Globalisation of ICTs- Positive and Negative Impacts - Essay Example

Globalisation of ICTs- Positive and Negative Impacts Introduction Countries which have been able to harness the potential of ICTs, or Information and Communication Technologies, have been able to achieve significant economic and social development. These countries have even transformed themselves into knowledge based economies. But the situation is quite different from those nations which have not been able to adopt the trend. They are left far behind due to the lack of courage to grasp its potential to their benefit. This project aims to bring out the advantages and disadvantages that ICTs have brought to the society. Today ICTs have transformed the shape of every sector it has touched. This includes sector like politics, business, culture, education and health. What has taken a more significant impact is the globalisation of ICTs. Though it has led to the development of significant opportunities, it has also faced a number of challenges in the context of international development. This project aims to bring forth how ICTs have affected organisational cultures across the world. Globalisation of ICTs- Positive and Negative Impacts ICTs have been implemented by a number of nations with the view to promote their economic and social development. ICTs have proved to be the most beneficial in promoting equity and social justice, overall development of the nation, empowering the youth and the disadvantaged groups. The system has proved to extremely beneficial in ways of processing data at a fast speed. This saves much of the human effort. Human beings lose concentration and get tired of undertaking repetitive tasks. Machineries can perform the same task more efficiently with double speed saving much of the human effort (Ministry of Information and Communications, 2006, p.5). ICTs are increasingly linked to organisational value. But it has been criticised on a number of grounds. Research has been conducted to examine the role of ICTs in a more integrated manner. Current research has showed that ICTs have benefitted organisations in a positive way. “ICTs have value to organisational advantage” (Rastrick & Corner, 2010, p.2). Resource Based Advantage (RBA) asserts that owning and controlling strategic resources determines whether organisations will earn better profits as compared to others. RBA also ensures that certain combination of resources add to the competitive advantage of organisations. These resources constitute market orientation, innovation, entrepreneurship and also organisational learning. ICTs have played a huge role in enhancing efficiencies of the above resources to a considerable extent. But research also says that there is ample room for improvement. Some researchers have said that resource combinations which can add to the competitive advantage in ICTs are still limited (Rastrick & Corner, 2010, p.2). ICTs have significantly benefitted the developing nations. The most important nations among them are India and China. Initially, during the period of computerisation of Indian banks, a lot of criticisms were raised. There were apprehensions that machines would replace humans and this would lead to numerous job losses rendering millions jobless (Roy, 2005, p.1) But the present scenario is different. Computerisation of banks has made work much faster and more efficient. It has saved human efforts also. ICTs have offered unique opportunities for the developing nations to leapfrog. Yet the policy is of criticisms. It faces its own set of challenges. There is a significant relationship between ICTs and globalisation. In order to understand how ICTs have impacted on the poor nations it is more important to understand the concept of globalisation. This is because ICTs play an important role in globalising the national markets. National markets have been brought to the international domain with the help of ICTs. But certain countries have been left behind, which have been able to adjust themselves to the digital transformation. “It is the digital divide which determines the divide in ability of the rich and poor countries to gain economic benefits from an expanding global market and the resulting new trade in information-intensive services and goods” (Mitter, n.d., p.3). Thus globalisation has affected countries either by including them in the global scenario or excluding them from the same. As the world has become more reliant on information technology, differences in economic well being have also increased. Globalisation has increased the disparity between developed and developing nations across the world. The gap between the developed and developing nations has increased because of economic disparity between nations arising out of technological differences. The rich nations have become richer while the poor ones have become poorer. Nations have fallen into the vicious circle and it is hard to recover from this state. Countries which have been able to reap the benefits of ICTs have progressed much faster leaving the poor countries lagging behind. One important way in which communication technology has played a big role is connecting the trading partners across the world digitally. Combination of the computers and the communication technologies