Information systems and development in the third world

摘要

The shift in global economy toward the development of services, including information systems, offers challenges to Third World nations from five directions: microelectronics technology, a multiplicity of development theories or policies, the power of multinational corporations, international information agencies, and variables of national political economy. In the face of these challenges, developing nations start from a position of weakness, based on low levels of capital formation and rapid population growth. The resulting problems include low levels of investment in information infrastructures, lack of public interest in modern information facilities, and dependence on the multinationals. Responses are varied, however, as seen in the South Asian nations of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The general direction of solutions in the late 1980s is away from large-scale, centralized intervention and toward more decentralized national and regional projects.