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INFORMATION AS AN ECONOMIC RESOURCE

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Title: INFORMATION AS AN ECONOMIC RESOURCE


1
INFORMATION AS AN ECONOMIC RESOURCE
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
(UNECA)
  • Moubarack LO
  • (Keynote Speaker)
  • (CODI IV)25-28 April 2005 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2
PLAN DE LA PRÉSENTATION
  • INTRODUCTION
  • I. INFORMATION AS A KEY FACTOR IN ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • II. INFORMATION STRENGTHENS THE COMPETITIVENESS
    OF BUSINESSES AND NATIONS IN SEVERAL WAYS
  • III. AFRICAN COUNTRIES MUST PUT IN PLACE
    INFORMATION- AND KNOWLEDGE-FRIENDLY STRATEGIES

3
INTRODUCTION
  • 3 new attributes of Information
  • Information has taken on unprecedented scope as a
    result of the rise of the mass media , the advent
    of information technology, the spread of
    telecommunication networks, and the convergence
    of information technology, telecommunications and
    audiovisual technologies.
  • Information has become much easier to create,
    gather, process, store, disseminate and use in
    day-to-day activities of firms.
  • Information has the virtually unique capacity to
    be used, reused, processed, shared and exchanged
    without losing value indeed, it generates added
    value through this process.

4
INTRODUCTION
  • Information or Knowledge?

5
INTRODUCTION
  • INFORMATION OR KNOWLEDGE ?

A FIRMS REAL STRATEGIC RESOURCE LIES IN
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING RATHER THAN IN
INFORMATION ALONE
6
INTRODUCTION
  • Some concepts
  • INFORMATION GOOD
  • INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
  • INFORMATION INDUSTRY
  • INFORMATION SOCIETY
  • INFORMATION ECONOMY

7
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

THE MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS OF INFORMATION
8
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • ECONOMIC RESEARCH DEALING WITH THE RELATIONSHIP
    BETWEEN INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH GENERALLY
    FOCUSES ON THE IMPACT OF THE INTRODUCTION OF ICTS
    ON PRODUCTIVITY.
  • SOLOW PARADOX (1987).

9
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • THE END OF SOLOW PARADOX
  • ECONOMETRIC TESTS RESULTS
  • Source Gordon 2000

10
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • CONCLUSION THE LABOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IS
    STRONG AND COULD DERIVE FROM THREE SOURCES
    (Haacker-Morsink (2002))
  • Capital deepening, which gives workers increased
    capital in quantitative and qualitative terms
  • A higher quality of the labour factor, including
    more highly qualified manpower and
  • Increased total factor productivity (TFP) as a
    consequence of technical advances, innovations or
    restructuring of a companys working methods.

11
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • HOWEVER, ECONOMISTS REMAIN DIVIDED ON TWO
    QUESTIONS
  • IS THE INCREASED LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY CAUSED BY
    ICTS PERMANENT OR TEMPORARY? AND
  • IF THERE IS AN OVERALL INCREASE IN TOTAL FACTOR
    PRODUCTIVITY, IS IT LIMITED TO THE ICT PRODUCTION
    SECTORS OR DOES IT INCLUDE USER SECTORS?

12
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
Diagram 1  Explicative factors of the
technical progress in the ICT sectors Source
Bureau fédéral du Plan de Belgique.
13
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
Graph Effect of the growing use of ICTs on
the gross domestic product (GDP) of OECD
countries  (Source OECD)
14
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • Research made in the Global Information
    Technology Report 2004-2005, published by the
    World Economic Forum, has found that
  • Countries with GDP less than 5000 enjoy the
    highest productivity gain
  • Trade barrier is one of the critical factors on
    the level of ICT usage.

15
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • ECONOMIC POLICY LESSON FOR LESS DEVELOPED
    COUNTRIES (endogenous growth theory)
  • THEIR GOVERNMENTS MUST PROMOTE GROWTH BY
    PROVIDING INCENTIVES FOR AGENTS ACTIVE IN THE
    KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION SECTORS, WHICH ARE
    HUMAN-CAPITAL-INTENSIVE AND INCORPORATED INTO THE
    GLOBAL IDEAS EXCHANGES NETWORKS.

