Information Highways: Paths to Prosperity or Poverty?

The aim of this paper is to examine the proposition that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have a role in determining the development gap between Informationrich and Information-poor countries in Asia; outline the strategies that can be utilised to promote ICTasa key enabler in social and economic development based on the Malay sian approach and experience; and suggest the role of key national institutional players, including media and communication professionals, in the I CT diffusion andacculturation process and ICT-enabled transformation of society. From the outset some definitional issues need to be clarified. ʹProsperityʹ and ʹPovertyʹ in this paper specifically refers to the material dimension and do not purport to cover the intellectual and spiritual dimensions. Information Highwaysʹ are said to subsume both the infrastructure and the content that flow through the high-speed I CT networks globally. Just as the railways, roads and transportation networks provided the ballast for economic development in the Industrial Age, information highways are expected to do the same in Information and Knowledge Age.