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631. Cyberspace Governance: The Next Step

Author:
Adam Segal
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
After years of dismissing the utility of international negotiations on cyberspace, U.S. officials now say that they will participate in talks to develop rules for the virtual world. But which norms should be pursued first and through which venues? As a start, the United States should issue two “cyber declaratory statements,” one about the thresholds of attacks that constitute an act of war and a second that promotes “digital safe havens”—civilian targets that the United States will consider off-limits when it conducts offensive operations. These substantive statements should emerge from a process of informal multilateralism rather than formal negotiations. Washington should engage allies and close partners such as India first and then reach out to other powers such as China and Russia with the goal that they also issue similar statements. Washington should also reach out to the private corporations that operate the Internet and nongovernmental organizations responsible for its maintenance and security.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, International Cooperation, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, China, and Washington

632. Does Lack of Innovation and Absorptive Capacity Retard Economic Growth in Africa?

Author:
Steve Onyeiwu
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper reviews the innovative capabilities and absorptive capacities of African countries, and investigates whether they have played significant roles in the region's slow and episodic economic growth. Results from cross-country regressions covering 31 Sub-Saharan African countries suggest that growth in Africa is not simply a question of capital accumulation, fertility rates, aid dependency, and stable macroeconomic environment. It is also about strengthening the capacity of African countries to assimilate and effectively use knowledge and technology. Contrary to the views held by many analysts, the growth of African economies does not depend so much on their ability to innovate, but rather on their capacity to absorb and effectively use new technologies. Beyond technological issues, the paper confirms the stylized facts that the size of the government and political stability are important for the growth performance of African countries.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Africa

633. Who will feed the World? The production challenge

Author:
Lucia Wegner and Gine Zwart
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Against a background of increasing food insecurity, agriculture in developing countries must undergo a significant transformation in order to increase production and respond to climate change. It is estimated that feeding 8.2 billion people – an additional 1.4 billion – in 2030 would require raising overall food production by some 50 per cent between 2005/07 and 2030. Feeding a larger urban population in a context of increasing scarcity of land and water, while also adopting more sustainable production methods, is a daunting challenge. In Africa, where it is predicted that population levels will double during the same period, the challenge will be even more acute.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Poverty, Science and Technology, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:
Africa

634. Opportunity through Education: Two Proposals

Author:
Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The new normal for local, state and federal governments is fiscal austerity. Although President Obama supported education during his State of the Union address and in his budget proposal to Congress, cash-strapped localities and states—which foot most of the bill for educating America's children— may have to balance their budgets with cuts to schools and teachers. The recession exposed a long-developing structural imbalance between public expenditure versus raising the revenue for public services. Especially on education, reality has set in, with a vengeance.
Topic:
Education, Science and Technology, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States and America

635. Cash at Your Fingertips: Biometric Technology for Transfers in Developing and Resource-Rich Countries

Author:
Alan Gelb and Caroline Decker
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Cash transfers are often a good way for developing countries to address economic and social problems. They are less expensive than directly providing goods and services and allow recipients the flexibility to spend on what they need the most, but for many developing countries, the technical requirements for large-scale programs have been prohibitive. Now, however, biometric technologies have improved and become ubiquitous enough to allow the confident identification and low cost needed to implement successful cash-transfer programs in developing countries. This paper surveys the arguments for and against cash-transfer programs in resource-rich states, discusses some of the new biometric identification technologies, and reaches preliminary conclusions about their potentially very large benefits for developing countries. The barriers to cash-transfers are no longer technical, but political.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Science and Technology, and Foreign Aid

636. Diffusing the Cloud: Cloud Computing and Implications for Public Policy

Author:
John Zysman, Kenji E. Kushida, and Jonathan Murray
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:
Cloud Computing is rapidly emerging as the new information technology platform. It is, however, much more than simply a new set of technologies and business models. Cloud Computing is transforming how consumers, companies, and governments store information, how they process that information, and how they utilize computing power. It can be an engine of innovation, a platform for entrepreneurship, and driver of corporate efficiency. While an increasingly commonly term, confusion remains over what exactly constitutes Cloud Computing, how the markets are unfolding, and what forces will drive their evolution and diffusion. This paper provides an overview and conceptual tools for business leaders, policymakers, and non-specialist scholars to identify, distill, and easily understand the core aspects of how Cloud Computing service markets are developing, and how an array of policy issues will influence how this new computing platform unfolds across the world.
Topic:
Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Science and Technology