16
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • AN EMERGING NEW ECONOMY?
  • SOME ECONOMISTS (GORDON (2000)
    BOSTWORTH-TRIPLETT (2000)) HAVE DOUBT IN THE SO
    CALLED  DIGITAL REVOLUTION. FOR THEM, THE
    IMPACT OF ICT DIFFUSION (TFP GROWTH) IS
    CONCENTRATED SOLELY IN THE ICT SECTOR.
  • IN THE CONTRARY, HAACKER-MORSINK (2002) ESTIMATES
    THAT ICT DIFFUSION HAS STRUCTURAL CONSEQUENCES ON
    THE ECONOMY SIMILAR TO THE ONES GENERATED BY THE
    PREVIOUS INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS (ELECTRICITY,
    TRANSPORTATION).

17
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • AN EMERGING NEW ECONOMY?
  • THE REAL ECONOMIC FACTS DEMONSTRATE THAT WE ARE
    WITNESSING THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW ECONOMY
  • THIS NEW ECONOMY IS BASED, BUT NOT ONLY, ON
    INFORMATION AND ICTS, WHICH BOTH STIMULATES AND
    IS SUPPORTED BY THE PROGRESSIVE DOMINANCE OF THE
    SERVICE SECTOR IN THE WORLD ECONOMY AND BY
    LIBERALIZATION OF THE TRADE IN GOODS, SERVICES
    AND IDEAS.

18
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
STRONG GROWTH WITH LOW INFLATION
CREATION OF NEW JOBS
ACCELERATION OF SCIENTIFIC INNOVATIONS AND THEIR
DIFFUSION
NEW ECONOMY
RE-ENGINEERING OF THE PRODUCTION METHODS OF
COMPANIES
INTEGRATION OF FINANCIAL MARKETS
EXPANSION OF E-COMMERCE
19
I. INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • SEVERAL COUNTRIES ARE THUS SEEKING TO MAKE
    INFORMATION THE ENGINE FOR THEIR DEVELOPMENT BY
    ADOPTING A CLEARLY ARTICULATED VISION
  • CANADA (to become the first country to build an
    e-economy in the twenty-first century)
  • FINLAND (the most competitive country in the
    world)
  • IRELAND (to be the  European E-hub)
  • INDIA (major ICT exporter software)
  • SINGAPORE (The intelligent island)
  • MALAYSIA (Multimedia Super Corridor) .

20
II. INFORMATION AND COMPETITIVENESS

THE MICROECONOMIC EFFECTS OF INFORMATION
21
II. INFORMATION AND COMPETITIVENESS
  • While economists continue to disagree as to the
    macroeconomic impact of ICTs, this is not true
    with regard to microeconomics.
  • There is a wide consensus to consider that
    information and ICT play key roles in the new
    competitiveness paradigm and that businesses must
    adapt to this new deal.

22
II. INFORMATION AND COMPETITIVENESS
  • There have been great changes in the concept of
    the competitiveness of business and nations
    intangible factors (such as know-how and
    technical innovation) have taken on increasing
    importance by comparison with tangible factors
    (such as raw materials), radically transforming
    the manner in which businesses operate.

23
II. INFORMATION AND COMPETITIVENESS
24
II. INFORMATION AND COMPETITIVENESS
  • COMPETITIVENESS IS NOW ACHIEVED, NOT BY
    DEVELOPING COMPARATIVE PRICE ADVANTAGES AND
    COUNTING ON AN ABUNDANCE OF NATURAL RESOURCES,
    BUT RATHER THROUGH INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS AND
    PROCESSES AND SERVICES PROVIDED TO CUSTOMERS
    (MICHAEL PORTER).
  • IT IS ACHIEVED THROUGH BETTER MANAGEMENT OF
    KNOWLEDGE AND COMPETENCIES, GREATER FLEXIBILITY
    AND BY DOING BUSINESS _at_ THE SPEED OF THOUGHT
    (BILL GATES).

