Technology and Policy: Points of Intersection

Abstract

Technological advances are known to be indispensable to the developed and developing worlds alike (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2012; Arendt, 2015; Sachs et al., 2019). Over the last two decades, the advances in digital technology, particularly information and communication technology (ICT), have transformed the way people, businesses, and governments work, communicate, and transact (Myvolla et al., 2020). These dramatic changes significantly impact capital and labour productivity, increase global market access, and lower transaction costs, ultimately feeding economic development (Bojnec & Ferto, 2012; Dahlman, Mealy, & Wermelinger, 2016). In recent years, developing countries have leapfrogged to converge with the developed world on several fronts (Arendt, 2015; Negroponte, 1998; Steinmuller, 2001). However, poor infrastructure, financial barriers, political barriers, technological barriers, and the absence of other enabling conditions continue to pose several challenges to digital adoption and use in the developing world (ITC, 2015; Nour, 2017; UNCTAD, 2018).