Bridging the digital divide: Innovation systems for ICT in Brazil, China, India, Thailand and Southern Africa

There is little disagreement on the importance of technology for economic development and in the current era information and communication technology (ICT) is certainly the most pervasive and powerful of technologies that shape the world. Policy makers all over the world have realised the importance of ICT for economic development. But the connection from technology to economic development is all but simple. This is especially the case for information technology. Production processes and the use of the technology have become increasingly separated at the global scale. While the use of the technology is distributed unevenly between regions and countries, this is even more the case for its production. The 'digital divide' is often presented as a question of user access to information technology. The idea is that some have got the competence to use as well as the access to ICT while others do not and that this reinforces existing differences and creates new forms of inequality. As I read the contributions to this book the authors have extended this definition to include global inequalities that emanate from different roles in the global division of labour when it comes to produce and benefit from producing ICT. To produce the information technology products including hardware and software is a direct source of export income, economic wealth and employment. Since markets for such products grow very rapidly and since they are often characterised by steep learning curves there are both static and dynamic effects to be reaped from a specialisation in such products. But the different steps in the value chain may be very different in this respect. As pointed out in the chapter on Thailand some types of national specialisation may create rigidities resulting in narrow learning while other may serve as the platform for sustained economic growth. To get the specialisation right is the first major challenge for ICT policy. It is also an issue if production is integrated in the domestic innovation system or dominated by multinational firms with weak.