Human Development Report 2001

Throughout history, technology has been a powerful tool for human development and poverty reduction. Today people all over the world have high hopes that new technologies such as information and communications technology and biotechnology will lead to healthier lives, greater social freedoms, improved knowledge and more productive livelihoods. The possibilities are great: new technologies and globalization are creating a network age that is simultaneously changing the way technology is created, diffused and used. No country, at any level of development, can afford not to participate in these networks. Human Development Report 2001 looks the advent of new technologies will affect developing countries and poor people. Technology is a tool, not just a reward, for development. Technological change can advance human development by improving human health, nutrition and knowledge and by enabling communication, participation and economic growth. Yet many fear that new technologies may be of little use to the developing world, or that they might actually widen global inequalities. Indeed, without innovative public policy, innovative technologies could become a source of exclusion and conflict, not a tool for progress. If any form of development is empowering in the 21 century, it is the acquisition of knowledge and the creation of technological capacity. Human Development Report 2001… Focuses on the opportunities and challenges of today’s technological transformations from developing countries’ point of view, Links technology and human development in a simple but coherent analytical framework, Introduces a technology achievement index directly related to the strategic priorities of all countries, Argues that this network age is changing not only what technology can do for development but also how and where technology is created, Provides a strong analysis of the need for global initiatives and policies.