and financial constraints in developing nations. I must make clear though that there is need to adopt innovative 2 Calestous Juma and Lee Yee-Cheong, Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation, UN Millennium Project, Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development, 71 4technologies that overcome existing bottlenecks. In developing nations, connectivity and bandwidth become a limitation to sharing knowledge. It is therefore important to identify innovative ways of bypassing these constraints. Once such bottlenecks are conquered, ICTs can deliver educational content that is flexible and responsive to the individual in these nations. Technology Transfer Collaboration between the Third World and the developed world can create sustainable technology transfers. Technology transfers can enable cheap ways of producing goods and services in the Third World. Since the purchasing power difference between the developed and developing nations is enormous, products generated in the First World are hardly affordable to those in the Third World. But we can facilitate transfer of technology to the developing nations so as they can use local raw materials and local labor to produce affordable and appropriate goods. In return, the technology owners can charge license fees to those who borrow the technology. Such efforts can create collaboration that fosters economic growth of developing nations while creating returns for the First World. While ICTs can create the capacity to strengthen economies, there are factors that limit their effective use. These limitations are more prominent in developing nations who have the highest need. As the world becomes global, there will be more reliance


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MIT 21F 034 - The Developing World and the Role of Information

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