Computer as a tool for national development: Getting started

Abstract

Developing countries appear short‐sighted in the area of national planning. This is due in part to lack of reliable data and partly to lack of modern facilities for reliable economic modelling and forecasting.

There is a general antipathy towards computers and computing, partly because of ignorance and partly because most of the much‐publicized attempts at computerization to date by key government establishments have either failed or turned out unsatisfactorily.

This paper proposes a method of tackling the problem head‐on, (with Nigeria as case study), in spite of dwindling financial resources and the less‐than‐current state‐of‐the‐art in available computer technology.