Global Perspectives

THE IMPACT: DEVELOPED VS. EMERGING ECONOMIES Developed economies already benefi t from a bewildering array of computational infrastructure, which is being progressively integrated into work and recreational activities. The same technologies let corporations operate globally and produce cost-effective products and services. Kofi Annan, in his 2002 address to the United Nations, observed: “The new information and communication technologies are among the driving forces of globalization. They are bringing people together and bringing decision-makers unprecedented new tools for development” (see www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/ sg-5nov-2002.htm). However, in general, the populations of the emerging economies, representing about fi ve-sixths of the world’s population, have yet to realize the same daily informational and computational benefi ts as the fully industrialized economies. Personal information technology can change all this. Compared to other economic catalysts—such as civil engineering—it requires a relatively small investment and can more rapidly be delivered to emerging areas of the world. When combined with Internet-based communication, portable computers can bring global expertise to regions with limited access to information. Similar to the computing explosion that desktop PCs caused in industrialized nations, investment in pervasive computing can begin to bridge the gap between the developed and emerging economies in a way that more traditional forms of computing (desktop PCs) can’t. This potential for another computing explosion partly exists because the emerging economies aren’t encumbered by the legacy of older technology. Consider, for example, telecommunications. For an emerging economy that needs to build a communication infrastructure, laying telephone cables won’t be as rapid or cost-effective as installing a cellular network. In some developed economies, particularly in the US, largescale cell phone adoption was relatively late—ironic for a country that enjoyed the fruits of Alexander Graham Bell’s fi rst wired telephone system. The wired infrastructure’s pervasiveness and public call boxes’ high availability (I even found one at the base of the Grand Canyon) helped delay the evolution of a more modern wireless capability. Emerging economies have the enviable benefi ts of starting from scratch using expert knowledge and of fully exploiting state-of-the-art technology. However, a disadvantage of using the latest technology in emerging economies is that the design criteria for modern electronic products are based on the industrialized nations’ prevailing environmental conditions. In many emerging economies, a stable electrical power source isn’t guaranteed, and blackouts and brownouts are common. Also, the physical environment might expose equipment to extreme temperatures and thick airborne dust (see “The Challenges of Technology Research for Developing Regions” in this issue). Depending on the region, deploying computer systems might exceed the original design’s limitations, resulting in faults and possible system failures. These issues remain a challenge in the world’s more extreme regions. Furthermore, although the emerging economies are growing rapidly, individual wealth is still not commensurate with the developed world, and information technology is still out of many people’s reach. Philanthropists have suggested that industrialized countries should fi nd