January 23, 2008, 11:22 AM — Innovation has always been the most important factor in the continuing growth
of the IT industry. It comes from well-funded research labs, and it also comes
from dorm rooms, garages and may be seen in scribbled notes on the backs of
napkins after a late night at the pub. The earliest waves of IT innovation were
centered in Silicon Valley, and later spread out coast-to-coast to other high-tech
regions. The next wave takes another giant leap.
What started in Silicon Valley may well be overshadowed by tech centers in
some very unlikely places. The very design of the high-tech economy has created
incredible new methods of communication and collaboration, promoting the idea
of a company without borders. And although it may not have been intentional,
the high-tech revolution has allowed the focus to shift away from what was once
a small cluster of techies in California -- allowing innovators from all across
the globe to take a seat at the table. The very nature of the innovation that
has come out of Silicon Valley has ushered in Silicon Valley's own demise as
the center of the high-tech world.
According to Goldman
Sachs' landmark BRICs
(Brazil, Russia, India, China) report, fifty years from now, the ten largest
economies in the world will be quite different from what they are today. The
BRICs economies today make up just about 15 percent of the powerful G6, but
in 40 years, the BRICs economies will be larger than the G6. China, a powerhouse
by dint of its sheer size and population, has gotten on the technology and innovation
bandwagon too, and China's economy will be larger than that of the US by 2041.
The Starbucks Factor
An admittedly unscientific, though very interesting way of determining the state
of technology in any country is to measure the number of Starbucks available.
Workers in tech-heavy central California gulp down lattes and cappuccinos like
water, with a Starbucks or Starbucks-facsimile on nearly every block in some
areas.
Just a few years ago, the idea of spending three bucks for a cup of coffee
was just too outrageous in places like Thailand, where the minimum wage still
hovers at around fifty or sixty cents an hour. Today, Thailand is a high-tech
nation, and it's surprisingly easy to find an overpriced cuppa Joe and Wi-Fi
access anywhere in Bangkok.
Southeast Asia: The Hi-Tech Trail
And so we start our journey in Southeast Asia, the mere mention of which at
one time conjured images of dense jungle, communism and the Ho Chi Minh trail.
But the war is long over, and this region -- including the Communist nations
-- is at the forefront of technological innovation.
In a recent report, analyst and consulting company Ovum
identified the top ten fastest-growing
broadband markets in the world, three of which -- Thailand, Indonesia and
Vietnam -- are members of ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Broadband connectivity in the US has
formed the foundation of our own technological revolution, changing the very
nature of how business gets done, and setting the stage for the new global economy.
In developing nations, and certainly in the ASEAN countries, broadband availability
serves as the great enabler, allowing entrepreneurs to create dotcom businesses
that just a few years ago would not be possible. Jonathan Coham, analyst at
Ovum, notes, "Socially and culturally, broadband exposes communities and
individuals to a much greater pool of ideas, values and issues, that can help
a society evolve and learn from others nationally and on a global basis."
Last year, a joint venture between USAID,
Intel, and Vietnam Data
Communications brought WiMAX connectivity to the rural villages of Lao Cai and
Ta Van, bringing citizens in these remote villages broadband Internet and VoIP
service. The biggest factor here is the presence of the IPSTAR satellite --
the largest broadband satellite in the world -- operated by Shin Satellite of
Thailand.
