Communication technology transfer : Impact on economic development

International technology transfer is defined and described from the economics perspective, with emphasis on costs. Its role in economic development is discussed, including its impact on social values and the question of ‘appropriate’ technology for developing countries. Examples are provided for communications technology, particularly in the areas of telecommunications and satellite communications.     

The Pacific Islands. Policy options for telecommunications investment

The Independent Commission for World-Wide Telecommunications Development (Maitland Commission) reported that telecommunication networks, including public telephone systems, are an infrastructure which aids economic development throughout the world. The Commissions objective is to bring the majority of the world's population within easy access of a telephone and, in time, other communications services. Development in the Pacific Islands region is slowed by a lack of efficient communications. The islands are spread over 29 million square kilometers of ocean and extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. Pacific Island Nations (PINs) have problems of foreign exchange, skill shortages, and poor credit terms. Telecommunications infrastructure audits showed the overall regional teledensity of 3 telephones per 100 population. The individual countries vary form 8.3 in Fiji to 1.5 in Papua New Guinea and 25.2 in New Zealand. The population of the developing island countries is in mostly rural areas where there is a chronic shortage of telephones. The constraints on radio systems can be overcome with satellite technology. The new technologies are coming on the market faster than these countries can afford to handle them. By using satellite technology and sharing facilities PINs can greatly reduce the cost of telecommunications systems. Fiber optic cables will be used to carry large volumes of traffic over major routes while satellites can be used for a array of services for the smallest PIN nation to the largest route rim country. Work is being done to standardize the equipment specifications and to develop policies for the coordination of regional telecommunications training. To further facilitate communications development in this area, changes need to be made in international funding priorities for development, and recommendations by the Maitland Commission must be taken seriously.     

Communications and information resources in Canada

The author details Canada's efforts to maintain unity and national economic and cultural identity through its communication and information resources. The country's dependence on the USA is stressed. Computer communications, broadcasting and publishing industries, telephone and satellite communications, and research and development are covered and several Canadian innovations are introduced. It is concluded that, with appropriate action, Canadian communications and information resources could be used to strengthen national sovereignty.     

Regulatory issues in regional satellite communications: Towards a USA - Mexico bilateral agreement

This article examines the issues raised by the drawing up of a bilateral agreement for satellite communications between the USA and Mexico. Mexico has been mainly leasing capacity from INTELSAT and is developing its own Morelos satellite system. Both the USA and Mexico are keen to develop transborder satellite telecommunications services, but before coming to an agreement both parties must arrive at a clear definition of the main concepts that will constitute the agreement. Key concepts being analysed are: services classification, the reciprocity principle, economic harm to INTELSAT, and technical harm to INTELSAT.     

东盟国家落入“中等收入陷阱”的原因与教训

马来西亚、泰国、印度尼西亚和菲律宾等东盟四国,从低收入状态进入中等收入水平后,经济增长回落或长期停滞,落入“中等收入陷阱”。这既有产业转型升级困难、创新能力不足等经济因素,也有贫富差距不断扩大、政局不断动荡等社会原因,还有国际经济环境改变等外部因素。当前我国处于上中收入国家阶段,要从东盟四国落入“中等收入陷阱”中吸取经验教训,促进发展方式的彻底转变,才能成功跨越“中等收入陷阱”。     

国际大城市交通拥堵社会问题处理经验借鉴——基于交通社会学的视角

交通与社会发展的关系已经成为社会各界普遍关注的重要问题。我国大城市目前处于交通拥堵社会问题普遍存在和突发的阶段,如何处理交通拥堵等社会问题,成为大城市社会经济健康发展的重要评价因素。世界发达国家和发达城市,在处理交通拥堵社会问题方面取得了较为丰富的经验,在充分借鉴国际经验的基础上,结合我国大城市的具体情况,提出我国大城市处理交通拥堵社会问题的主要方法和对策。     

The economic implications of satellite technology and the industrialization of space

This article examines the economic issues emerging from systems options in space industrialization, allocation of orbital space and the impact of satellite technology on economic development. The economics of space industrialization involve most areas of economic analysis, including market failures, regulation and the theory of economic development. With the global economy wavering between recessions and upturns, and with the debts of developing countries threatening the international banking system, the economic impact of satellite technology becomes increasingly relevant.     

