Information Technology Policy and the Digital Divide: Lessons for Developing Countries

The proliferation of new information technologies throughout the world has raised some important questions for policymakers as to how developing countries can benefit from their diffusion. This important volume compares the advantages and disadvantages of the IT revolution through detailed studies of a variety of developed and developing nations and regions: Argentina, Estonia, the EU, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and the USA. The authors address a number of challenging issues such as standardization, IT in the mass media, Public Key Infrastructure, upstream connectivity and pricing, and draw out important policy implications for late-comers in this field - predominantly developing countries. They highlight the negative aspects of IT policy such as the digital divide and monopoly of ownership, but also illustrate the potential benefits such as 'leapfrogging' the industrialization process and the expansion of broadband capabilities. This impressive volume will be essential reading for academics and researchers with an interest in development economics, utility regulation and technology policy. It will also be of great practical value to international policymakers and governments in the developing world who wish to learn more about the costs and benefits of regulation and deregulation in the IT industry.

Table of Contents:
Contents: 1. Introduction Part I: Country/Area Studies 2. Beyond the IT Revolution: The Japanese Broadband Strategy 3. Internet Upstream Connectivity and Competition Policy: Western Europe and Southern Africa 4. IT Policies and Issues: US and the Americas 5. Software in India: Development Implications of Globalization and the International Division of Labour 6. Jumping up to the Internet-based Society: Lessons from South Korea 7. Information Technology: Some Implications for Thailand 8. Information Policy and Information Technology in Central and Eastern Europe with Emphasis on Estonia 9. Internet and Telecommunications Outlook in Latin America 10. Policies for Internet Access: Cases of Mexico and Argentina Part II: Challenging Issues 11. Tipping, Standardization and Convergence: Catch-up and Failure in Japan’s Standards Strategy 12. Is the Japanese Press a Dinosaur in the 21st Century?: The IT Revolution and Newspapers in Japan 13. PKI Solutions for Trusted E-Commerce: Survey of the De Facto Standard Competition in PKI Industries 14. The Interconnection and Pricing of the Internet 15. Conclusion Index

About the Author :
Edited by Mitsuhiro Kagami, Ambassador for Nicaragua, Embassy of Japan, Nicaragua, Masatsugu Tsuji, Faculty of Economics, Kobe International University, Japan and Emanuele Giovannetti, Lord Ashcroft International Business School, Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge and Chelmsford, UK

Review :
‘Information Technology and the Digital Divide is a useful reader on a wide range of issues in relation to this policy area. The book provides a range of perspectives and methodological approaches and covers areas that are likely to be of broad interest to readers from different disciplines.'