A West African Business View Of The Information Society

1
A West African Business View Of The Information
Society
WSIS Pre-Conference Workshop Accra
1st February 2005
2
Some Foundational Ideas
3
Demystifying The Information Society- Weve
Always Lived In One
All Societies Operate In Traditional/Modern
Information Society Continuum
4
Our Situation Is Untenable
Factor Economy
Investment Economy
Investment driven Growth
Population
Population
Standard Of Living
Standard Of Living
Stock Of Natural Resources
Stock Of Natural Resources

• Reasons

Reasons
Time
Time
Key
Population
Standard Of Living
Investment driven Growth
Stock Of Natural Resources
5

Stages Of Economic Development
Investment-Driven Economy (e.g. Taiwan)
Innovation-Driven Economy (e.g. Japan)

• Factor-Driven Economy
• (e.g. Ghana)

Input Cost
Dominant Driver
Unique Value
Efficiency

• -Efficient Production Of
• Standard Goods
• Standard Services

Sources of Competitive Advantage

• -Basic Factor Condition
• Low-cost Labour
• Access To Natural Resources

-Manufacturing at Global Technology Frontier
Using Advanced Methods
-More Sophisticated Designed Externally
-Innovative Goods And Services
-Commodity Production -Simple Goods Designed
Elsewhere
Firm Output
Technology Assimilation
-Imports -FDI -Imitation
-Internal Development Compatibility
-Imported -Licensed -JV -FDI -Imitation -Capacity
To Improve
-Price
-High levels of Innovations are Institutionalized
And Are Properly Rewarded
Competitive Variable
-Investment In Efficient Infrastructure -Modern
Production Method
Direct
Access To Consumers
-OEM
-No Direct Access
Value-chain
-Limited
-Extended
-Deep With Strong Clusters
Focus
-Labor-Intensive Manufacturing
-ManufacturingOutsourced Services Exports
-Financial Crisis and External -Sector-specific
Demand Shocks
-Resilient to External Shocks
Vulnerabilities

• Global Economic Cycles, Commodity
• Price Trends, Exchange Rate Fluctuations

6
ITU- Model Digital Access Index

• The DAI ranks 178 economies according to their
  ability to access ICTs
• Based on 5 categories and 8 indicators
• Classifies economies into high, upper, medium,
  low

Source ITU-World Telecommunication Indicators
Database
7
Top 10
Source ITU-World Telecommunication Indicators
Database
8
Compiling DAI Korea (Rep.)
Source ITU-World Telecommunication Indicators
Database
9
DAI-GDP For Selected Countries 2002-2003
Source Country Analysis Brief 2003
ITU-World Telecommunication Indicators
Database
10
Business As Artifact Of Existing Society Choices
Externalities Stemming From Low Public Network
Investments Hamper Private Adoption Of Technology
11
A
Ghana As A Stand-In For West Africa
12
Dire Situation Of Private Sector Impels
Government Action

• Limited Diversification
• Overreliance On Small Number Of
• Commodities
• Low Value Add/Low Prices
• Slow-Growth Markets
• Fierce International Competition

• Reliance on Traditional
• Commodities Agriculture And
• Extractive Minerals
• Agriculture Accounts For
• 35 of GDP 66 of
• Employment

• Limited Industrial
• Development/Structural
• Transformation
• Industry Accounts For 25 Of
• GNP And 10 Of
• Employment

GHANAIAN ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
Low Levels Of Productivity, Investment,
Technology Innovation

• Preponderance of Informal
• Micro And Small Enterprise
• 70 of Firms Employ Fewer
• Than 5 People

• Orientation to Domestic
• Markets.
• Annual Exports (Less Primary Products)
• Less Than 150/Cap Vs 1,000/Cap
• In Mauritius

SOURCE MIN. OF PRIVATE SEC. DEV.
13
Seizing Ghanaian Economic Opportunities The
Fifteen Year Outlook
Tourism
Minerals
InvestmentDriven 2019
How Ready Is Ghana?
Industry
IT
7 10 Annual GDP Growth
Factor-Driven 2011
Today
4 7 Annual GDP Growth
Agribusiness
Forestry
Practically No Published Strategy No Website,
Nothing On Ghana Government MDA Sites, Nothing On
Bank Of Ghana Site
14
Strategic Overview Of ICT Market Players

• ICT, As A Goal Of National Development, Spurs
  Complementary Activity In Various Spheres Of
  National Life

15
A Cautionary Note Study Of Increase In Total
Factor Productivity

75th ile and above
Management Practices Score
25th ile and below
-

Intensity of IT Deployment
25th ile and below
75th ile and above

• ICT Effectiveness Linked To Success Of Overall
  Management Strategy

Source McKinsey
16
Growth Patterns

• Application Development

Software Development
IT Reselling
IT AS INDUSTRY
Outsourcing
Management
Research
Hardware
Packaged
Customized Application
17
ICT - Industry

• Application Development

Software Development
Consumer
ITS INFLUENCE IN OTHER INDUSTRIES
Private
Public
Max Mart
Versus
Retailer
18
Where Are We In Ghana
Systems Integration Change management

• Proliferation Of Software Development Driven By
  Unique Differentiation

Reseller-Driven
Accelerated Infrastructure Deployment
Relatively Few Software Houses
Scale Up Complexity Of Effort Higher Value
Added- Full Value-Chain
Basic Infrastructure
Low Man On Token Packaged Industries
19
ICT Relationship To Growth

• ITU Working On Metrics And Indicators
• OECD

ICT Industry
Investment Economy
Factor Economy
We Need To Establish Planning Programme To
Capture Interrelationships For Planning Purposes
20
Setting The Data Strategy The Feedback Loop
Model Creation
Reality Check
Broad Goals
Analytic Manipulation
Tracking ICT Economic Contribution
Framework Design
Measurement Objectives
Indicator Selection
21
Measuring ICT Contribution Core Indicator List
ICT Sector
Patents
Infrastructure

• Contribution of ICT Value-Add To Total
• Contribution of ICT Employment To Total
• Contribution of ICT Production Value To Total

• ICT Patents As of Total Patents
• ICT Patents As of Total World Patents
• Growth of ICT Patents

• Main fixed telephone lines/100 inhabitants
• Number of Internet Users/100 inhabitants
• Cellular Monthly Subscription Costs

Qualifications
Trade
Business Readiness Use

• Proportion of Population w/ Sec Tertiary
  Education
• Proportion of Graduates w/ ICT Higher Education

• ICT Sector Trade Balance
• Growth Rate Of Imports

• Proportion of Business w/ PCs
• Proportion of Business w/ Internet Access
• Value of Orders Received Over Internet

Household Readiness Use

• Proportion of Individuals (16 yrs ) Engaged In
  ICT Usage
• Proportion of Households w/ Internet Access
• Proportion of Households w/ Home Computers

Source OECD
22
Rationale for goalposts Where ICTs are headed
Source ITU-World Telecommunication Indicators
Database
23
Some Case History Pointers
24
Private Sector Information Needs Distribution
Infrequent
Advanced Human Interfaces
10
Not Strategic
15
Strategically Important
75
Technology- Driven
Frequent

• Partnership-Service Paradigm Integrated
  Business Intelligence Backed By Technology
  Backbone Has Potential For Enhancing Public
  Sector Contribution To Private Sector Growth

25
Benefits To Embracing ICT-CentricModernity
Investments To Assure Accountability Transparen
cy
Public Sector
Private Sector
Increase In Available Resource Flow
Domestic And International Investments
National Wealth Creation
Virtuous Circle Is Obtainable And Sustainable