MIT Press recently published communication professor Jonathan Aronson's new book about how innovation in information and communication technology (ICT) fuels the growth of the global economy.
Transforming Global Information and Communication Markets: The Political Economy of Innovation was co-authored with UC San Diego professor Peter Cowhey and suggests the interests of all ICT suppliers and consumers are changing rapidly. This is because of the diffusion of Internet, wireless, and broadband technology; growing modularity in the design of technologies; distributed computing infrastructures; and rapidly changing business models for IT industry leaders. Aronson and Cowhey posit that the direction of the evolution of ICT markets depends on politics and policy. They argue that continued rapid innovation and economic growth requires new approaches in global governance that will reconcile diverse interests and enable competition to flourish.
"Cowhey and Aronson make clear why information and communication technologies are paramount for development, why good public policy is critical for countries to remain competitive, and why regulation is so hard to fine tune in a world of technological upheaval, global interdependence, and enormous economic and political interests," said Carlos Casasús, CEO of Mexico's Internet 2 Project, former chairman of Mexico's Comision Federal de Telecomunicaciones and former undersecretary for Communications and Technological Development in Mexico's Ministry of Communications and Transportation. "This book provides a route map for policy makers to navigate the turbulent waters that loom ahead as change accelerates. It is invaluable material for those interested in ICT's, development economics and regulatory policy."
How ICT markets evolve depends on politics and policy, and since the 1950s periodic overhauls of ICT policy have transformed competition and innovation. This pathbreaking examination of ICT from a political economy perspective argues that continued rapid innovation and economic growth require new approaches in global governance that will reconcile diverse interests and enable competition to flourish.
"I have never read a more astute analysis of how information technology and governments together have globalized every economy, producing winners and losers aplenty," said Reed Hundt, former chairman of the FCC. "Insights — like the importance of modularity and the power of ideas — abound. This is a must-read for technology business leaders who deal with government and for government officials who want their nations to succeed in world competition. A tour de force!"
The authors discuss this crucial turning point in both theoretical and practical terms, analyzing changes in ICT markets, examining three case studies, and considering principles and norms for future global policies. Readers wishing to explore certain topics in greater depth will find an electronic version of the text, additional materials and "virtual" appendixes online.
"An astonishingly timely, hopeful, and important book that will influence our thinking about global governance and markets, international policy, and how our human institutions are organized," said Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business at USC. "Eye-opening and totally sensible."
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