Demand based ICT4D policies and the role of the ICT sector as a development locomotive

Ricard Ruiz de Querol — always worth reading him — has an interesting reflection around the alternatives for an ICT sector (in Spanish). Based on the Financial Times article , the issue is whether and how it is possible to foster a national ICT sector so that it becomes a driver, and a locomotive, of development, in substitution of other traditional (obsolete) industries like oil, mining or raw materials.

Ricard highlights to trends to keep in mind:

  • Developing an ICT industry to foster competitiveness of other established industries
  • Protecting the local market from foreign competitors, trying to nationally replicate foreign technology and services

Recent history has provided good examples — Ireland, Finland… even Bangalore or Bangladesh — of strategies focused on the creation of a strong ICT sector, but I personally growingly doubt it can be generalized on a one-solution-fits-all basis. Four reasons:

  1. In many cases, developing and ICT sector was not a solution but the only remaining choice, so the relative success of the initiative changes dramatically if the rest of the economy is doing (more or less) well. I am not saying those examples were not successful (they where, and quite a lot), but one should be careful to take ultimate chances, well backed up and supported by most agents of the economy, as perfectly planned from scratch strategies that became magic solutions. I don’t think there is nothing like a blueprint for ICT sector based development.
  2. The successful examples benefited from well set socio-economic frameworks: the language (i.e. English), the quality of the educational system, a strong welfare state/economy that perfectly leveraged all other efforts. As the iceberg, we just saw the visible part of the whole system.
  3. (As the article also states) Even if it is said that the road of ICT development can be leaped so that leapfrogging is possible, it is nonetheless true that the firms that have been able to establish themselves strongly in the market, have achieved quasi-monopolies or, to say the least, have made things very difficult for late comers.
  4. In addition to the first point — and somehow a consequence of the other two — we (I) still have to find strong evidence of ICT sector based strategies and policies that have proven effective and brought a deep impact at the macroeconomic level. Most impact on the GDP of the ICT sector is due to expenditure, investment and revenue of the sector, but not (which is what we’d call a locomotive effect) because of a positive impact on other industries from the supply point of view. If the railroad had an impact on the iron and steel industry, the energy industry, etc., I find it difficult to find what have been — from a supply point of view — the satellite industries that are being developed around the ICT sector at the national level.

That said, I agree with (a) fostering competitiveness of other established industries but not in (b) protecting the local market from foreign competitors and trying to nationally replicate foreign technology and services: the goal should not be developing a national ICT sector, which, in my opinion, can be a desired side effect, but not a primary outcome.

I am more and more convinced that the focus has not to be on the supply, but on the demand.

  • Stimulate demand so that ICTs are incorporated in everyday’s life, most especially in industrial and business processes so that they enhance their productivity
  • Stimulate demand so that the level of technology absorption comes naturally, thus upgrading the digital capacity of human resources and firms, and benefit even more from everyday’s life ICT use
  • Stimulate demand so that it requires the corresponding supply growth, that will come from abroad but will equally generate business opportunities in the national ICT sector, based on the real economy
  • Stimulate demand so that ICT use is based on real needs, the only formula for long-term sustainability

Summing up, it is my opinion that, despite the evidence on the benefits of a powerful ICT sector, these benefits (while important) are limited to the direct impact and have a small multiplier effect on the rest of the economy. Thus, we should focus on the adoption of technology, which has proven to have huge and much broader effects at all levels, and let the development of the ICT sector be a second derivative of economic development — and not the other way round.

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iCities (Ia). Opening Session: Digital Citizens vs. Analogue Institutions

iCities is a Conference about Blogs, e-Government and Digital Participation.
Here come my notes for session I (part I).

Opening Session (part I)
Chairs Carmen Sánchez-Carazo

Digital Citizens vs. Analogue Institutions
Ismael Peña-López

These are the materials I’m using at the iCities: Primeras Jornadas sobre Blogs, e-Government y Participación Digital [First Conference on Blogs, e-Government and Digital Participation], for the opening speech, in which I take part on Friday 9th May 2008.

Slides:

Video

Bibliography

Castells, M. (2000). “Materials for an exploratory theory of the network society”. In British Journal of Sociology, Jan-Mar 2000, 51(1), 5-24. London: Routledge.
Castells, M. (2004). “Informationalism, Networks, And The Network Society: A Theoretical Blueprint”. In Castells, M. (Ed.), The Network Society: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
Dutta, S., López-Claros, A. & Mia, I. (Eds.) (2006). Global Information Technology Report 2005-2006: Leveraging ICT for Development. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dutta, S. & Mia, I. (Eds.) (2007). Global Information Technology Report 2006-2007: Connecting to the Networked Economy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dutta, S., López-Claros, A. & Mia, I. (Eds.) (2008). Global Information Technology Report 2007-2008: Fostering Innovation through Networked Readiness. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Eurostat Information society statistics. [online]: European Commission.
Freedom House (2007). Freedom in the World 2007. Washington, DC: Freedom House.
Mominó de la Iglesia, J. M., Sigalés Conde, C. & Meneses Naranjo, J. (2008a). L’Escola a la Societat Xarxa: Internet a l’Educació Primària i Secundària. Barcelona: Ariel.
Mominó de la Iglesia, J. M., Sigalés Conde, C. & Meneses Naranjo, J. (2008b). L’Escola a la Societat Xarxa: Internet a l’Educació Primària i Secundària (Volum I). Informe Final de Recerca. Barcelona: UOC.
Mominó de la Iglesia, J. M., Sigalés Conde, C. & Meneses Naranjo, J. (2008c). L’Escola a la Societat Xarxa: Internet a l’Educació Primària i Secundària (Volum II). Informe Final de Recerca. Barcelona: UOC.
Norris, P. & Curtice, J. (2006). “If You Build a Political Web Site, Will They Come? The Internet and Political Activism in Britain”. In International Journal of Electronic Government Research, 2(2), 1-21. Hershey: IGI Global.
OECD (2007). PISA 2006: Science Competencies for Tomorrow’s World. Volume 1: Analysis. Paris: OECD.
Parks Associates (2007). Offline Americans see Internet of Little Value. [online]: Parks Associates.
Peña-López, I. (2007). El papel de las TIC y la Web 2.0 en el desarrollo: de las estrategias push a las estrategias pull. Seminar and round table imparted in Cornellà de Llobregat, January 25th, 2008 at the Difundir las TIC en la época 2.0 conference, Observatorio de la Cibersociedad. Cornellà de Llobregat: ICTlogy.
Ruiz de Querol, R. (2008). “De Instituciones a Ciudadanos: Algo falta en la cadena”. In
Estrategias 2.0, 8 Mayo 2008. [online]
Sabaté, F. (2007a). “¿Tan mal estamos de conectividad? [1]”. In Estrategias 2.0, 14 Noviembre 2007. [online]
Sabaté, F. (2007b). “¿Tan mal estamos de conectividad? [2]”. In Estrategias 2.0, 16 Noviembre 2007. [online]
Universal McCann (2008). Wave 3. New York: Universal McCann.

Acknowledgements

Update:
Now that the conference is over, hearty and warmest thanks to Pablo Díaz and César Calderón for making the conference happen and for having invited me.

Ricard Ruiz de Querol deserves my sincerest gratitude for his always challenging insights about the Information Society. Jaume Moregó also pushed me to a project that payed back with good reflections. A good buch of this conference was inspired by them both, thank you. And also thanks to Julio Meneses for his lightning fast and valuable help with some graphic materials.

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iCities 2008, Blogs, e-Government and Digital Participation (2008)