The annual Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released this week ranks SA as 39th in its technology achievement index, which places it in the "dynamic adopter" of technology category.
The technology index is a sub-set of the overall human development index, which measures life expectancy, educational attainment and adjusted real income. Overall, SA ranked 94th in this index, which lists 162 countries.
The IT ranking of 39 places SA ahead of countries such as Thailand (40) and India (63). The report explains that India has a world-class IT hub in Bangalore, India, but that the benefits are focused in this region and do not diffuse throughout the country.
Gauteng is identified as a hub with the potential to speed up development, but SA also does not rank high on technology diffusion. In an index based on teledensity, the number of Internet hosts and telephone costs, SA ranked at number 94.
SA is not ranked among the leading exporters of hi-tech products.
The report highlights discrepancies in technology adoption and growth as warnings of a deepening digital divide. Between 1998 and 2000, the number of Internet users as a percentage of population increased from 0.1% to 0.4% in sub-Saharan Africa. In the US that percentage jumped from 26.3% to 54.3%. It also notes that the total international bandwidth for the African continent is less than that available to the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The same is true of Internet costs. In the US the cost of an Internet connection is 1.2% of the average monthly income. In Nepal that figure is 278%.
The report argues that information and communications technology and biotechnology can make major contributions to reducing world poverty, and notes that the opportunities for poor people include job creation and broader participation in democracy.
Listed among top research priorities such as vaccines for HIV and malaria are low-cost computers, wireless connectivity and prepaid cards for e-commerce without credit cards.
"Some people argue that technology is a reward of development, making it inevitable that the digital divide follows the income divide," the report reads. "But many technologies are tools of human development that enable people to increase their incomes, live longer, be healthier, enjoy a better standard of living, participate more in their communities and lead more creative lives. Technology is like education - it enables people to lift themselves out of poverty. Thus technology is a tool for, not just a reward of, growth and development."
Related stories:
Africa makes plea for technology funding at UN
Share
