INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT: A NEW WORLD ORDER William A. Perry, Tennessee State University Richard Banham, Tennessee State University Sharon B. Thach, Tennessee State University ABSTRACT The past four centuries have been periodically punctuated by great technological changes. More recent changes have been the railroad age, the industrial age, the automobile age, the atomic age, the computer age and the current IT revolution. In the last decade, the Internet and price declines for computer hardware, telecom, storage technologies and easy to use software have swept in the most important basis for growth in U.S. history. The changes are slower in Europe, changing rapidly. Unlike previous economic revolutions which developed regionally, then implemented by other nations in a more-or-less, both developed and developing nations are rushing to participate in the IT revolution. Developed economies to date have been unable to clearly understand the impact IT or adequately define data to measure its requirements or impact. Consequently, the educational, investment, and technological requirements necessary for successful participation in the revolution remain unclear. Using IT in developing countries to accelerate economic growth becomes fraught with economic, social and political uncertainties. This paper briefly examines the current status of the IT revolution and then focuses on the emerging problems in developing nations. The IT revolution in developed countries has been lead by the U.S. The U.S. has seen the rapid investment in IT, near record 5% annual growth since 1995, and the longest sustained growth cycle in history. Productivity gains based on IT are making individuals and organizations more efficient. Businesses are being transformed as changes in organizational processes are used as the major way to create stockholder value. New products and new services are stimulating unforeseen rounds of new innovations. The IT revolution has lead to tighter crossalliances, expanded trade, and greater integration of domestic and foreign suppliers. U.S. technology trade has been one sided. U.S. firms are exporting $40 billion in computer services and exports of software royalties more than six times greater than imports. The most rapid changes are in developed countries but uneven with the U.S. and other developed countries. Daily announcements by large and small businesses are commonplace. Investment is slower in Europe but changing rapidly with some nations considered peripheral to world commerce such as Iceland, Ireland and Finland taking leads. Information technology is dramatically transforming business organizations within developed nations as well as multi-national businesses. Although the transformation is clearly not understood, it is clear that revolutionary change continues and is having a global impact. No model or theory has been developed to understand the current changes and no standard data series measure it impact so comprehensive multi-country comparisons are impossible. However, it is possible to see a rough outline of the new problems nations face.

The IT revolution taking place in developing countries has two major characteristics. First, the requirements for technology transfer have changed. Development has shifted from transfers based on well- understood stable old technologies with clearly defined management and training, needs for unskilled labor and a basic localized infrastructure to the new information abased enabling technologies. The new technologies are based on constant interfirm cooperation, network linkages, and massive data to design and upgrade systems requiring highly trained and changing technical job skills. Second, the ability of developing countries to participate in the new IT can be broken into three basic categories. First, the modernized countries such as Malaysia and Turkey have developed IT infrastructure in and techniques to engage large international firms in urban areas where IT skills are spilling over into local businesses. Second, in developing countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile, IT growth is limited to major cities with evidence of a growing IT class. These countries are only able to compete internationally in urban areas. The final group, emerging countries, are showing negative to modest growth and have little IT infrastructure. Kenya and Ecuador are examples. The ability to participate varies by type of developing country category. Information technology forces developing countries to face many complex problems. The major issue for developing countries is determining what conditions will allow them to participate in the new IT economy. The IT revolution has recast the traditional transfer issues. The old style technology transfers simply do not meet the new global business needs and the new IT transfers require major economic, political and social changes creating a fundamental paradigm shift which to date has received little academic recognition. Examples abound showing how each positive step to develop information technology can be threatened by political and social risks of unknown scope. Avoiding high cost of developing an IT infrastructure base by encouraging Internet usage may fail due to lack of local skills or government hiring drain the economy of available talent. Furthermore, a successful Internet usage policy may not even lead to expanded jobs or more efficient enterprises. Programs to gain access to global IT investment can raise local fears of losing control of local firms, diversion of local investment to outside vendors, and domination by global firms or a new middle class with strong international interests. Successful IT can expand the existing gap between urban and rural areas or between the current elite and technological elite. The growing gap can mean popular support for local issues that weakens connections to global technologies ending long-term growth. Ignoring local fears or gaps can result in political instability. Education problems are nearly overwhelming. In the developed countries the educational system and business training both struggle to train IT professionals. Developing nations are faced with changing from entrenched Aarts@ and Aphilosophy@ programs to technical ones, almost insurmountable problems of low funding, inadequate numbers of technical trainers, and local firms with insufficient training funds or experience. Global business training centers may unwittingly threaten traditional elites by creating a new class of citizens with communication and organizational skills that resist traditional controls or destabilize the political environment. Technology has provided instant communication networks that have changed the nature of organizations, work and power. In short supply are technology infrastructure, trained labor plus the political, legal and cultural foundations to deliver the benefits. However, the technologies themselves and those who use them threaten the very stability so required. To date the significance of this fact has received little academic recognition.

SELECTED REFERENCES National Center for Technology Transfer, Wheeling Jesuit University, Mechanisms for Technology Transfer, (http://iridium.nttc. edu/technews/tt.html). United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD/SDTE/MISC. 11 (2000), @Building Confidence: Electronic Commerce and Development@, 2000. U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, A Digital Economy 2000@, June 2000, (http://commerce.gov). U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, A Small Business Expansions in Electronic Commerce@, June 2000.