The Knowledge Divide

It is astonishing to see the world globalising more and more with each day. And it all happening so fast. This puts a huge pressure on people since they have to catch up with the changing reality of the time.

Underpinning the globalisation is the breathtaking competition for revealing new knowledge and technology happening all over the world. With communication instruments, such as the Internet, making the transfer of information and knowledge less costly, human beings are feeling empowered to realise their potential. Unlike no other time in history, individuals are now capable of realising their dreams with less cost.

The world is not an even place, in this regard, though. There is so much difference between developed and developing countries. For developed countries, the wholesome change in means of information and knowledge transfer has helped them to capitalise on their economic competitive edge and build even more strong economies. They do this by placing themselves as the sources of knowledge and information.

Developing countries, on the other hand, remain deprived of key capabilities in the generation of information and technology. Therefore, they sit at the receiving end of the global information and technology value chain.

This entails a world that is diverging into two different directions. The directions might seem unbridgeable. But they are not what they seem.

Emerging economies, such as China, Russia, Brazil and South Africa, are bringing themselves as forces bridging the divide. National champions originating from these countries are working hard to narrow down the divide.

Whereas companies headquartered in the global West, such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft are doing their fair share in universalising ICT, companies such as Alibaba, MTN and Telefonica from emerging countries, are rising up the global ladder to make their own impact on people and their lives the world over.

Regardless of the competition between companies for information and communications, however, the impact is largely defined by how far economic jurisdictions are ready to benefit from the competition by way of making themselves a favourable ground for the competing forces. This means that economies ought to create the necessary infrastructure, trainable human resource, bureaucratic willingness, and rules and regulations to benefit from competition.

But some of the champions in the developing world companies are also well-reputed for working with undeveloped jurisdictions to help them build these essential capabilities. Their reputation around the world relates to helping economies have this infrastructure; human capability and policies to enable them make use of the new global information and knowledge normal.

The hopeful trend is that the global South is crafting its own way of doing things. This involves national champions of the emerging economies investing in developing countries. The ever-growing outreach of the MTN in Africa is a showcase to this new trend.

Ethiopia is also benefiting from its long-term partnership with Chinese telecoms companies. Not only has it managed to build cutting edge infrastructure, but it has also built huge local human capability that could be leveraged for centuries to come. Thousands of Ethiopian professionals have got an opportunity to take part in on-the-job training and specialisation. It is this capability that Ethiopia is now leveraging to make its dream of joining the middle-income status a reality.

In broader terms, Ethiopia seems to understand the benefit that a strong knowledge sector could bring to its economy. The reorientation of the education sector towards engineering and technology is one major indicators that Ethiopian policymakers have a good understanding of the importance of the knowledge sector.

Yet, Ethiopia still lags behind in creating vibrant partnerships with innovative companies that have developed research and development capabilities. Companies with global reputations in innovation and research ought to be convinced by Ethiopian policymakers to contribute to Ethiopia’s dream. Partnerships with such companies ought to be forged so that the local capability could be built to ensure future growth.

In a world that is changing fast, and witnessing huge change in the forms and uses of technology, Ethiopia ought to make itself ready to embrace companies with better reputations in the creation, recreation, development, change and transfer of knowledge. It is only through partnerships of such kind that a lasting knowledge industry can be established by jurisdictions sitting at the lower end of the information and technology ladder.


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