Obstruction to the “Global Village”

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Since Nepal has been a part of world-society we mustn’t only address the local scenario but at the same time an eye on the whole world. We are in such civilization that the internationalization process has been fastened. We are in global-economy and interdependency and any change in one country affects others. Though, it may be more or less. It is said that geographical and cultural distances have shrunk with the advent of jet planes, fax machines, global computer and telephone hook-ups, world television satellites broadcasts, and other technical advances. Scholars say that the major developments today can be summed up in a single theme: connectedness. Now, more than ever before, we are all connected to each other and to things near and far in the world around us. Moreover, we are all connected in new and different ways.

Where it once took weeks or months to travel even across a limited region, we can now travel around the globe in only hours or days. For example, it is historical fact that Chanakya- the famous historic personality- had travelled for six months to reach Pataliputra (now Patana city of Bihar state in India) from Takshashila (now Taxila in Pakistan). Now we can travel this distance within few hours, if not in few minutes. Where it once took days or even months to receive news about important world events, we now see them as they are occurring through live satellite broadcasts. When it once needed long time to correspond with others in distant places, they are now only moments away by phone or the Internet.

The major force behind this connectedness is technology. A revolutionary advance in information, transportation and other connecting technologies has had a major contribution in this regard. The technology boom has created exciting new ways to learn about world scenario and communicate with various people. With only a few clicks of a mouse button, we can tap into online data services to share information on almost any subject. But, there exists another darker side too.

Although anyone with a PC, a modem connected with telephone, and right software can have link with people of almost all types around the world; and the Internet is supposed to be a vast and escalating global web of computer networks with no central management or ownership; there still exists question of access. Because human needs and wants that are not backed by buying power have no access in the market. In such background, though technology has certainly given a powerful push to the globalisation, the most immediate and enduring driving forces behind this have been economic. If you have no economic power you cannot afford any technological innovation. To examine modern telecommunications at the supplier end is to wonder whether concept of “Big Brother” may prove to be the more apt metaphor for this telecommunication age.

If few rich countries continue to control all the electronic power, we cannot truly expect free flow of information. In addition of control over technology, they have forced certain technologies into developing nations, which is often called ‘dumping’. This takes place when obsolete technologies can no longer be marketed in the richer countries, and are then sold inexpensively to developing countries. These countries then find themselves chasing compatible equipment to keep their systems operating. Thus they become far behind in latest technology.

The access to new technology is shaped by the domestic strength of the nation, in terms of economic resources, good governance, political stability, market size, strength of the national media system concerned as well as will power. Thus it is directly interconnected with over all advancement of the nation. Without having the equal access to new technologies for all communities, societies and nations, thinking about a single “global village” would be rather utopia. The world with its some parts paralyzed cannot be expected go ahead. The imbalance in sharing new technologies and in the flow of information holds back the overall development.

Nrimala Mani Adhikary
January 16, 2006