VI. NEW CHALLENGES FOR SOCIETIES AND DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
VI. NEW CHALLENGES FOR SOCIETIES AND DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
manifestation, is reshaping not only the sphere of economic organisation but also, and
relatedly, the sphere of social relations. The impact is likely to be at least as great in
developing countries as in OECD ones. As the introduction of the Internet empowers
people who were previously discriminated against, beneficiaries of the status quo may
quite rationally react to defend their interests. In the Guyanan experience mentioned above,
the foray into electronic commerce created tension between the weavers and the traditional
regional leadership: threatened by the women’s success, regional leaders moved to take
control of the weavers’ organisation. The woman who created the Web site quit in protest,
and the group has been struggling since then to get by. More positively, the Grameen
Village Phone network in rural Bangladesh has apparently further added to the
empowerment of women beyond the acknowledged achievements of the GrameenBank
(Bayes, von Braun and Akhter, 1999). The operators of the village phones are all poor
women (selected for their strong credit record), whom members of the male-dominated
village elite now regularly visit to avail of mobile phone services. Also, these women
entrepreneurs appear to exercise greater discretion over the expenditure of profits from
their phone service than is the case with other household income.
Along with universities and research institutions, international development agencies
and NGOs have been among the early introducers of the Internet to low-income developing
countries. NGOs have played an especially important catalytic role, since they are often
working in remote areas with isolated communities. They have to some degree primed the
demand for wider Internet access. NGOs, for example, have been instrumental in
dissemination of the technology to link rural artisans to the Web. A well-known example is
that of Bangladesh’s GrameenBank, which has made available its branch infrastructure to
administer a village mobile phone network set up by its partially owned affiliate,
GrameenTelecom49. An interesting possibility raised by this experiment is that the phones
(and in time Internet connections) available to rural households would offer new incomegenerating
activities, for which GrameenBank financing could in turn provide seed capital.
In a best case, GrameenBank could become the incubator of a host of rural Bangladeshi
dot-coms.
For such dot-coms to flourish, whether in Bangladesh or other developing countries,
there is need to cultivate skills in the local population for certain e-commerce support
services like web design. One interesting experiment in Kenya is training youth from
Nairobi’s slums in web design skills, with some seed capital from the Netherlands
government50. The urgency of such training needs is recognised by rich countries’
governments, as exemplified by the Japanese initiative for comprehensive ICT assistance
to developing countries51.
As Panos (1998) observes, “(i)f the market is ensuring that access is spreading (in
terms of physical infrastructure), the donors and NGOs can shift their focus, ensuring that
the benefits are maximised and that marginalisation is minimised”. This seems to be the
approach adopted by many official development assistance (ODA) agencies. According
to the 1996 annual report of the World Bank-hosted InfoDev initiative to foster ICT diffusion in developing countries, less than a third of the projects then under consideration were
focused on infrastructure. Extending access to remote rural areas remains an issue, though
the emphasis is shifting from purely public investment financed by development assistance
to public-private partnerships. The ITU, for example, has established WorldTel, which is
seeking to raise private capital to finance telecommunications links to rural communities
and poorer communities in developing countries. Similar public-private endeavours may
be warranted for making bandwidth available at low cost to rural parts of developing
countries, with the multiple low earth orbiting satellite networks to be launched in coming
years by private sector consortia offering the prospect of sizeable slack transmission
capacity over low-income countries52.
As for micro-level initiatives, the establishment of telecentres seems to be a favoured
investment for the World Bank, various UN agencies, and regional development banks.
UNDP, for example, has begun pilot projects aimed at the creation of electronic community
centres as a platform for access and connectivity in rural areas, initially in Egypt and
South Africa. They will also serve as centres for capacity building, skills enhancement,
training, communications and content development. SMEs are encouraged to utilise these
facilities and they will be assisted in the creation of websites, digital web management and
the conduct of electronic commerce. A USAID project, Craftslink India, is building IT and
e-commerce capacity into the operations of low-income women handicraft-producer groups,
equipping and training them to use digital cameras and the Internet to market their wares
while showcasing their cultural richness.
