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The Info Revolution & Developing Countries

The Info Revolution & Developing Countries. Intro to Wilson’s Strategic Restructuring Framework. Textbooks (GC, GCTST) vs. Scholarly monographs (IRDC). Limitations of Current Research on Technology Diffusion. Most analyses are based only on economic factors

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The Info Revolution & Developing Countries

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  1. The Info Revolution & Developing Countries Intro to Wilson’s Strategic Restructuring Framework

  2. Textbooks (GC, GCTST) vs. Scholarly monographs (IRDC)

  3. Limitations of Current Research on Technology Diffusion • Most analyses are based only on economic factors • Few view ICTs as deeply embedded in social structures, institutions, & practices • Few view ICTs as outcomes of particular historical trajectories • Few analyze institutional & political influences on ICTs • Few balance structural factors & individual agency/strategy

  4. Wilson’s overarching aims • “To provide a clear, consistent analysis of the major trends and transformations of the information revolution, while rooting these explanations in national and societal structures and dynamics.” (p. xi) • To better explain differences in technology diffusion across developing countries with similar economic structures (p. xiii)

  5. Four basic purposes of IRDC • To critique the ‘technology first’ information revolution analysis • To describe developing countries’ position in the emerging global information society • To analyze real-world policy challenges facing govt officials in developing countries • To provide an alternative analytic framework for describing and understanding the info revolution

  6. Wilson’s background (qualifications) Positions in: • Private firms • Intl ICT trade groups • Govt entities • Intergovernmental organizations • NGOs

  7. Wilson’s approach • Introduce a new model that integrates several factors related to technology diffusion (TD) in developing countries • Comparatively analyze TD in three countries using the model (Brazil, Ghana, China) • To test the model and illustrate its utility • To understand TD in these 3 countries • Evaluate the affordances of the model • Explain TD in developing countries differently/better than other analysts

  8. Wilson’s Concepts ~ Definitions • ICT • Information Revolution

  9. Importance of the IRDC for core zone countries Why should we care? • Economic/commercial consequences • Effects on global politics and security • Social changes

  10. Strategic Restructuring Model Questions @ technology diffusion involve multiple factors: • What is the main cause of global diffusion patterns– economic structure, govt policies, or tech? • What mechanisms allow these technologies to diffuse? • Do diffusion dynamics portend greater equality or inequality? • Why do countries with similar structural and economic features have divergent patterns of ICT distribution? (p. 37)

  11. Strategic Restructuring Model • Dependent variable: technology diffusion • Independent variables: • Structures (social, political, economic) • Institutions (persistent patterns of roles and incentives) • Politics (esp. elite individual’s strategic behaviors) • Govt. Policies (a mix of 4 policy balances: priv-pub initiative, competition-monopoly, foreign-domestic, centralized-decentralized)

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