Measuring the Information Society Report 2016

Measuring the Information Society Report 2016
Author: United Nations Publications
Publisher: UN
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2017-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789261214210

The Measuring the Information Society Report, which has been published annually since 2009, features key ICT data and benchmarking tools to measure the information society, including the ICT Development Index (IDI). The IDI 2016 captures the level of ICT developments in 175 economies worldwide and compares progress made since the year 2014. The MISR 2016 assesses IDI findings at the regional level and highlights countries that rank at the top of the IDI and those that have improved their position in the overall IDI rankings most dynamically since 2014. It will also use the findings of the IDI to analyze trends and developments in the digital divide. The report will present 2015 prices for about 160 countries and provide a detailed analysis of mobile-cellular, fixed-broadband and mobile-broadband prices over the period 2008-2015. It will highlight the role of ICTs in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and present the newly agreed SDG indicator framework, including the ICT indicators. The report will also include a chapter looking into new metrics to measure mobile uptake, and a chapter presenting data analyzing Internet use and uptake.

The Seductions of Quantification

The Seductions of Quantification
Author: Sally Engle Merry
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2016-06-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 022626131X

We live in a world where seemingly everything can be measured. We rely on indicators to translate social phenomena into simple, quantified terms, which in turn can be used to guide individuals, organizations, and governments in establishing policy. Yet counting things requires finding a way to make them comparable. And in the process of translating the confusion of social life into neat categories, we inevitably strip it of context and meaning—and risk hiding or distorting as much as we reveal. With The Seductions of Quantification, leading legal anthropologist Sally Engle Merry investigates the techniques by which information is gathered and analyzed in the production of global indicators on human rights, gender violence, and sex trafficking. Although such numbers convey an aura of objective truth and scientific validity, Merry argues persuasively that measurement systems constitute a form of power by incorporating theories about social change in their design but rarely explicitly acknowledging them. For instance, the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report, which ranks countries in terms of their compliance with antitrafficking activities, assumes that prosecuting traffickers as criminals is an effective corrective strategy—overlooking cultures where women and children are frequently sold by their own families. As Merry shows, indicators are indeed seductive in their promise of providing concrete knowledge about how the world works, but they are implemented most successfully when paired with context-rich qualitative accounts grounded in local knowledge.

World Development Report 2016

World Development Report 2016
Author: World Bank Group
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2016-01-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464806721

Digital technologies are spreading rapidly, but digital dividends--the broader benefits of faster growth, more jobs, and better services--are not. If more than 40 percent of adults in East Africa pay their utility bills using a mobile phone, why can’t others around the world do the same? If 8 million entrepreneurs in China--one third of them women--can use an e-commerce platform to export goods to 120 countries, why can’t entrepreneurs elsewhere achieve the same global reach? And if India can provide unique digital identification to 1 billion people in five years, and thereby reduce corruption by billions of dollars, why can’t other countries replicate its success? Indeed, what’s holding back countries from realizing the profound and transformational effects that digital technologies are supposed to deliver? Two main reasons. First, nearly 60 percent of the world’s population are still offline and can’t participate in the digital economy in any meaningful way. Second, and more important, the benefits of digital technologies can be offset by growing risks. Startups can disrupt incumbents, but not when vested interests and regulatory uncertainty obstruct competition and the entry of new firms. Employment opportunities may be greater, but not when the labor market is polarized. The internet can be a platform for universal empowerment, but not when it becomes a tool for state control and elite capture. The World Development Report 2016 shows that while the digital revolution has forged ahead, its 'analog complements'--the regulations that promote entry and competition, the skills that enable workers to access and then leverage the new economy, and the institutions that are accountable to citizens--have not kept pace. And when these analog complements to digital investments are absent, the development impact can be disappointing. What, then, should countries do? They should formulate digital development strategies that are much broader than current information and communication technology (ICT) strategies. They should create a policy and institutional environment for technology that fosters the greatest benefits. In short, they need to build a strong analog foundation to deliver digital dividends to everyone, everywhere.

UAE

UAE
Author: Melodena Stephens
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 414
Release: 2017-06-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1787147150

This book can be used to teach public policy and help international industry leaders and academics understand the context of UAE and the role it plays in the global arena. This project is a series by the Academy of International Business - MENA chapter, supported by the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, Dubai.

The Global Information Society

The Global Information Society
Author: William J. Martin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351888889

Today, information and the technologies that store and disseminate it are producing deep-rooted and widespread changes in society - changes of the same magnitude as those that occurred during the Industrial Revolution. The purpose of this book is to give a complete picture of the information society by examining in detail the social, economic, political, and cultural roles of information and information technology. This book is effectively a second edition of the author's classic The Information Society. In it, the author illustrates the major trends in and inter-relationships between information, information and communication technologies, and the global economy and society. In tracing the direction of information-based change he reveals the implications for ordinary citizens, for the quality of everyday life, for economic and social activity, and examines the prospects of nations and trading blocs. This book provides a new way of looking at society, one that is essential for understanding social and economic structures and processes in the information age.