25
II. INFORMATION AND COMPETITIVENESS
INFORMATION AS A FACTOR OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
(Porter)
Role in the composition of products and services
Facilitate management tasks
Powerful marketing instrument
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
26
II. INFORMATION AND COMPETITIVENESS
27
II. INFORMATION AND COMPETITIVENESS
  • NECESSITY FOR THE FIRM TO ORGANISE INFORMATION
    MANAGEMENT THROUGH
  • TECHNOLOGY WATCH
  • KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
  • ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE
  • BENCHMARKING

28
II. INFORMATION AND COMPETITIVENESS
  • CONSEQUENCES FOR THE FIRM
  • NEW AND CONTNUOUS INVESTMENTS IN TECHNICAL AND
    HUMAN RESOURCES
  • COMPLETE REDEFINITION OF STRATEGY
    (OUT-SOURCING)
  • CHANGE OF STRUCTURE (A MORE STREAMLINED
    ORGANOGRAM PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT)
  • PUT THE CLIENTS AT THE HEART OF THE FIRM
    OPERATIONS.

29
II. INFORMATION AND COMPETITIVENESS
  • Roles of the State as strategist
  • Acting as a model user of ICTs (E-Government)
  • Promoting telecommunications infrastructures and
    related policies
  • Regulating access to information
  • Reducing imperfection of information
  • Facilitating sharing and protection of
    information
  • (in the framework of the ADPIC Agreement)
  • Promoting Information for All (reduce the
    digital gap)
  • Set an example by being transparent.

30
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION EDGE
  • IS IT IN AFRICAS INTEREST TO USE INFORMATION AS
    A BASIS FOR ITS DEVELOPMENT?
  • HAS IT THE POTENTIAL TO DO SO?

31
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • MOST AFRICAN COUNTRIES ARE POOR AND KEPT IN A
    VICIOUS CIRCLE OF SLUGGISH ECONOMIC GROWTH AND
    LOW COMPETITIVENESS
  • JUST AS POVERTY TENDS TO DIMINISH ACCESS TO
    INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES,
    LACK OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION FLOWS AND KNOWLEDGE
    SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES IS ITSELF A SOURCE OF
    POVERTY.

32
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE

33
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • AFRICA IS POOR BECAUSE
  • IT CANNOT EASILY INTEGRATE
  • INTO THE INFORMATION AGE.

34
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • THE ONLY WAY OUT OF ITS PREDICAMENT IS URGENTLY
    TO ACHIEVE THE VISION OF

BECOMING A KEY PLAYER IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
35
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • THE GLOBAL ECONOMYS TRANSITION TO AN
    INFORMATION- AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY OFFERS
    TO AFRICAN COUNTRIES NEW OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP
    COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES BASED ON THEIR HISTORY AND
    ON THE SUBSTANTIVE CONDITIONS WITH WHICH THEY ARE
    FAMILIAR.

36
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • 2 MAJOR HANDICAPS FOR AFRICA

INFORMATION IMPERFECTION
LIMITED SIZE OF MARKET
LOW CONNECTIVITY
LIMITED SPREAD OF ICTS
37
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • These fundamental handicaps, however, should not
    be a reason to give up
  • Africas priority should be to demonstrate
    political will, set the process in motion and
    firmly commit itself to the pursuit of a
    development strategy that gives primacy to the
    dissemination of information, knowledge and ICTs.

38
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • NEED OF VISION AND POLITICAL WILL
  • African Information Society Initiative (AISI) in
    1996
  • New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD)
  • African Union Commission.
  • NEED OF SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
  • Millenium Development Goals
  • Digital Solidarity Fund.

39
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • NEED OF APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES
  • To develop and implement national strategies,
    including sectoral strategies, reflected in local
    strategies.
  • The national information and communication
    infrastructures (NICI) are sufficiently complete
    to serve as action frameworks.
  • .

