Posted by : Mohd. Safwan bin Sawi BA08110061
ICTs are increasingly playing an important role in organizations and in society's ability to produce, access, adapt and apply information. They are being heralded as the tools for the post-industrial age, and the foundations for a knowledge economy, due to their ability to facilitate the transfer and acquisition of knowledge {Morale-Gomez and Melesse, 1998}. These views seem to be shared globally, irrespective of geographical location and difference in income level and wealth of the nation. ICT may not be the only cause of changes we are witnessing in today's business environment, but the rapid developments in ICT have given impetus to the current wave of globalization.
While trans-national corporations are reaping huge profits from the flexibility and opportunities offered by globalization, the level of poverty in the world is growing. At least, 2.8 billion people in the world, that is 45% of the world population, are living on less than $2 a day {Stigliz 2002}. Africa in particular is hit by the growth of poverty and economic crisis. The use and production of ICT plays an important role in the ability of nations to participate in global economic activities. Apart from facilitating the acquisition and absorption of knowledge, ICT could offer developing countries unprecedented opportunities to change educational systems, improve policy formulation and execution, and widen the range of opportunities for business and for the poor. It could also support the process of learning, knowledge networking, knowledge codification, teleworking, and science systems. ICT could be used to access global knowledge and communication with other people. However, over major parts of developing countries ICT is available only on a very limited scale, and this raises doubts about developing countries' ability to participate in the current ICT-induced global knowledge economy.
There has also been concern that this unequal distribution of ICT may in fact further contribute to the marginalization of poor countries in relation to developed countries, and to disruptions of the social fabric. Hence, one can conclude that the concept of 'digital slavery' is inevitable for developing countries as far as ICT is concerned. The wide gap in the availability and use of ICT across the world, and the influences ICT exerts on globalization, raise questions about whether globalization entails homogeneity for organizations and societies in developing countries. It also raises questions about the feasibility and desirability of efforts to implement the development of ICT through the transfer of best practices from western industrialized countries to developing countries, and whether organizations can utilize ICT in accordance with the socio-cultural requirements of the contexts {Walshan, 2001}.
Information and Communication Technology development is a global revolution. It has become a subject of great significance and concern to all mankind. Relevant studies have shown that the greatest impact of the ICT revolution will revolve around the 'Digital Divide' equation. The most important aspect of the ICT challenge is the need to plan, design and implement a National Information Infrastructure (NII) as the engine of economic growth and development.
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