The key element, according to the Economist chaps, is governmental co-ordination. The report reads:
"Co-ordination, particularly formal programmes between government organisations and the IT industry, is key to success. Here is where Europe— and especially Scandinavia—excels. Government-industry coordination is also why Asia’s broadband leaders (South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore) have been able to roll out the technology so quickly."
But then this is hardly surprising. Scandinavia, despite a quarter century of neo-liberal structural adjustment in the West, remains strongly state-supported and heavily regulated, and the Asian ‘Tigers’, have consistently (with the exception of a short early- to mid-nineties spurt of Washington Consensus-mandated liberalisation) let government play a guiding role in the development of markets. But don’t take my Keynesian word for it, take it from the monetaristas at the Economist Intelligence Unit:
"Some government strategies for expanding digital infrastructure and getting people to use it are better than others. Simply putting information online and evincing a benign attitude toward Internet development is no longer sufficient. To have a strong impact on the day-to-day activities of consumers and businesses, governments must embrace their role as early adopter and promote education programmes and legislation that make a difference. Smart government initiatives are contributing to the steady rise of the Northern European countries, Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea, and the relative stagnation of such e-enabled but unco-ordinated markets as the US and Australia. These two markets have seen their scores slip from third to sixth place and from ninth to twelfth place, respectively, over the past year." (Italics added)
Moreover, the report does not merely call for greater government intervention, but that one of the key aspects of effective government intervention is that it be centralized:
"In addition to being the best region for doing e-business, Scandinavia leads the world in e-government development. Initiatives are implemented from the top down, or across local government institutions. Municipalities throughout Finland (5th place) are joining together to purchase and implement new electronic management systems, and central organisations are taking a direct role in implementing e-government billing systems."
In contrast, e-government in Switzerland is "slower to take hold, mostly due to the country’s decentralised public sector," says the report, concluding: "Local institutions cannot achieve the same impact and scale as centralised ones."
Well, dress me up and call me Sally! The Economist is recognising the important role governments play in developing markets.
As with overcoming the digital divide, a completely hands-off, libertarian approach towards e-readiness won’t work.
Quelle: DMeurope, 20.04.2004
