Caroline M. Sipp

Learning from Development Experience

The central motivation for this book is our belief that the “goodness of fit” between the stage an economy is in and the development strategy adopted (including the use off technology and the role of knowledge) determines the quality, speed, and sustainability of development (see Figure 2.1). In this context, our efforts focus on learning from development experiences, in particular those related to the formation and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), to develop a methodology for establishing an optimal match typology between development stage and development strategy.

Real Technology Options and Venture Creation

The following analysis is based on 61 completed surveys (92.42% completion rate as 66 surveys were viewed and started).

e-Development toward Knowledge Economy: Country Profiles

e-Development’s role and validity in developing countries is two-fold: on the one hand it sustains development efforts and on the other it helps to bridge the gap, decreasing the digital divide.

Best Practices by e-Development Component

We first identified a number of best practices among e-Development interventions that illustrate the various forms which e-Development can take. Table 6.1 overleaf provides an overview of these projects, by e-Development component.

e-Development Policies

Transitioning and developing economies, such as those in the region of Europe and Central Asia (ECA), are exposed to significant risks of being left behind and becoming victims of the digital divide and even abyss rather than reaping digital dividends, without appropriate actions and interventions, balancing top-down public sector policies against bottom-up private sector initiatives focused on leveraging e-Development and Knowledge Economy interventions.

Revisiting the Basic Concepts of e-Development and the Knowledge Economy

There are no well-articulated or established definitions for either e-Development or the Knowledge Economy and that often has been a source of confusion.

e-Development Profiles of Developing Countries

Prior to 1989, Bulgaria had a relatively strong electronics and communications industry. Bulgaria was considered the technology center of the Soviet bloc with strong emphasis on software development. Yet, the general economic downturn of the former Soviet bloc undermined Bulgaria’s traditional export focus on the ICT. In addition, lacking the capacity to compete on a global scale, the most talented ICT professionals fled the country. Only during the last few years did the government start making a serious effort to use ICT for its economic and social development goals, especially in light of the country’s application for EU accession (see Table 10.1).

ICT and e-Development in the Knowledge Economy

Innovative technologies are reshaping the global economic landscape, by improving speed and ease for communications and interaction among the various economic actors involved in the productive cycle. In addition, higher demand is rapidly decreasing costs and prices for ICT equipment and telecommunications services, and it is facilitating the liberalization of the trade and regulatory framework worldwide.

Recommendations: Potential Pilots

In this section, we propose a number of e-Development pilot projects that could be implemented as tools to innovate and learn about best ways to undertake e-Development interventions. The following criteria are recommended in the selection of pilot projects, based on best international practice. Pilot projects/interventions need to: Fit into the broader government policies, to gain support and become sustainable; Rely on permissive, if not favorable, legal and regulatory frameworks; Have adequate infrastructure to maintain and use the system; services should be accessible for the target audience; Have distinctive benefits for the owner of the project (in the most cases — a particular government agency or ministry) to be sustainable in the long run; otherwise, sabotage and bureaucratic resistance is inevitable; Start small and be scalable: “small” and “big” are, of course, relative terms and depend on the size of the country and other factors; Have a substantial and quickly achievable positive impact for private sector development and the overall business environment in the country; Be demand-driven: ICT should simplify services for end user; entrepreneurs will use e-Development applications only if doing so is quicker, easier, or cheaper than going through traditional channels; Rely on the stable institutional base, i.e. their implementation should not require major institutional reforms; Involve a small number of agencies since in many ECA countries interaction among ministries and agencies is notoriously poor.

Recommendations: Policies and Pilot Best Practices

In this section, we present the key findings of our work, along with a set of recommendations we believe are critical for the successful implementation of an e-Development strategy and optimizing the use of ICT in the Knowledge Economy.