Building reputational capital and fostering trust in consumers remain major challenges
for prospective developing country entrants into global e-commerce. The association of
artisanal exporters with a brand name like IFAT or with a globally recognised and respected
NGO has until now been an important means of building customer confidence. Eventually,
if market entry barriers are to be lowered for a much wider group of SMEs, generic solutions
are needed. It is of course too early to predict whether the open rating system mentioned
above will become an e-commerce standard. Assuming it (or some variation thereof) does,
then the question arises of whether the average SME in a developing country can
independently afford the software and service costs of participation in such a scheme. It
may be worth exploring options for negotiating favourable license terms and for cost sharing
— e.g., through industry associations, perhaps with partial financing from ODA.
To foster an e-commerce friendly environment, international organisations are seeking
to assist countries with the creation of suitable legal frameworks as well as support systems.
As mentioned above, while many of the norms and standards for transacting e-commerce
are being forged in OECD countries, developing countries have a stake in participating in
fora where key decisions are made. This includes the WTO, with its role in defining the
treatment of e-commerce in international trade. Given the limited capacity of many lowincome
countries to master the technicalities of even current trade issues, there is a clear
need to strengthen capacity for effective participation in multilateral negotiations and
standard-setting bodies. ODA can play a useful role here.
Finally, many traditional areas of development co-operation will increasingly incorporate
ICT elements — e.g. education and health care53. Maintaining the ICT infrastructure of
such projects may be facilitated by the technology’s multipurpose nature, notably through
leasing equipment and services to local e-ntrepreneurs.
OECD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
Working Paper No. 164
E-COMMERCE FOR DEVELOPMENT: PROSPECTS AND POLICY ISSUES
by
Andrea Goldstein and David O’Connor
VI NEW CHALLENGES FOR SOCIETIES AND DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE - To learn more about this author, visit OECD Development Centre's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
The current ICT-centred technological revolution, of which the Internet is but one
manifestation, is reshaping not only the sphere of economic organisation but also, and
relatedly, the sphere of social relations. The impact is likely to be at least as great in
developing countries as in OECD ones. As the introduction of the Internet empowers
people who were previously discriminated against, beneficiaries of the status quo may
quite rationally react to defend their interests. In the Guyanan experience mentioned above,
the foray into electronic commerce created tension between the weavers and the traditional
regional leadership: threatened by the women’s success, regional leaders moved to take
control of the weavers’ organisation. The woman who created the Web site quit in protest,
and the group has been struggling since then to get by. More positively, the Grameen
Village Phone network in rural Bangladesh has apparently further added to the
empowerment of women beyond the acknowledged achievements of the GrameenBank
(Bayes, von Braun and Akhter, 1999). The operators of the village phones are all poor
women (selected for their strong credit record), whom members of the male-dominated
village elite now regularly visit to avail of mobile phone services. Also, these women
entrepreneurs appear to exercise greater discretion over the expenditure of profits from
their phone service than is the case with other household income.
Along with universities and research institutions, international development agencies
and NGOs have been among the early introducers of the Internet to low-income developing
countries. NGOs have played an especially important catalytic role, since they are often
working in remote areas with isolated communities. They have to some degree primed the
demand for wider Internet access. NGOs, for example, have been instrumental in
dissemination of the technology to link rural artisans to the Web. A well-known example is
that of Bangladesh’s GrameenBank, which has made available its branch infrastructure to
administer a village mobile phone network set up by its partially owned affiliate,
GrameenTelecom49. An interesting possibility raised by this experiment is that the phones
(and in time Internet connections) available to rural households would offer new incomegenerating
activities, for which GrameenBank financing could in turn provide seed capital.
In a best case, GrameenBank could become the incubator of a host of rural Bangladeshi
dot-coms.
