The Global Information Technology Report 2001-2002: Readiness for the Networked World provides the most comprehensive documentation to date of how ICTs are being used around the world. Blending visionary commentary with rigorous analysis, the Report addresses the major opportunities and obstacles that global leaders face as they try to more fully participate in the Networked World. Decision-makers face complex choices for which they need comprehensive and reputable information and perspective-these challenges range from telecommunications reform to changing educational needs to new business models to a better understanding of the impact of ICTs. The Report is an important resource that will help leaders around the world deal with these and related issues. Through the development of the first Networked Readiness Index, which ranks 75 countries according to their capacity to take advantage of ICT networks, a series of 75 in-depth Networked Readiness country profiles, and thematic chapters by some of the world's leading experts on the Networked World, the Report provides an ambitious, global panorama of how ICTs are being used, and what opportunities and challenges remain. The vision, analysis and action within the Global Information Technology Readiness Report 2001-2002 make it a unique and valuable publication for policymakers, business leaders and others who make important decisions relating to the Networked World.
The GITR was produced under the leadership of the report's Managing Editor, Geoffrey Kirkman of the Information Technologies Group at CID, along with Jeffrey Sachs, Director of CID, Klaus Schwab, President of the World Economic Forum and Peter Cornelius, Director of the Global Competitiveness Program at the World Economic Forum.
The final printed version of the GITR 2001-2002 will be available from Oxford University Press by the end of March 2002 (see ordering information), but selected introductory chapters can be downloaded below.
The following sections of the report are available in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them. You can obtain Acrobat Reader here.
- Preface by Klaus Schwab
- Forward by Bruno Lanvin
- Contents
- Executive Summary by Geoffrey Kirkman
- Sample Data
- 75 Country Profiles
Chapter Summaries
CHAPTER 1: Some Thoughts on How ICTs Could Really Change the World
John Gage
John Gage of Sun Microsystems shares his inspiring vision of how ICTs could revolutionize economic development worldwide. Gage challenges readers to link tomorrow’s technological change to real projects that can have a lasting, positive impact.
CHAPTER 2: The Networked Readiness Index: Measuring the Preparedness of Nations for the Networked World
Geoffrey S. Kirkman, Carlos A. Osorio, and Jeffrey D. Sachs
The authors present the Networked Readiness Index and the major Networked Readiness findings from 75 countries. In their more detailed findings, they break new ground in analytical measurement of the factors that generate Networked Readiness, and suggest that much conventional wisdom about ICT policymaking may be fundamentally flawed.
CHAPTER 3: Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age
Mitchel Resnick
Mitchel Resnick of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab emphasizes the need for radically different learning systems that tap into the potential that computers, in particular, offer. Drawing upon his experiences with the Computer Clubhouse and other projects, Resnick shows how computer-enhanced learning can create meaningful change in the lives of children, and points to the importance of the underlying philosophy of learning as key to instituting reform.
CHAPTER 4: Ten Lessons for ICT and Education in the Developing World
Robert J. Hawkins
Robert Hawkins from World Links, a program of the World Bank Institute, discusses his program’s experience in connecting schools to the Internet, training teachers, and grappling with curriculum and education reform issues in developing countries. Hawkins distills the World Links story into ten cogent, practical lessons that policymakers and business and community leaders should bear in mind as they attempt to incorporate the Internet into the educational process.
CHAPTER 5: The X Internet: Leveling the Playing Field for Businesses in Developing Nations
George Colony, Navi Radjou, and Eroica Howard
Colony, Radjou, and Howard of Forrester Research show us how the next generation of the Internet, one that is executable and extended, will fundamentally change business practices and the sources of competitive advantage. The authors stress the importance for companies, particularly in the developing world, to adapt to the coming technological realities.
CHAPTER 6: The Importance of Organizational Leadership for Creating Technology Excellence
Soumitra Dutta
Dutta of INSEAD presents two compelling case studies that show the tremendous impact that leadership and organizational excellence can have in creating business success using ICTs in the developing world. Dutta effectively illustrates that managerial innovation is essential to creating environments where ICT-enabled business models can thrive.
CHAPTER 7: Information and Communication Technologies, Markets, and Economic Development
Karen Eggleston, Robert Jensen, and Richard Zeckhauser
Karen Eggleston of Tufts University and Robert Jensen and Richard Zeckhauser of Harvard University present a compelling analysis of the impact of ICTs on income in the context of rural villages in China. The construction of their economic model fills an important gap in our knowledge of how ICTs affect income, and paves the way for more analytical research in this area.
CHAPTER 8: Community Internet Access in Rural Areas: Solving the Economic Sustainability Puzzle
Michael L. Best and Colin M. Maclay
Michael Best of the MIT Media Lab and Colin Maclay of the International Technologies Group discuss the major challenges to extending the benefits of ICTs to rural areas. Drawing largely upon their experience in southern India, Best and Maclay show that market forces and entrepreneurship are of paramount importance in meeting rural ICT needs effectively, and that perceptions of rural areas as nonviable markets are flawed.
CHAPTER 9: Electronic Commerce, Networked Readiness, and Trade Competitiveness
Catherine L. Mann
Catherine Mann of the Institute for International Economics builds upon existing models of trade and e-commerce analysis to devise new analytical tools for policymakers as they focus on improving the policy environment for the development of e-commerce. In particular, Mann shows the importance in developing countries of aligning e-commerce and trade strategies around principles of competitive advantage and fit.
CHAPTER 10: Trade in ICT Products: The Global Framework and Empirical Evidence
Peter K. Cornelius, Friedrich von Kirchbach, Fiona Paua
Cornelius and Paua of the World Economic Forum and von Kirchbach and Sëmine of the International Trade Centre look at trends in the international trade of ICT products, with particular attention to improving the adoption of ICTs in the developing world.
CHAPTER 11: Telecommunications Sector Reform— A Prerequisite for Networked Readiness
Scott Beardsley, Ingo Beyer von Morgenstern, Luis Enriquez, and Carsten Kipping
The authors examine the evidence of telecommunications liberalization to date, and through rigorous cross-country comparison and data analysis, present a solid look at the global experience. Their analysis provides a firm base for their discussion of the levers of policy reform in Chapter 12.
CHAPTER 12: The Elements of Successful Telecommunications Sector Reform
Scott Beardsley, Ingo Beyer von Morgenstern, Luis Enriquez, and Carsten Kipping
Beardsley, Beyer von Morgenstern, Enriquez, and Kipping of McKinsey & Co. present the policy reform levers that policymakers have at their disposal. The authors discuss the sequencing and tradeoffs of implementing telecommunications liberalization programs.