Implications of the Findings and Prospects for Further Coordination

This last chapter summarizes the most important findings from the previous chapters of this book. It places emphasis on fragmentation and scatted decisions as likely sources of economic and social inefficiencies when externalities or interdependencies are present. Coordination, including government interventions, is underlined to be the means for re-establishing economic and social benefits. In this context, new technologies and especially ICTs can be important inputs for better coordination and enhancement of the levels of the overall social benefits. However, further research is needed to identify the levels of causality besides all the factors that influence the access to health, education, and socioeconomic outcomes in different contexts and situations. The economies in the South Mediterranean Countries (SMC), Middle East, and North Africa, besides the Arab countries are shown having to account for further interdependencies between health, education, and the socioeconomic situations. The roles and impacts of ICTs are found to be promising for the achievement of higher socioeconomic performances.