For such dot-coms to flourish, whether in Bangladesh or other developing countries,
there is need to cultivate skills in the local population for certain e-commerce support
services like web design. One interesting experiment in Kenya is training youth from
Nairobi’s slums in web design skills, with some seed capital from the Netherlands
government50. The urgency of such training needs is recognised by rich countries’
governments, as exemplified by the Japanese initiative for comprehensive ICT assistance
to developing countries51.
As Panos (1998) observes, “(i)f the market is ensuring that access is spreading (in
terms of physical infrastructure), the donors and NGOs can shift their focus, ensuring that
the benefits are maximised and that marginalisation is minimised”. This seems to be the
approach adopted by many official development assistance (ODA) agencies. According
to the 1996 annual report of the World Bank-hosted InfoDev initiative to foster ICT diffusion in developing countries, less than a third of the projects then under consideration were
focused on infrastructure. Extending access to remote rural areas remains an issue, though
the emphasis is shifting from purely public investment financed by development assistance
to public-private partnerships. The ITU, for example, has established WorldTel, which is
seeking to raise private capital to finance telecommunications links to rural communities
and poorer communities in developing countries. Similar public-private endeavours may
be warranted for making bandwidth available at low cost to rural parts of developing
countries, with the multiple low earth orbiting satellite networks to be launched in coming
years by private sector consortia offering the prospect of sizeable slack transmission
capacity over low-income countries52.
As for micro-level initiatives, the establishment of telecentres seems to be a favoured
investment for the World Bank, various UN agencies, and regional development banks.
UNDP, for example, has begun pilot projects aimed at the creation of electronic community
centres as a platform for access and connectivity in rural areas, initially in Egypt and
South Africa. They will also serve as centres for capacity building, skills enhancement,
training, communications and content development. SMEs are encouraged to utilise these
facilities and they will be assisted in the creation of websites, digital web management and
the conduct of electronic commerce. A USAID project, Craftslink India, is building IT and
e-commerce capacity into the operations of low-income women handicraft-producer groups,
equipping and training them to use digital cameras and the Internet to market their wares
while showcasing their cultural richness.
Building reputational capital and fostering trust in consumers remain major challenges
for prospective developing country entrants into global e-commerce. The association of
artisanal exporters with a brand name like IFAT or with a globally recognised and respected
NGO has until now been an important means of building customer confidence. Eventually,
if market entry barriers are to be lowered for a much wider group of SMEs, generic solutions
are needed. It is of course too early to predict whether the open rating system mentioned
above will become an e-commerce standard. Assuming it (or some variation thereof) does,
then the question arises of whether the average SME in a developing country can
independently afford the software and service costs of participation in such a scheme. It
may be worth exploring options for negotiating favourable license terms and for cost sharing
— e.g., through industry associations, perhaps with partial financing from ODA.
To foster an e-commerce friendly environment, international organisations are seeking
to assist countries with the creation of suitable legal frameworks as well as support systems.
As mentioned above, while many of the norms and standards for transacting e-commerce
are being forged in OECD countries, developing countries have a stake in participating in
fora where key decisions are made. This includes the WTO, with its role in defining the
treatment of e-commerce in international trade. Given the limited capacity of many lowincome
countries to master the technicalities of even current trade issues, there is a clear
need to strengthen capacity for effective participation in multilateral negotiations and
standard-setting bodies. ODA can play a useful role here.
Finally, many traditional areas of development co-operation will increasingly incorporate
ICT elements — e.g. education and health care53. Maintaining the ICT infrastructure of
such projects may be facilitated by the technology’s multipurpose nature, notably through
leasing equipment and services to local e-ntrepreneurs.
OECD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
Working Paper No. 164
E-COMMERCE FOR DEVELOPMENT: PROSPECTS AND POLICY ISSUES
by
Andrea Goldstein and David O’Connor
VI NEW CHALLENGES FOR SOCIETIES AND DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE - To learn more about this author, visit OECD Development Centre's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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