40
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • Agenda for action
  • Mainstream the NICI
  • Earmark adequate budgetary resources
  • Incorporate an information dimension into every
    future public policy structure.
  • Remodel the regulatory policies in the economic
    sphere
  • Follow-up and assessment.

41
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
VISION
OBJECTIVES
STRATEGIES
ACTION PLAN
42
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE

Strategies to be implemented in the Committee on
Development Information (CODI) sectors
43
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • Information and Communication Technologies
    (ICTs)
  • AFRICA CAN CLAIM A PLACE IN THE GLOBAL ICT
    BUSINESS
  • ICT-USE-BASED SERVICES HAVE INCREASED DURING THE
    PAST FEW YEARS AND THE SUPPLY IN THAT AREA IS
    ALREADY CREATING MANY NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN AFRICA
    (EXAMPLE CALL CENTRES).

44
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • ICTS, BY MAKING INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE
    ACCESSIBLE, CAN CONTRIBUTE TO POVERTY
    ALLEVIATION.
  • BY USING ICT, SMALL PRODUCERS, WHO WERE HITHERTO
    AT THE MERCY OF MIDDLEMEN, CAN INCREASE THEIR
    INCOMES (SEE MANOBI CASE).

45
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • This calls for the development of a series of
    information systems focused on the poor
  • These information systems may be related to
    financially viable markets, income-generating
    outlets, government services, governance issues,
    health care, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment,
    education and capacity-building programmes.
  • They must be based on technologies and
    applications adapted to the characteristics of
    the target groups and to the environments in
    which they live
  • Priority should be given to information systems
    using the spoken word ( particularly in local
    languages), sound and images or touch-screens.

46
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • To fully achieve the development potential of
    ICTs, the emphasis should be on
  •  The legal and regulatory environment
  •  Development of technical infrastructures
  • Content in terms both of marketable products and
    services, and of the promotion and development of
    African cultural values
  • Development of the human resources necessary for
    emerging areas of specialization, and life-long
    training
  • Encouraging businesses to use information systems
    and ICTs in every aspect of their work
  • Addressing governance issues relating to
    information access, dissemination and use
  • Creation of information systems on markets, using
    easily-available, low-cost and user-friendly
    terminals.

47
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • Economic Statistics
  •  The availability of reliable statistical data is
    of fundamental importance for private-sector
    operators, who use them to make projections and
    to take strategic decisions, especially with
    regard to investments.
  • Statistical services should be able to properly
    gather, process, analyse, interpret and
    disseminate data quickly and impartially using
    easily-accessible media.
  • The development of ICTs offers many opportunities
    for statistical services to produce their
    statistics more quickly and economically and
    allows them to work on microeconomic data, which
    they can then easily compile in order to study
    larger bodies of data.

48
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • Economic Statistics (Cont.)
  • Dissemination of data and consumer relations are
    also improved by the emergence of ICTs.
    Statistics can thus be posted on a web site and
    subscriber companies can receive specific data on
    their areas of activity electronically.
  • Informatics make it possible to draw up
    consolidated company balance sheets in the level
    of the Central Banks. It makes it possible to
    identify a businesss risk potential in the
    context of bank loans and thus to reduce
    information asymmetry on the financial market.

49
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • Geographical Information Systems
  • Measures to be taken at the national and
    continental levels include
  • Sensitizing African decision makers to the value
    and utility of studies based on geographical
    information systems
  •  Formulating national policies for the management
    of geographical information
  • Strengthening local capacities in the area of
    geographical information systems
  • Improving access to geographical information
  • Conducting studies on the use of geographical
    information systems in policy formulation
  • Supporting the African satellites projects.

50
III. STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA IN THE NEW
INFORMATION AGE
  • Information services (libraries, archives and
    documentation centres)
  • Information services encourage economic, social
    and human-resource development and help promote
    intellectual freedom and the preservation of
    democratic values and civil rights
  • Information services are a means of reducing the
    existing divide between the infos rich and the
    infos poor (specially Public libraries)
  • Public information services can also be very
    useful to small-and medium-sized enterprises and
    industries

51
MERCI
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