Access to information and communication technologies enables economic opportunities.
- More than half the world’s citizens have never used a telephone, seven percent have access to a personal computer, and only four percent have access to the Internet.
- Today, over 400 million people use the Internet, having grown from less than 20 million only 5 years ago. By 2005, there are forecast to be 1 billion Internet users.
- In 2000 there were 214 countries connected to the internet – up from 60 in 1993 and just 8 in 1988.
- Internet use has been expanding in Latin America by more than 30 percent per year since 1998.
- Estimates of global electronic commerce in 2000 range considerably, but most estimates are near US$200 billion.
- The lion’s share of e-commerce dollars are in the business-to-business sector, which is expected to reach US$1.2 trillion to US$10 trillion by 2003.
- In the United States, 20 hours of Internet access per month costs about one percent of the average income, compared to 15 percent in Mexico, 278 percent in Bangladesh, and 614 percent in Madagascar.
Implications for business
The communications revolution can power the transition from a natural resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy.
Digital technologies can create gains in transactional efficiency, improved manufacturing controls, alternatives to paper, and energy-efficient logistics and production – helping businesses to become more environmentally sound and providing the means to inform purchasers about ecological impacts of products.
Connectivity can connect the world’s poor to the international economy and to entrepreneurial and educational opportunities. Innovative use of the Internet, combined with software designed for illiterate users, and low-cost, solar-powered wireless devices, is already increasing incomes in developing countries.
Emerging communications technologies also help balance power between people, corporations, and nations by enabling businesses, government, and civil society to scrutinize each other and share information.
However, the Internet may also create a negative “rebound effect.” Lower costs and successful economic development will increase gross consumption levels and environmental impacts unless there is product and process innovation for sustainable production and consumption. Also, if steps are not taken to ensure wide access to digital technologies, the Internet may exacerbate existing inequalities and strengthen monopolies.
