Industrial Technology & Developing Countries

The degree of access to, and use of, industrial technology in the broad sense is by far the primary factor distinguishing the world's rich nations from its poor ones. The world's rich nations are, with few exceptions, highly industrialized, while the world's poor ones are with equally few exceptions lacking in industrial technology. Industrialization is far more important to development than are natural resources; many impoverished nations have an abundance of resources, while wealthy and technically advanced Japan has very few natural resources.

The following discussion will explore the impact of current industrial technology on the developing countries. It will begin with a general discussion of the relationship between industrialization and development, sketch the historical development of industrialization and industrial technology, and then examine the various ways in which industrial technology impacts development today, followed by concluding remarks.

Industrial Technology and Development:

In the language used by international economists and students of economic development, the term "developed," as used of a country or economy, is interchangeable with "industrialized." The clear implication is that the contrasting terms, "underdeveloped," "less developed," or "developing" are effectively synonymous with "less industrialized." Those countries, particularly in East Asia, which in the last couple of decades have gone from "developing" to reac

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its effects have lasted to the present day. The difference between industrialized powers, able to produce and employ modern weaponry, and less developed countries that struggle to do either, remains a stark one. In much of the world, perceptions of development and underdevelopment are closely bound up with the experience of imperialism (Pramano). To take one example with current significance, in the 16th century, the leading Islamic power, the Ottoman Empire, loomed over Europe. By the 18th century, it was falling behind; by the 19th century it was "the sick man of Europe, and after World War I its territories, the modern Middle East, were divided among the Allied powers. The early industrial or "proto-industrial" technologies of warfare were followed by the application of industrial technology to meeting everyday needs. The textile industry in England was the first to be highly mechanized, and textiles remain a "starter" industry in countries such as Indonesia today. By the mid-19th century, the industrialized countries were not only more powerful militarily, but wealthier than their less-industrialized neighbors, until in modern times the level of industrialization has become the basic indicator of a country's prosperit

Category: Economics - I