637. Barcode Empires: Politics, Digital Technology, and Comparative Retail Firm Strategies

Author:
Bartholomew C. Watson
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:
Like other service sectors, information technology has dramatically altered the growth and character of the retail trade sector in the affluent economies. Nevertheless, significant variation exists in the typical strategies of retail firms in different countries. This article explores this variation and proposes both an ideal type and an explanation. It argues that the problems of markets and hierarchies in retailing were set in motion by a series of political fights starting in the 1960s and 1970s. This demonstrates that once again that technical outcomes are not determined by the technology itself, but by social and political rules. Future technology platforms, such as e-commerce of mobile commerce, should be expected to follow similar political logics. As retailing firms spread around the globe, this has important implications for national competition policy.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Science and Technology, and Communications

638. Structuring the Smartphone Industry: Is the Mobile Internet OS Platform the Key?

Author:
Martin Kenney and Bryan Pon
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:
Until the introduction of the iPhone, cellular telephony and the Internet were essentially separate. The Internet was a PC-based service, while mobile telephony was conducted on a telephone. Though there were mobile products that provided communication services such as email, web access and other Internet services were either unavailable or inferior to those available on a PC. The “smartphone” category re defined by Apple meant the convergence of traditional mobile telephony, Internet services, and personal computing. As these sectors merge into a single device, formerly separate industry architectures and their constituent firms are being forced into direct competition. We test theories of industry architecture and technological platforms regarding their ability to explain the strategies of key entrants in navigating the transition. We analyze in detail the actions and strategies of four major competitors, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nokia, and, more briefly, Research in Motion and HP/Palm, from the framework of technological platform theory. Our analysis suggests that currently some competitors are following traditional platform strategies, but that Google and Apple appear to have adopted strategies at odds with platform literature. We examine how the dynamics of this convergence may lead to a reconsideration of certain tenets of platform theory.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance, Markets, Science and Technology, and Communications

639. The New Digital Economy: How it will transform business

Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxford Economics
Abstract:
International leaders face an era of unprecedented change. The recession and financial crisis that ended in 2009 caused a seismic shift that has reshaped the global business landscape. The world economy is now characterized by sluggish growth in the West, a shift in power to the East, and value-driven customers and rising risks everywhere. At the same time, the downturn has hastened the adoption of key technologies—mobility, cloud computing, business intelligence and social media—that are transforming businesses and sparking a new wave of wealth creation, particularly in the emerging world.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Science and Technology

640. Securing global commons: A small state perspective

Author:
Valtteri Vuorisalo, Mika Aaltola, and Joonas Sipilä
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This report examines the increasing importance of the global commons. It argues that the securing of the sea-, air-, space-, and cyber-based global flows solidifies the vital structures of global interdependence. For a small state with a highly specialized economy, the multilateral frameworks for securing global flows are crucial. Each global domain highlights different aspects of power and requires unique forms of international cooperation. Whereas the maintenance of sea, air, and space flows are resource-intensive, cyber power demands de-territorial agility and innovativeness and, therefore, evens out power disparities. It is also noted that, although individual global domains are usually considered separately, they are intimately connected and characterized by cross-domain dependency. This report focuses on the cyber domain because of its novel cross-domain impact. The CD and MNE processes and their relation to military transformation and patterns of political discourse are approached. It is argued that a small state can utilize the MNE forum to gain important situational awareness over the domains and cross-domain issues, as well as facilitate the formulation of multilateral normative frameworks. This multilateral work on solidifying and securing global flows offers a more stable foundation for the main networks of global interdependence.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Cooperation, and Science and Technology