Globalization and Information and Communication Technologies
Globalization is considered as the rapid increase in the cross-border economic, social and technological exchange. Guillen (2000) describe it as the process of leading to greater interdependence and mutual awareness among the economic, political as well as social units of the world. The said statement was supported by Rosenau (1999), by saying that it is the emergence of the changed structure of the world and was driven by the revolution of skill, explosion of organization as well as the everlasting flow of ideas, money, goods as well as people that is providing a long-standing territorial boundaries increasingly obsolete, therefore focuses in the process of fostering an expensive decentralization of the authority (cited in Oulo University Library 2003).
Globalization had been able to affect different industries and fields in the world such as economy, business, socialization, entertainment and more importantly education. Just like the field of business, education is also being affected by the current trends and developments in technology, primarily the ICT. ICT consists of the hardware, software, networks as well s media for collection, storage, processing, transmission and presentation of different information and other related services (The World Bank 2008).
Just like different debates regarding how globalization can make the poor countries poorer, and rich countries richer, it can be said that the said phrase is applicable. Globalization together with ICT can contribute to different education goals that will furthermore help to reduce poverty in the world (Oulo University Library 2003). However, there are many questions regarding it, since there are different incidents of limited access of the said technology.
The statement shows a difference between the developed and the developing countries. It shows that in order to become successful it will be important to apply ICT. The said perspective can be showed in the current global condition and information technology learning and knowledge of different countries in the world, particularly between the developed and developing countries (Oulo University Library 2003).
Thus, it can be said that the statement that said that globalization is wounding those who don’t quickly enough grasp how to use it by leaving them ever further behind, but providing unprecedented benefits for those with the courage and willingness to grasp its potential for drive change. This is due to the fact that it can be seen in the education system and economic condition of those developing countries that are striving to apply ICT. It is important to consider that it is not the question about the desire to grasp the said knowledge, but it focuses on the ability of each and every individual and nation to have that kind of technology in terms of economical and social aspects.
It is important to consider that one of the most important problems in the education industry in the world focuses on the access to the basic education, not to mention the access to the digital divide in most of the developing countries. There are about 113 million of children that are still out of school in the world, and 110 million of them are living in less developed countries (Oulo University Library 2003).
This show that the application of new technologies and the presence of globalization did not extensively increase the access to the basic education, but it had helped to increase the gap between those rich or haves and the poor or have nots, regarding the access to the quality of education (Oulo University Library 2003). Thus it show that globalization during the age of ICT implies greater global inequality in income and wealth distribution (Togati 2006, p. 139).
It can also be seen in the growing number of company and organizations that are implementing different ICT and other related technologies in managing their information that helped them in different aspects and activities such as decision-making, human resource management and customer relationship. There are different studies that show that application of ICT helped different organization to become feasible and gain competitive advantage in their respective market. Thus, it is important to consider that ICT is already a must in the business field. This shows the statement regarding the advantage of applying ICT, where in it can be observed that those successful companies in the global markets are applying their own computerized systems that helped them to analyze their entire performance and plans. In addition to that, it had also helped different organization that are considered as multinational companies to have a direct and real-time communication with its other branch or headquarters in different part of the globe.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that ICT has a significant impact in each and every life of every person in the world, primarily those people who are somewhat dependent on different technologies, primarily the Internet. That is the reason why ICT has a great influence over the culture. ICT affect culture on organization and subcultural occasion, for example the way email has changed how people correspond in writing, thus people no longer rely as much on snail mail and fax machine because attaching files in email in quicker and simpler (Browing & Saetre 2008, p. 106). The said development had helped to create the email culture, where in people tend to communicate using the said technology. In addition to that, due to the fact that in cybernetic space, physical obstacles and temporal distance seem to disappear like magic, it had been seen as an effective way of promoting democratic values, facilitating a free circulation of people, ideas and material goods across national boundaries in different part of the world (Spariosu 2004, p. 37). That is the reason why ICT had been considered as a great help in the field of marketing and business.
Just like the common debate regarding globalization, ICT is also associated with the fact that it could help those already developed countries to become more developed, but on the other hand, it made those developing countries to be left behind, thus helping to increase the gap between the financial and social status of each and every country in the world.
References
Browning, L, Saetre, A S, Stephens, K & Somes, J O 2008, Information and Communication Technologies in Action: Linking Theory and Narratives of Practice, Routledge
De La Torre, J & Moxon, R 2001, ‘Introduction to the Symposium E-Commerce and Global Business: The Impact of the Information and Communication Technology Revolution on the Conduct of International Business’, Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 617 – 618
Freeman, C, Soete, L & Efendiogku, U 1995, ‘Diffusion and the Employment Effects of Information and Communication Technology’, International Labour Review, vol. 134, no. 4 – 5, pp. 587 – 589
ICT and Education 2008, The World Bank, viewed 31 October 2008, < http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMDK:20264888~menuPK:617610~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html>
ICT, Globalization and Education 2003, Oulo University Library, viewed 31 October 2008, <http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514272463/html/x464.html>
Khrishna, S & Madon, S 2004, The Digital Challenge: Information Technology in the Development Context, Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
Spariosu, M 2004, Global Intelligence and Human Development: Toward an Ecology of Global Learning, MIT Press
Togati, T D 2006, The New Economy and Macromedia Stability: A Neo-modern Perspective Drawing on the Complexity Approach and Keynesian Economics, Routledge
Wiley, S, Information Technology and Globalization, Center for Information Society Studies North Carolina State University, viewed 31 October 2008, < http://www.ncsu.edu/ciss/techglobal1.html>
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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