The Linked World: How ICTs is Transforming Societies, Cultures and Economies

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are a predominant and omnipresent part of everyday life. We talk, tweet, write and send SMS over our mobile phones; we work, buy and entertain ourselves over the Internet; and we eagerly anticipate new hardware or software products, brainchilds of the innovative minds of engineers and designers from all over the world. Technology also stimulates competition. There is no doubt that ICTs, just like steam and electricity did in their time, are a fundamental force in global change. This study establishes how recent progress in Information and Communication Technologies has led to improvements in the standards of living, yielding social and cultural changes throughout the world. It also identifies the ways in which government policies, business strategies and consumer behaviour facilitate or limit the full development of these technologies.

Available in Spanish and English

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