Modeling Economic Growth in Contemporary Belarus

Modeling Economic Growth in Contemporary Belarus
Author: Bruno S. Sergi
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2019-11-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 183867697X

Since 1991, the eyes of the world have been on the economic growth and development of the states that formerly made up the Soviet Union. Looking at Belarus’s industrial structure, economic growth, and economic prospects, this edited collection analyses why Belarus is considered ahead of many of its neighbour states in terms of human development.

Smart Country – Connected. Intelligent. Digital.

Smart Country – Connected. Intelligent. Digital.
Author: Bertelsmann Stiftung
Publisher: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2017-06-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3867938091

As the digital divide between urban and rural regions grows, not everyone everywhere benefits from the opportunities of digital transformation. This year's Reinhard Mohn Prize "Smart Country – Connected. Intelligent. Digital." highlights digital solutions that strengthen social inclusion and the quality of life across regions and socioeconomic groups. The results of this year's international search for good practices in the areas of health and care, mobility and logistics, public administration, and learning and information policy are featured in this publication. Also featured are the lessons learned from pioneering digital nations such as Austria, Estonia, Israel and Sweden which have application for Germany as it develops its own national digital strategy, builds its network infrastructure, deepens digital competencies and advances the intelligent application of technology.

Overcoming Challenges and Barriers for Women in Business and Education: Socioeconomic Issues and Strategies for the Future

Overcoming Challenges and Barriers for Women in Business and Education: Socioeconomic Issues and Strategies for the Future
Author: Etim, Alice S.
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2021-06-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1799838153

Recently, greater emphasis has been placed on the fact that women, regardless of whether they are located in developed or developing nations, are still facing numerous challenges regarding their financial status, education, and independence. As recent movements have highlighted such problems as unequal pay and sexual harassment and abuse, it has become imperative that steps must be taken to analyze these problems and offer solutions to combat these inequalities that would improve women’s lives and society as a whole. Overcoming Challenges and Barriers for Women in Business and Education: Socioeconomic Issues and Strategies for the Future is an essential reference source that highlights cross-cultural perspectives, obstacles, and opportunities pertaining to the advancement of women’s lives in society. The chapters within the book explore a variety of concepts for building a bridge to women empowerment and improving their participation in the development of their respective societies. Featuring research on topics such as global business, higher education, and gender discrimination, this book is ideally designed for managers, business professionals, entrepreneurs, social scientists, policymakers, gender studies researchers, students, and academicians looking for strategies that will help to empower women through the book’s social justice model, which acts as an underlying theoretical construct.

Rapport sur le developpement dans le monde 2018

Rapport sur le developpement dans le monde 2018
Author: POUR
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 522
Release: 2009
Genre:
ISBN: 1464813191

Chaque annee, le Rapport sur le developpement dans le monde de la Banque mondiale met en vedette un sujet d'importance capitale pour le developpement mondial. Le Rapport sur le developpement dans le monde 2018 - APPRENDRE pour realiser la promesse de l'education - est le premier consacre integralement a l'education. Et le moment s'y prete particulierement : l'education a toujours ete essentielle au bien-etre de l'etre humain, mais elle l'est plus encore en cette periode de rapides mutations economiques et sociales. Le meilleur moyen de preparer les enfants et les jeunes a l'avenir est de placer l'apprentissage au centre de toutes les interventions de promotion de l'education. Le Rapport sur le developpement dans le monde 2018 aborde quatre themes majeurs :La promesse de l'education. L'education est un levier important pour eradiquer la pauvrete et promouvoir une prosperite partagee. Mais pour qu'elle puisse realiser ce potentiel, il faut ameliorer les politiques - a l'interieur comme en dehors du systeme educatif.La necessite de mettre l'apprentissage en lumiere. En depit des progres accomplis en matiere d'acces a l'education, les recentes evaluations des acquis scolaires revelent que de nombreux jeunes a travers le monde, particulierement ceux qui sont issus des couches pauvres ou marginalisees de la population, quittent l'ecole sans avoir acquis ne seraient-ce que les competences necessaires a la vie. En meme temps, des evaluationsscolaires comparables sur le plan international montrent que les competences disponibles dans de nombreux pays a revenu intermediaire sont nettement inferieures a ce que ces pays ambitionnent. Et trop souvent, ces lacunes sont cachees - par consequent, pour faire face a la crise de l'apprentissage, il est crucial de commencer par la mettre en lumiere en ameliorant l'evaluation des acquis des eleves.Comment mettre l'ecole au service de l'ensemble des apprenants ? Les travaux de recherche sur le cerveau, l'innovation pedagogique et la gestion des etablissements scolaires, entre autres, ont identifie des interventions qui favorisent l'apprentissage en faisant en sorte que les apprenants soient mieux prepares, que les enseignants soient a la fois competents et motives, et que d'autres moyens soient mis en oeuvre pour soutenir larelation entre l'enseignant et l'apprenant.Comment faire en sorte que le systeme favorise l'apprentissage ? Pour realiser les objectifs d'apprentissage a travers le systeme educatif dans son ensemble, il ne suffit pas de transposer a plus grande echelle les interventions efficaces. Les pays doivent aussi surmonter des obstacles techniques et politiques en ayant recours a des outils de mesure et indicateurs suffisamment parlants pour mobiliser les acteurs concernes etsuivre les progres, en formant des coalitions au service de l'apprentissage et en adoptant une approche de reforme evolutive.