Sven Mauleon

Globalisation and technology development, its driving forces and consequences

Globalization is a fact, with its positive as well as negative consequences on peoples and companies lives. It increases competition and equalization of prices across borders. Labor and commodities is bought where it is cheaper. Some get low paid jobs in developing countries and others lose theirs in developed ones. Globalization compels corporations as well as individuals to increase their productivity and drives technology development. It boosts economic growth globally by an increasingly rapid exploitation of available resources with its positive as well as negative effects on jobs, companies, standards of living and the environment.
Companies must increasingly learn to understand its export markets and international suppliers and managers must learn to live with and cooperate with a diversity of cultures and peoples. Globalization drives competition and companies are compelled to increase quality while at the same time reduce prices by constantly increasing their efficiency. They have to become better at manufacturing and delivering. They have to churn out new and better products to the market. They need not only to be able to improve their daily operations but also innovate themselves, their ways of working and their output too. A homogeneous and conformist organization will find it difficult to do so. Thus the advantage of diversity! Where new and different, sometimes conflicting thoughts, views and ideas meet there is certainly misunderstandings, distrust, conflict and friction but also innovation! Without conflicting and new ideas, creative thinking, there cannot be innovation and renewal.

The interconnectedness of Globalization, Democracy, Poverty Reduction and Environmental Protection. How can ICT help?

Globalization rules, represented by organizations such as the WTO, IMF and The World Bank have largely been set by western nations to suit their own self interests rather than wanting a fair redistribution of wealth and profits. Theories such as the ‘trickle down theory’ are used to justify decisions made. This said by Nobel laureate Josef Stieglitz in his book Making Globalization Work. The argument goes, if you give big corporations freedom to operate with less regulations and taxes applied to them, they will be able to create jobs and wealth for the country. So create economic growth and everyone will benefit. But the question is, have they? Some maybe but have the very poor in those countries. And what about nature and the environment? The seas, the rainforests and the endangered animals.

In fact globalization and its economic growth are often leading to ever faster environmental problems, and destruction. Look at China, for example. Reported in the Herald Tribune,

“The source of the Yellow River, itself the water source for 140 million people in a country of about 1.3 billion, is in crisis, as scientists warn that the glaciers and underground water system feeding the river are gravely threatened. For the rest of China, where the economy has evolved beyond trading rings for sheep, it is the latest burden for a river saturated with pollution and sucked dry by factories, growing cities and farming - with still more growth planned.”

But this Globalization may also support democracy and democracy is important. If more people are empowered the more they have a say in what happens to them and their environment. This empowerment has come through factors such as; economic growth, international trade, technology and the exchange of cultures and ideas. And ICT can be an important tool of both education and business.

So OpenmindProjects questions are:
• How can ICT help to increase the democratic influence over globalization?
• How can ICT contribute to a more fair redistribution of income and wealth?
• How can ICT contribute to poverty reduction?
• How can ICT be used to protect wildlife and nature?

Globalization, a threat to nature?
Globalization is actually to a large degree the export of capitalism the US way. This type of globalization has led to less political influence over development, and more big business influence. Josef Stieglitz, American professor, Clinton advisor, and World Bank chief economist for a while, talks about ‘Americanization’, and a political deficit in the globalization. It would be naive to think that big business is altruistic, it’s not, not even supposed to be, just supposed to follow the laws, so with globalization, comes less political influence, less laws, regulations, a less altruistic global society, less concerned with environment, animals and trees, less interested in poverty reduction.

Can ICT contribute to reverse this trend?
We need international laws, agreements, accepted by all, at least the major players to save nature.
Politicians like Bush immediately threw out Kyoto but even his people now seem to start believing in global warming. Because of convincing scientific evidence? Hardly, more likely because of convincing public opinion polls! How are opinions created? Convincing messages yes, convincing messengers maybe even more important, and access to efficient media too. So, yes ICT is evidently important and the Internet is playing an increasingly important role.

But you also need critical, independent, open minded thinkers, willing to listen and being able and willing to evaluate what they hear, they read. So, yes, ICT can play an important role to develop critical, independent and open minds and it can be the poor man’s best help to gain knowledge and being less prone to manipulation by political leaders and parties.