Direct broadcasting by satellite in the USA: Interim regulations and implications

Technological advances in satellite communications and changes in regulatory philosophy in the USA came together at the end of the 1970s to foster a new medium — direct broadcasting by satellite (DBS). DBS, similar to other new television distribution systems, holds the promise not only of serving the people who cannot be reached by conventional television systems, but also of offering diverse programming to existing television audiences. However, the potential problems raised by the FCC's interim DBS regulations might jeopardize the economic viability and the development of future DBS systems in the USA, and might affect the interests of DBS audiences.     

A DOMSAT for Australia: Communications planning under strain

The events leading up to the announcements of a domestic communication satellite for Australia are outlined. The implications of the satellite decision are discussed in relation to planning for the communications infrastructure as a whole. It is suggested that the communication satellite debate has revealed weaknesses in the existing policy planning process and that these will be exacerbated by the satellite decision unless appropriate strategies are developed.     

Ubiquitous technologies and 5G development. Who is leading the race?

The introduction of the fifth generation of mobile technology (5G) is expected to bring disruptive changes. These changes will be much more pervasive than any previous introduction of new mobile ‘generations’ and they are expected to influence the whole economy. For this reason, the global rush for 5G technology is not only considered crucial in economic or technological terms, but also for its implications in terms of geopolitics, international policy and national security.This paper presents an analysis of the patents in the most relevant fields of specialization connected to the 5G development. The period under investigation is from 2010 to 2019, and the data are extracted from the European Patent Office (EPO) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. The analysis shows how the technologies and the specialisations needed to develop 5G are in the hands of a few countries around the globe, and how single European countries, taken in isolation, are not among those leading players. However, Europe, considered as a whole, competes well with the US and Asia in terms of patented innovations, suggesting the economic and strategic relevance of strengthening cooperation within the EU.     

Risks and benefits of new communications services: The national perspective

New forms of data communications services influence the social, economic and strategic environment of a nation. The authors discuss new forms of data communications services from a Canadian perspective, and identify issues associated with the services and the new society they encourage. The relationships of new services to national sovereignty, employment, national trade balance, and regulation are discussed from a benefit-risk perspective. The authors conclude that a requirement exists for national planning and coordination mechanisms to assure that appropriate systems are in place to foster the orderly introduction, diffusion, and utilization of new forms of data communications.     

Assessment of information and communications technology maturity level

The use of information and communications technology (ICT) turned out to be a key factor in the process of the wider development of a country. It is therefore very useful to estimate ICT evolution by the means of an appropriate metric. Based on statistical data from 159 countries, the ICT maturity level index (IMLI) is proposed and estimated by using structural equation modelling (SEM). This index is a metric measuring the information society in a country and consists of three sub-indices which are access, use and skills. It is an improvement of the ICT development index, proposed by the ITU in 2009. The analysis divides the countries into two groups, the developed and the developing, due to major disparities in their statistical data. The criterion used to define the groups was the income, as expressed by the Gross National Income per capita. The impact of a number of influential parameters on the ICT maturity level is evaluated and it becomes obvious that there is a substantial difference in their impact between developed and developing countries. Finally, a procedure that allows the ranking of the countries, based on IMLI, is presented.     

Satellite data networks for national development

This article assesses the telecommunications needs of developing countries and the possibility of using satellite communications to meet those needs. Three primary technological factors provide a guide to this application: small inexpensive satellite earth stations can provide a solution to the problem of limited ground facilities; satellites can operate in a broadcast and multiple acess mode as well as in a conventional point- to-point mode; and, the capacity required to support a single interactive digital terminal is about 1000 times less than that required to support a voice telephone and abput 1 000 000 times less than that required for video transmission. These factors lead to consideration of new forms of national networks based on satellites, microprocessors and small earth stations which do not follow the North American model. These new advanced forms of networks can co-exist with conventional voice networks, and can provide a realistic alternative for consideration by national telecommunications authorities.     

