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Originally Posted by mrthumbs
Wow.. so we can start outsourcing to Ethiopia soon!!
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If they can set up a cheap ISP, this might happen sooner rather than later.
One thing that is problematic about technology adoption in developing nations is the availability of cheap and reliable infrastructure. While the labor costs are lower, sometimes this is offset by the the high cost of infrastructure. Also, there's regulatory and other issues. While technology can be adopted, it can either seep into the underlying culture (see South Korea in the 70s to 80s) or be very shallow and unstable (see World Bank 'boondogle' projects in the 3rd World in the 70's)--it has to be APPROPRIATE technology as well as SUSTAINABLE technology.
Leo Tolsoy's quote from Anna Karennina comes to mind "Happy families
are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Same with countries that successfuly adopt technology. They all have the infrastructure to host approporiate technology that is sustainable. Failed tech transfers usually fail because of some missing element that is particular to that particular region, political system/culture, and/or economic model.