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Open Economies - Is the Internet a Silver Bullet?

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Is the Internet a Silver Bullet?

  • Subject: Is the Internet a Silver Bullet?
  • From: openeconomies(at)cyber.law.harvard.edu (Iqbal Mohomed)
  • Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 09:43:55 -0700 (PDT)
  • In-reply-to: <F98RA5C2duiiQ03FcDd0000433a@hotmail.com>
Thanks for your insight Finbarr. Please see my
comments below:

1) Informational Nature of Internet Services

Touch'e ... I agree 100% that we need to accept that
people will keep on inventing new ways to use the
Internet. I was wondering whether all the services
born on the Internet would be informational nature? I
have a feeling that there is something about the
nature of the Internet that makes such a
generalization possible. Any thoughts?

2) Using the Internet to raise status of women

A very important point comes out of your second
comment. I saw a couple of studies during my
Development Economics course that suggested a very
effective avenue for policy-makers. The somewhat gross
example used was food. When a man had control of the
food supply, he got the highest share. When a woman
got control, she allocated a higher share to her kids.
(I apologize I don't have exact details on this study
as most of my library is in Toronto. if someone cares,
please let me know and I can provide details on this
study). Thus concentrating on bringing Internet
services to women may be the best way to bridge the
digital divide.

3) Internet/Telecom Infrastructure

Just wanted to make a quick point. Developing
countries who are late in building up their IT
infrastructure have a tremendous advantage against
their developed counterparts. There is a "Quasi" Law
in Computers called Moore's Law. Computing capacity
roughly doubles every 18 months. The late adopters
have a major advantage. Consider the deployment of
Cellular Technology in China. They now have there pick
of the latest CDMA/GSM systems. In the US, we have a
sizable TDMA (old) infrastructure that will take years
to replace. In fact, with the current state of most IT
infrastructure firms, now is the BEST time for a
developing nation to build up their infrastructure. 

Thanks,
Iqbal Mohomed
www.mohomed.com

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