知识共同体的构建:基于规则与结构的探讨

知识开放式创新成为信息时代越来越普遍的现象,尤其是消费者、用户、专家等社会利益相关者的参与,知识的分享与创新不仅从企业内部扩展到企业网络,而且上升到更为广阔的社会层面。但是,创新主体的多样化与创新速度的不断提升分别导致了多样性与动态性的组织悖论,由此引发了多样性与一致性、动态性与稳定性之间的组织矛盾。这些悖论与矛盾为知识开放式创新带来了巨大的挑战。本文站在企业的角度,提出知识共同体的构建思路,探讨这种中间组织特有的组织规则与组织结构,旨在解决创新所产生的组织悖论,推动知识的开放式创新。     

Satellite communications : US policy considerations

Regulatory decisions have controlled the possible technical alternatives in the use of artificial satellites, for both domestic and international telecommunications, since the enactment by the US Congress of the Communications Satellite Act of 1962. At the same time, advancements in technology have caused satellite systems to play a larger role in telecommunications. An updating of the 1934 Communications Act would allow for a more definitive statement of national satellite policy and for a revised regulatory standard. This article reviews some of the principle factors which have influenced communications satellite policy, and offers additional issues for consideration that can affect the development of communications satellite markets, systems and services.     

Digitalization and economic growth: A comparative analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa and OECD economies

This paper examines the contribution of digitalization to economic growth of Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) in comparison with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) economies. The main reason for comparing the most and the least developed countries to measure the effects of digitalization is to have an insight of whether such effects depend on the levels of development of the country. New technologies in Sub Saharan Africa are assumed to have played significant roles in economic activity, including accessibility of communications, which was impeded by poor infrastructure, accommodation of the poor majority who were initially financially excluded from mobile banking and participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in e-commerce. On the other hand, due to the effects of digitalization, least developed countries in SSA have been facing a premature deindustrialization.This study employs a panel dataset consisting of 11 years from 2006 to 2016 for 41 SSA and 33 OECD economies and we use the generalized linear methods of moments (GMM) estimators. The results show that digitalization has a positive contribution to economic growth in both groups of countries. The effect of broadband internet is minimal for SSA compared to OECD countries, whereas the impact of mobile telecommunications is higher in SSA compared to the OECD counterpart. These results are particularly interesting as less advanced technologies create more opportunities in the least developed countries since there is more space for improvement. With respect to policy implications, this study recommends that SSA governments should invest more in ICT along with other infrastructures, so as to benefit from digitalization and to realize significant economic growth.     

International legal norms governing development of the orbit/spectrum resource

Resource development is the process of dispersing concentrated values. International law relating to resource development establishes objectives for value dispersion and puts forward rules by which these objectives may be attained. The geostationary orbit and the electromagnetic spectrum are two store-houses of value, or resources, coming under increasingly vigorous international control. The author first describes geostationary satellite communications as the dispersion of values concentrated in the geostationary orbit and in the electromagnetic spectrum. He then addresses the objectives of international satellite communications policy and the relative effectiveness of relevant legal rules in implementing those objectives.     

INMARSAT: looking beyond the maritime community

As a relatively new satellite organization, INMARSAT is engaged in making its system known to the maritime community with a view to increasing its usage. Current priorities include removal of restrictions on communications equipment in harbours and territorial waters, the setting up of disaster relief communications systems on land, the development of the Future Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (FGMDSS), cooperation with the aeronautical communities in a common satellite system, and planning for its second-generation system.     

Diffusion of mobile handset features: Analysis of turning points and stages

Mobile handsets have evolved into advanced devices with a rich variety of hardware and software features enabling the use of variety of applications, networks, and services. Consequently, mobile handset features constitute an important part of the global communications infrastructure. Modelling the diffusion of mobile handsets as a product category is becoming less relevant as the market is approaching saturation especially in the developed countries. Simultaneously, the diffusion of mobile handset features is increasingly important and of interest to many stakeholders. This article analyzes and compares the diffusion patterns of mobile handset features, using a longitudinal annual dataset of the penetrations of 15 different features in Finland between 2005 and 2010. Two major turning points – the takeoff and the inflection point – as well as the durations of the diffusion stages between these points are determined. The results show large variations between different features, highlighting the significance of the introduction stage in the diffusion process. The results are useful for regulators and companies in understanding the pace of change taking place in the communications infrastructure.     

中国石油石化工业的业绩和部分竞争能力分析

我国石油石化业以三大石油石化公司(中石油、中石化、中海油)为产业核心。其竞争实力，正在快速跻身于世界石油大公司的行列。但尚存在较大差距，跨国经营程度、企业经营效益、企业规模、加油站营销水平等均不如国外大企业；石油资源的接替矛盾十分突出，石油可储采量低于采出量。因此，加快开发和增产国内原油，开拓和利用海外油气资源，跻身跨国经营行列，发展炼油石化的规模化经营，建立战略石油储备体系，减员增效，是实施中国石油工业可持续发展的战略所在。