The World in the Information Age
Han Reichgelt
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
University of the West Indies
Mona Campus, Kingston 7
Jamaica
There is no doubt that the world has changed radically over the last few
years because of dramatic improvements in and the integration of computer and
telecommunications technologies. Perhaps, the most visible example of a change
made possible because of these technological advances is the Internet, a
world-wide network of interconnected computers which make it possible for
anybody with access to a computer anywhere in the world to retrieve information
(and misinformation) from any computer anywhere else in the world. Thus, it is
possible to retrieve text, video or audio material which is physically stored on
a computer in, say, Japan from a machine located in Jamaica, and indeed vice
versa.
Another example of a change which is currently taking place, is the
increasing use of electronic money. In Belgium, there are some 14 million
electronic purses in circulation, cards which use chips to store digital money
and which can be used to pay for everything from parking meters to baby outfits
and which can be "recharged", i.e., have more money loaded into them,
at any automatic banking teller machine.
Moreover, as the world becomes more familiar with the power of information
technology, there is a growing realization that many problems which were
hitherto considered as primarily requiring physical resources for their
resolution, have in fact an important information component. Horticulture is a
good example. Flower growers in Holland make extensive use of computers to
ensure both quality and quantity of their products. Another example is
Singapore, a country that has substantially increased its Gross Domestic Product
by forging a position of strength for itself as a trans-shipment port. It
achieved this through the introduction of a sophisticated information system
which enabled the port to monitor container ships coming in and plan how and
where to unload and load any ship well before it enters the port. Thanks to this
creative use of information technology, turnaround time for container ships is
well under 24 hours, and as a result Singapore is now the largest trans-shipment
port in the world.
While there is no doubt that the world has changed dramatically due to the
emergence of information technology, it is much harder to predict what the world
will look like in 10 years time. However, it is more than likely that, if
anything, the pace of change will quicken. Already, we are seeing major re-organisations
in the structure of the international telecommunications sector. The recent
inclusion of telecommunications services in agreements reached under the
auspices of the World Trade Organisation 'will mean that we will see. greater
competition in this sector, and many international telecommunications companies
are jockeying for position to take advantage of these increased opportunities,
and newspapers are full of stories of telecommunication companies merging or
forming strategic alliances.
It seems also likely that the world will see further improvements in
telecommunications technologies, hence making the sharing of information between
computers easier and faster. For example, there are at least two consortia
planning to set up networks of communications satellites to deliver high-speed
access to Internet. Similarly, a number of well-established Information
Technology companies are staking their future on so-called network computers,
cheap computers which will not contain any hard disks but. will retrieve all
their programs and data from networks they are connected to, such as the
Internet.
Finally, the trend to automating existing procedures within an organisation,
and the use of information technology to do existing jobs better or indeed to do
jobs that currently are not done at all, will continue. More and more commercial
transactions will take place electronically over the Internet, thus leading to
an ever increasing globalisation of the world's economies. Similarly, there is
every likelihood that within 10 years electronic cash will have replaced the
note-and-coin variety.
While most of the developed world has woken up to the importance of
information technology, the developing world is rather slower in its reaction.
However, there is no doubt that countries in the third world have to take
information technology as seriously as any country in the developed world.
Earlier, we mentioned the increasing use of the Internet for commercial
purposes. Clearly, this means that any country that wants to participate in the
new global order will have to make use of this technology, and it is obvious
that this argument applies as much to the developing world as it does to the
developed world. Although countries in the South may continue to ensure that
agriculture remains one of the main stays of their economies, -marketing of
their agriculture produce will have to be done electronically.
However, information technology should not be regarded as a threat to the
developing world. In fact, it poses many important opportunities for the
developing world. For example, Internet makes information globally available,
and the information gap, which has always plagued the developing world in
comparison to the developed world, has disappeared as a result, at least
partially. The use of computer-based telecommunications means that expertise can
be made available anywhere in the world, no matter where the expertise is
physically located. Thus, tele-medicine in which a surgeon in one part of the
world uses telecommunication facilities to oversee surgery performed on a
patient located elsewhere, can only be of benefit to those countries that do not
have the relevant human resources available locally. Another example is the use
of Internet for educational purposes, and many countries in the Caribbean, such
as Haiti and Jamaica, are implementing projects which aim to give every school
access to Internet within the very near future.
Moreover, the increased integration of computer and telecommunications
technologies provides economic opportunities to the poorer countries of the
world. The speed of modern telecommunications means that many so-called back
office operations can in fact be performed anywhere in the world. Indeed, many
developing countries do indeed do so. For example, the Dominican Republic
performs all ticket processing for a number of American airlines. Similarly,
Ireland has successfully transformed its economy into one of the fastest growing
ones in the European Union by providing back office operations, such as the
processing of insurance claims, for many American companies, and using its
position of strength in this area to also position itself as a provider of
higher value-added information technology services, such as programming.
Moreover, even for countries poorer than Ireland, the economic opportunities
are not restricted to low value-added services, such as data entry and data
processing. India is a case in point. India has established a number of green
field sites around the city of Bangalore in which it provides computer
programming services to the world. In 1996, India stood to earn more than 1
billion US dollars from these activities. India is now one the five largest
providers of programming services world-wide, and stands to increase its
earnings even further.
However, in order for countries in the developing world to take advantage of
these opportunities, the major decision makers have to promulgate and implement
appropriate policies. This, in turn, requires that they be fully aware of the
likely impact of information technology. One can only hope that a paper of this
kind will prove one step in this direction.
