developing nations and computing

Most writing about computer technology tends to focus on developments in technically advanced nations, such as the United States, European Union, and Japan. There is also growing coverage of the rapidly developing information economy in the world’s two most populous nations, India and China. But what about the poorest or least developed nations, particularly those in Africa?

Infrastructure

A common problem in developing countries is a lack of basic infrastructure to support electronic devices—phone lines, television cables, even a reliable power grid. (About two billion people on this planet still have no access to elec-tricity!)

One way around this obstacle is to skip over the wired stage of development in favor of wireless connections, per-haps using battery or even solar power. The necessity for large government investments in infrastructure can then be avoided in favor of mobile, distributed, flexible access that can be gradually spread and scaled up. Already, in some of the poorest nations mobile phone use has been growing at an annual rate of 50 percent or more.

Once access to communications and data is provided, users can immediately start getting an economic return or otherwise improving their lives. Farmers, for example, can get weather reports and keep in touch with market prices. Of course online communications might also give farmers a tool for organizing themselves politically or economically (such as into co-ops). People start to get in touch with developments around the world that might affect them, and discover possible ways to a better life. However, authori-tarian governments often resist such trends because they fear the development of well-connected democratic reform movements.

Closing the Gap

Much of the barrier to developing countries joining the net-worked world is human rather than technological. Before people can learn to use computers, they need to be able to read. They also need some idea of what science and tech-nology are about and why they are important for their eco-nomic well-being.

Beyond people learning to use computers to commu-nicate, or in agriculture or commerce, a developing coun-try needs to have enough people with the advanced skills needed for a self-sustaining information economy. These include technicians, support staff, teachers, engineers, pro-grammers, and computer scientists.

One reason for the rapid growth of computing in India and especially China is that these countries, while still hav-ing millions of people living on subsistence, also have effec-tive educational systems including advanced training. Their growing pool of skilled but relatively inexpensive work-ers in turn attracts foreign investment capital. In addition to China and India, other nations with strong electronics manufacturing industries include Singapore, Korea, Malay-sia, Mexico, and Brazil.

The United Nations has developed the Technology Achievement Index (TAI) to measure the ability of a coun-try to innovate, to effectively use new and existing technol-ogy, and to build a base of technically skilled workers.

One Laptop per Child

While the conventional view of technological development stresses the importance of infrastructure and skills, some visionary educational activists are suggesting a way to “jump-start” the information economy in poor and devel-oping countries. They note that despite the potential of wireless technology, adequate computing power for joining the world network has simply been too expensive for all but the elite in developing countries. (A $400 no-frills PC costs more than the annual per capita income of Haiti, for example.)

In response, MIT computer scientists (see Mit Media Lab and Negroponte, Nicholas) have started an initiative called One Laptop Per Child. Their machine (introduced as a prototype in 2005) includes the following features:

•  very low power consumption (2–3 watts)

•  lower and higher power modes (the latter, for exam-ple, can provide backlighting for the screen when an external power source is available)

•  ability to use a variety of batteries or an external power source, including a hand-powered generator

•  built-in wireless networking

•  tough construction, including a water-resistant mem-brane keyboard

•  flash memory instead of a hard drive or CD-ROM

•  built-in color camera, microphone, and stereo speakers

•  open-source Linux operating system and other soft-ware, including programming languages especially useful for learners

The computer is intended ultimately to cost no more than $100 per unit, and is to be distributed through participating governments. Countries that have made at least tentative commitments to the project as of 2007 include Argentina, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Rwanda, Tunisia, Uruguay, and, in the United States, the states of Massachusetts and Maine.

The underlying philosophy of the project is based on “constructivist learning,” the idea that children can learn powerful ideas through using suitable interactive systems (see logo and Papert, Seymour). In a way it is intended to be a sort of lever to create a generation with the skills to function in the 21st-century information economy, without re-creating the cumbersome industrial-style educational systems of the previous 200 years.

Although, generally, some well received critics are con-cerned about the environmental impact of producing (and eventually disposing of) millions more computers, while others (including some officials in developing countries) believe the money for providing computers to children should be used instead for more urgent needs such as clean water, public health, and basic school supplies.

Whether using top-down or bottom-up approaches, the web of connection, communication, and information con- tinues its rapid though uneven spread around the world. However, as new technologies continue to emerge in the developed world, the position of technological “have-nots” may worsen if effective education and access programs are not developed.