Emerging Technologies, IT Infrastructure, and Economic Development in Mexico

Abstract

Well-articulated IT infrastructures generate a direct impact on domestic and global economic growth opportunities and have been shown to be an essential factor in reducing disparities between developed and developing economies. This paper examines the role new and emerging technologies play in supporting an IT infrastructure that may enhance economic development in Mexico.A political economy framework (PEF) is used as a conceptual foundation for understanding the impact emerging technologies have upon the utilization and transfer of technical knowledge. The use of new and emerging information technology to enhance economic development in Mexico will require applications at both macro and micro levels. At the macro level, MNC alliances for the transfer of technology, Mexican telecommunication joint ventures, and satellites for long distance educational programs are discussed as illustrations of new IT applications. At the micro-level, the Internet for connectivity, personal computers as an a computing platform, and the use of decision support technology such as GSS are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• IT in Mexico
• Mexican IT Infrastructure
• IT and Economic Development in Mexico
• GSS in Mexico

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roberto J. Mejias

Roberto J. Mejias is currently an Assistant Professor of MIS in the Michael F. Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 1995. His research interests are in the international applications of information technology, particularly, group support systems (GSS). He has done extensive GSS field research in Monterrey, Mexico and Hong Kong and international IT research in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay). He has published his research in the Journal of Management Information Systems and the Journal of Global Information Technology Management Journal. Dr. Mejias also serves on the editorial review board for the Journal of Global Information Technology Management. Prior to completing his doctoral work at Arizona, he was an industrial engineer for the IBM Corporation.

Jonathan W. Palmer

Jonathan W. Palmer is Assistant Professor of Decision & Information Technologies at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He teaches MBA and undergraduate courses in MIS, systems analysis & design, and electronic commerce. His research interests include the strategic use of information technology, electronic commerce, virtual organizations, and the use of information technology in retailing. His work has appeared in Communications of the ACM, Journal of World Business, European Management Journal, The Information Society, International Journal of Electronic Commerce (IJEC), Knowledge and Process Management, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. He currently serves on the editorial board of IJEC. Dr. Palmer has served on the faculty at the University of Oklahoma, the University of Southern California and was director of corporate relations at The Peter F. Drucker School, the Claremont Graduate University in California. Previous academic experience includes administrative positions at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Harvard Business School.

Michael G. Harvey

Michael G. Harvey holds the Puterbaugh Chair in American Free Enterprise in the Michael F. Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 1976. He has previously published in a wide variety of academic journals, such as, Sloan Management Review, Columbia Journal of World Business, Journal of International Business, Journal International Intercultural Relations among others. Dr. Harvey is presently Section Editor for the Journal of World Business and also serves on ten editorial review boards.