Thoughts on Informatics and Small- and Medium-Scale Enterprises in the Third World,

Abstract : At the moment, informatics in TW countries serves the research and academic groups, big business, and large-scale industry, who already understand the value of information in their work. If informatics is to support national development it must concern itself with the small and medium scale. Informatics is relevant immediately as an information system for the newly industrialising countries (NICs-Spain, Portugal, Greece, Yugoslavia, Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore.) It is a highly heterogeneous group with respect to geography, per capita income, and development policies. But, it is also characterised by rapid growth in the level and share of industrial employment, expansion of export market shares in manufacturers, and real per capita income levels approaching those of some of the advanced FW countries.