Globalisation Poses Urgent Questions
ICT professionals tend to view globalisation as an inevitable and positive force for change. But, asks Simon Perry, what sort of a world does it get us involved in?
Thailand: Tiger Economy To Pirates’ Playground
Thailand, once the Tiger Economy of Asia, has been racked by social unrest since the removal by military coup of the divisive Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006. Thailand has since been hesitantly governed, with tanks appearing on the streets of Bangkok more than once during the previous year, while the economy has contracted faster and further than Asian counterparts.
Tourism has declined by 20 percent and the currency (Baht) has declined precipitously against major international currencies.
Thailand has a long running dispute with neighbouring Cambodia over Thai border incursions, while in the south of the country a decades-long campaign of violence by separatists has escalated and intensified over the last five years.
Piracy is rife in the Gulf of Thailand, while the availability of drugs, prostitution and child sex are features rather than faults for some potential tourists.
Government and law enforcement corruption is commonplace, with bribery greasing the gears in everything from traffic offenses to the awarding of multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects. Thailand introduced a Cybercrime bill in July 2007, however it is targeted as much at censoring information deemed unacceptable by the government from the eyes of Thai citizens as it is targeted in any meaningful way toward dealing with data theft and fraud.
India: Outsourcing Wealth Leaves Poverty Untouched
India is perhaps Ground Zero for ICT offshoring as well as local innovation and high-tech investment, with Bangalore being home to local services success stories like Wipro as well as being local HQ to Microsoft, SAP, Nortel and so on. We are so used to the presence of India at the head table of technorati elite that we perhaps also sometimes forget the everyday reality of life in the country.
According to Transparency International, an international NGO that reports on corruption, India suffers from rampant judicial and governmental corruption. The judicial system is woefully under resourced and criminal cases are delayed for years waiting for court availability and interest.
The economic benefits of India’s high tech boom are shared by an incredibly small percentage of India’s 1.148 billion people. For the majority, crushing poverty is the norm along with all the social and health risks that come with it. In 2006 alone an estimated 2,500,000 Indian children died due to malnutrition and disease.
Indian armed forces continue to face off against neighbouring Pakistan (itself a nuclear armed, unstable country internally battling Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other fundamentalists) over the disputed Kashmir territories.