have culminated into networking technologies enhancing the speed and reducing costs of communication. In the present scenario, distance has become less relevant and significant in case of business and commercial transactions. With digital form of information, it is possible to transfer “information processing work” (Mitter, n.d., p.3) from the main premises to the remote areas across nation borders with ease. This can be done cost effectively and without hassles both in the manufacturing and the services sector. This is possible only because of the globalisation of ICTs. There is large amount of outsourcing work activities among the OECD countries. This is by subcontracting within the country or to other developing countries with “low waged computer literate and English literate workforce” (Mitter, n.d., p.3). But the position of women in the context of the global market has not yet improved. Women are the major recipients of the world distributed work (Mitter, n.d., p.3). ICT and globalisation has had a severe impact on the services sector. In the world market, the importance of internet and information technology has increased substantially. Service mobility has improved since the development of ICT. It has the reduced the differences between trading in goods and trading in services. Telecommunications network and the widespread internet activities have made it possible to trade in the services sector. This sector includes education, health and engineering, entertainment and banking. Today people are aware of the price and qualities of goods and services from every corner of the world. The process has improved at such a rate in the last few years that goods and services are now available at very cheap rates and improved efficiencies and qualities. Today services are available and marketable globally (Bayraktutan & Arslan, 2008, p.1). It is difficult to trace the time when globalisation was started. It is mostly accepted that globalisation was initiated during the early phase of 1980. This was the time when the concepts of market economy, privatisation, financial liberalisation and the world integration gained prominence. Globalisation “is the process of world shrinkage, of distances getting shorter, things moving closer. It pertains to the increasing ease with which somebody on one side of the world can interact, to mutual benefit, with somebody on the other side of the world” (Nayef, 2006, p.3). This has helped in the convergence of most nations in the world but a number of them have also been left unnoticed. It has also introduced unfair trade practices in all sectors of the economy. Economic disparity has increased in many of the nations. In fact, globalisation was the reason behind the collapse of some countries in the middle-east. Since the initial years on 1960, some countries witnessed immense economic growth and improved commercial linkages such as USA, Japan and many European nations. These linkages have led to the integration of finance, commerce and production processes in many of the developing nations. Information and Communication Technology have increased international competition brought about by globalisation which has compelled the developing countries to undertake structural changes. For some nations, this has added to the economic wealth while some countries have been left under the mercy of other nations. Conclusion Information technology has proved to be beneficial for most nations, but it is not true for all. Globalisation of ICT have connected the entire world together and enhanced trade relations between nations. It has proved significantly beneficial for trade and commerce and the services sector. It is true that nothing comes without a price and this has made significant impact on countries which have not been able to adapt themselves with the continuous changes brought about by ICT. References Bayraktutan, Y. & Arslan, I. 2008. The Impact of ICT and Globalisation on Trade in Services. [Pdf]. Available at: http://lexetscientia.univnt.ro/download/230_lesij_css_XV_2_2008_art_31.pdf. [Accessed on October 13, 2010]. Ministry of Information and Communications. January 2006. National Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Policy. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.infobridge.org/asp/documents/2651.pdf. [Accessed on October 13, 2010]. Mitter, S. No Date. Globalisation and ICT: Employment Opportunities for Women. [Pdf]. Available at: http://gab.wigsat.org/partIII.pdf. [Accessed on October 13, 2010]. Nayef, R. F. June 19, 2006. Definitions of Globalization: A Comprehensive Overview and a Proposed Definition. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.gcsp.ch/content/download/1267/9834/file/Definitions%20of%20Globalization%20-%20A%20Comprehensive%20Overview%20and%20a%20Proposed%20Definition.pdf. [Accessed on October 13, 2010]. Rastrick, K. & Corner, J. 2010. Understanding ICT Based Advantages: A Techno Savvy Case Study. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.ijikm.org/Volume5/IJIKMv5p305-326Rastrick432.pdf. [Accessed on October 13, 2010]. Roy, S. September 2005. Globalisation, ICT and Developing Nations. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.i4donline.net/sept05/bookreceive.pdf. [Accessed on October 13, 2010]. Read More