Information society requires education

These days, “off shoring” frightens many people in rich English-speaking nations. The term stands for the relocation of white-collar service jobs to distant countries. Employment worries concern computer programming, call centres and back office services. Companies in India, Malaysia or the Philippines are causing them. According to Forrester Research, more than three million jobs will disappear in the USA by 2015 and resurface somewhere else. This trend proves that the term “knowledge society” already describes an economic reality in some regions of the poor world.

Meanwhile, the term “digital divide” remains en vogue among development experts. This term indicates that too many people are denied access to the blessings of communication technology. One of the topics of the World Summit last month was how to bridge the divide. This debate did not only focus on issues of infrastructure, engineering and capital investment. It also, correctly, stressed the relevance of education. After all, the global flow of information only serves those who are able to read – preferably in English or at least another internationally relevant language.

Of course, infrastructure does cost money. But the example of Bangladesh proves that mobile networks can be installed fast and relatively cheap even in poor rural areas. There is no need to connect all households by cable wasting funds on labour and metal. Expensive cell phones can be used collectively. The well-known example of the Grameen Bank’s telephone ladies shows how money can be made by renting out mobile devices. Perhaps Bangladesh is a special case because the country is so densely populated – but mobile options reduce investment sums elsewhere as well. Moreover, technological progress and the breakneck competition of infrastructure providers also make telecommunication networks cheaper. And similar to the rent-a-cell phone services of the Grameen model, Internet cafés provide access to cyber world for people who do not own hardware.

Bangladeshi telephone ladies are, no doubt, doing useful work. But they do not make people in the West fear for their jobs. It takes more skills to gnenrate large-scale profits from telecommunication opportunities. The digital divide does not only separate Bangalore from rural areas – it just as much separates the educated elite from their illiterate servants on India’s Silicon Plateau. The digital divide is basically nothing else than a new extension of the older divide between educated and uneducated strata of society.

Experts often discuss ways of making the Internet and mobile telephony useful for development. How can technology be applied to spread education among the poor, to help women participate in public life and to make governments accountable to people who have traditionally been marginalized? Sometimes sensible ideas are generated in these discussions and, therefore, they are not entirely useless.

Nonetheless, the approach is misleading. It turns the argument up side down. Telecommunication is a second order empowerment instrument: These technologies enable people who can read and write and are aware of their political rights to pursue their interests more effectively. And enlightened, self-respecting citizens who are denied access to the relevant networks will campaign to improve their situation.

Any country that wishes to take advantage of the knowledge society will need technology and, perhaps, financial assistance. But it is more important to get the basis right – education, including competence in foreign languages. This is the most important social transformation that will make further development possible.