Chetan Sharma points out that technology by itself may not generate jobs. But entrepreneurship certainly does--and the examples of Germany and Finland he points to may reflect lack of an entrepreneurial culture more than anything about technology. And technology can play a role in helping create entrepreneurial opportunities or in supporting small enterprises. The Sanchalak's that run ITC echoupals generate additional income from their entrepreneurial role as the computer hosts, the kiosk and PTO entrepreneurs in India phone and (growing) Internet networks are a similar example; so too the village phone entrepreneurs in Bangladesh and South Africa and now Uganda. Both the need for shared-access points--the dominant model for access to connectivity among the very poor and even the not so poor in developing countries (even in middle-class, urban Peru, for example) and the entrepreneurial opportunities such needs create and can create are a prime example of how the spread of ICT networks can help stimulate job creation.
Allen L. Hammond Vice President for Innovation & Special Projects World Resources Institute 10 G Street NE Washington, DC 20002 USA V (202) 729-7777 F (202) 729-7775 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.wri.org www.digitaldividend.org On 11/8/04, Chetan Sharma asked: > Why do small European economies such as Germany and France, who have > always embraced technology and have such a huge technological > advancement, have major employment problems? > > Why does Finland, despite home-grown Nokia, continue to languish with > unemployment and joblessness? > > If we do not have jobs of any nature--if we do not even have stable > livelihoods--then what has been the worth of Globalization and > technological advancement? ..snip... ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by USAID's dot-ORG Cooperative Agreement with AED, in partnership with World Resources Institute's Digital Dividend Project, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org and http://www.digitaldividend.org provide more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html>
