Internationalizing the Internet: The Co-evolution of Influence and TechnologyThis compelling book focuses on the global formation of the Internet system. It contests the common belief that the Internet's adoption was inevitable and instead examines the social and economic processes that allowed to it to prevail over competing standards and methods for achieving a global information infrastructure. The author demonstrates how the current Internet system was not the only possible choice, nor the best data network in terms of technological and economic performance. It is therefore vital, he argues, to understand the way in which different political and economic interests have helped shaped the Internet and allowed it to overcome rival technologies. Issues of particular importance include the role of negotiations among different social groups in the design of the Internet as well as the influence of US promotion. The author also examines patterns of growth and pervasiveness of the Internet between different regions and countries, providing new evidence on the factors influencing the extent of the 'digital divide'. Using econometric models, he goes on to identify the features of the co-evolution of the Internet and other sub-systems within countries, and highlights the most interesting features of their local and global interplay. Researchers and academics involved with science and technology policy, industrial and corporate change, and the information society will welcome this insightful, original and highly pertinent book. It will also be of value for anyone with an interest in how the backbone of the digital economy was formed. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 66
... groups which were reorganized to become the International Telecommunications Union Committee on Telephony ( ITU - T ) in the early 1990s . The duties of CCITT were to study technical and operating questions relating to telegraphy and ...
... groups that wished to cooperate . Kirstein observes that , as early as 1975 , there was strong collaboration between several groups in the UK and the USA . UCL - CS continued to run the Internet - UK interconnec- tion services until ...
... groups , nations and regions because ' culture determines the identity of a human group in the same way as personality determines the identity of an individual ' ( Hofstede , 1980 : 25-6 ) . Williams ( 1983 : 89 ) suggests that we ...
Contents
Socioeconomic design of technological systems | 11 |
Economics and politics of telecommunication systems | 30 |
competing and collaborating | 50 |
Copyright | |
12 other sections not shown