Essay: Impact Of Technology On Developing Economies." (56 Characters)

Essay 1:

“Technology in the globalised world benefits all developing countries.”

Essay 2:

“Developing countries face challenges in global trade in agriculture.”

Impact on Production Costs

Essay: Technology in the Globalised World Benefits all Developing Countries

The international movement of knowledge and technical expertise has become a common agenda globally, thus leading to the advancement of the world economy since the early 1970s. Science is expanding, which also leads to increased commodity diversification in the world trade arena. Technological progress has made it easy globally to receive foreign direct investments through transnational corporate (Kumar and Siddharthan, 2013). As a result, developing economies are in a pole position to acquire transmitted innovative ideas across the globe. New opportunities are therefore opening to benefit the available stock of resources in these countries, which in turn earns them direct foreign investments.

According to Vivarelli (2014), technological integration in developing economies has increased, though there are disparities between countries in terms of technological progress. However, given the increased technological progress in emerging economies, the manufacturing, service, and agricultural industries are well placed to enhance in terms of growth and development. It, therefore, calls for increased human capital to help absorb and integrate the advanced technological growth in the developing economies as well as economic policies. As a result, this paper will discuss the relevancies and impacts of the globalization of the technology on the developing countries and its implications for the development strategies and policies.

The adoption of technology in the developing economies has led to profound effects on the economies of scale through the reduction in the national costs of production, the establishment of standardized production qualities, and effectiveness in the e-communication (Passaris, 2019). Unfortunately, global technological growth has remained an adoption rather than an innovation in most of these economies. As a result, the need for technologies has remained a significant concern in terms of technological diffusion in low-income economies, leading to unevenly distribution within countries (Van Dijk, 2013). The rapid spread of technology in developing countries stimulated by the introduction of the internet has led to positive cultural changes.  Globalization can also lead to cultural awareness and promote diversity in the case of assimilation. However, due to security reasons, some developing economies are not able to experience the benefits of technological growth.

New technology has reduced the prices of goods and services in most developing economies. As a result, product diversification has benefitted the developing economies in the global market, thus improving the per capita income of these countries (Rodrik, 2014). For example, mobile phone banking, known as M-Pesa introduced by a telecommunication industry, Safaricom in Kenya, has led to an increased business transaction for the agricultural products. As a result, consumers are now able to buy and sell goods online without physically having the goods in-store.  The telecommunication development has given the poor citizens in these countries access to long-distance communications without incurring costs (Asongu, 2015).  Another example is the internet-based tractor plant form in Nigeria, the “Hello Tractor," which has enabled smallholders to increase their productivity level without having to possess the scale of production.

Cultural Changes through Globalization

Advanced technological growth has been commended for its role in transforming the large-scale farming in Latin America and Africa. The uses of drones, GPS, data, and high-speed telecommunication machines have facilitated improved service delivery. As a result, farming through irrigation has been optimized in the developing economies where pesticides and fertilizers are enabled through technological advancements (Evans, 2014).  As a result of improved global technology in the developing economies, countries are now able to depend on themselves during hunger periods since the farm productivity and diversification are encouraged.

Globalized technological advancement in developing economies has not only changed how people produce goods and services and communicate, but it has also allowed for extensive innovative work where people can create and test new ideas through product development (Passaris, 2019).  In Rwanda, drone technology has been used to deliver blood in remote areas, and 3 D printing has helped to provide spare parts for the demand for animation machines in the developing economies.  Cell phones have become prevalent in developing economies where they are used by underserved communities to provide information about health issues. As a result, mobile health technologies have benefitted the developing economies through the unprecedented entrance to resources that are important for life-threatening diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS.  In Uganda, there exist a non-invasive malaria detection application for the cellular, where it uses a light sensor to detect malaria in the body (Asongu, 2015). As a result, patients do not need to go to doctors to be diagnosed but just for treatments.

According to the World Health Organization (2015), more than 1.8 billion people in developing countries lack clean water, with more than 2.5 billion people lacking sanitation facilities. As a result, technological advancement through engineering expertise has played a significant role in reducing this number. This is through the building of the underground pipe connections, which are well protected, thus increasing the accessibility of clean water and sanitation.

Developing economies are slowly but steadily increasing their role in the energy industry. The renewable energy industry, which is a source of the wind, solar, and hydropower energies, is increasingly taking shape (Tyagi et al., 2013). This is because of technological progress that these countries are experiencing. For instance, China solar Manufacturing industries are regarded as the leading producer of solar photovoltaic (PV), where it produces 67 percent of the world solar energy (Berger and Martin, 2013). As a result, manufacturers of the solar PV system have spread in most developing countries in Africa and Asia. India is regarded as among the promising economies in terms of wind power development (Van Dijk, 2013).

Improved Farming through Technology

Technological advancement has also promoted international trade. As a result, developing economies have managed to increase their GDP output due to growth in the manufacturing industries such as the textile and clothing industries. According to Panagariya (2013), developing economies account for half of the world textile exports, and approximately 70 percent of the total world clothing industry. Given the growth in technology, emerging economies have experienced an increase in the GDP per capita because of favorable terms of trade.

Since the manufacturing industry is the cornerstone of the economic growth of the developing economies, technological advancement in the sector will lead to more advanced and stable production (Van Dijk, 2013). With a dynamic manufacturing economy supported by technological growth, productivity from the manufacturing industry has increased considerably, leading to stable economies in most of the developing economies, including South Africa, China, Brazil, and Nigeria. As a result of technological innovativeness, developing economies can reduce the unemployment rate, given that there are increased economies of scale.  This is because the basis of international trade for any country is the surplus in the production to the other economy. With the use of technology, production level increases in the developing economies, thus increasing international trade. For instance, in the developing Asian economies, the Philippines ' export on electronics helped to accelerate its GDP growth to about 5 percent in the early 2000s (Ofreneo, 2015).

Production technology in the developing economies helps them to decide on the structure of trade and global engagement. What a country produces is wholly dependent on its endowment of the physical and human capital, natural resources, and labor (Rodrik, 2014). For instance, in Southern Asia, mango is the significant planting due to a favorable tropical climate. Besides, since the islands of Southern Asia are friendly to tourism, information technology can be used to enhance the tourism sectors such as hotel bookings, traveling, and marketing. As a result, the international trade competition for Southern Asia will help it to exert a market base industry on its technology and innovation in mango production (Kumar and Siddharthan, 2013). In terms of international trade, these countries can export massive mangos, processed, and packed as finished products into the world trading markets. This will allow it to earn revenue from trading with developed economies, thus promoting economic growth and development.

Conclusion

For developing economies to compete with the advanced economies, they must have a positive stimulus that promotes technological advancement and innovations. These stimuli must be used to help the national governments adopt policies that will help to grow the technology. Most developing countries still lack infrastructural capabilities in terms of human capital to develop technologies. However, the importance of technology in the field of trade, manufacturing, farming, engineering, and health is an indication that technology in the globalized world is essential for developing economies. To compete globally, emerging economies must take advantage of their comparative advantages in terms of trading and promote areas that will increase their GDP growth. As a result, the government and policymakers should encourage technological growth and advancement to compete in the free world trade era. This paper, therefore, recommends that developing countries should be proactive in adopting new digital technologies, including GPS, drones, and 3D printings.  This is because technological growth continues to penetrate over the years, thus prompting developing economies to take advantage of the new opportunities for economic growth and development.

References

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