خدمات فن آوری اطلاعات و توسعه اقتصادی: تجربه هند

This special issue investigates the technology-driven economic development of India. India's development pattern over the last decade and a half is distinctive when compared to other developing nations. India has become a highly visible participant in the intellectual–capital-driven information technology services industry and to a lesser degree, the pharmaceutical industry.

India’s pattern of development is different from those countries, such as Japan, Korea, and China. Countries that have achieved a developed status or that have made significant progress toward development during the past 50 years have gone through a fairly consistent process of four stages. In the first stage, labor-intensive, low-capital goods, like clothing, shoes, and toys, are used to build wealth through export. In the second stage, heavy industry (e.g., steel and shipbuilding) is developed. In the third stage, production of higher value consumer durable goods, such as automobiles, computers, televisions, refrigerators, washers, and dryers, occurs. In the fourth stage, economic activity focuses on the creation of innovation-based goods and services (e.g., information and communication technology and biotechnology).

In the paper entitled Institutional support for investment in domestic technologies: An analysis of the role of government in India, Mani analyses key dimensions of the institutional support for domestic technology in India, such as overall policy framework, quality and quantity of the infrastructure, availability of skilled manpower, and the existence of financial schemes in the form of tax incentives, research grants, concession loans, and venture capital. India’s development has been impressive, but it faces major challenges. As the Nobel Laureate Stiglitz (2004) sees it, the major impediment for India to sustain its high economicgrowth is the lack of infrastructure and wrong regulations. In that context, whether the ICTfueled economic growth approach is sufficient to develop a long-term sustainable development for India, remains an open question. Every author in this special issue ends his analysis with that open question. Historically, it has been difficult to sustain the type of momentum that India has enjoyed without a strong manufacturing base. Many economists believe the ICT growth may slow at some point with a realignment of the production focused more towards manufacturing and design [8].