IT in Emerging Markets is Focus of October Computing Now Theme LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., 29 October 2012 – Computing Now, the one-stop source for free, limited-time access to tech articles from IEEE Computer Society's peer-reviewed magazines, journals, and conference proceedings, is featuring a series of articles this month on using IT to foster growth and development in emerging markets. Edited by San Murugesan, director of BRITE Professional Services and an adjunct professor at University of Western Sydney in Australia, IT in Emerging Markets acknowledges that emerging markets—representing two-thirds of the global population—are the world's new powerhouses. Although these markets have historically lagged behind advanced economies in adopting and leveraging IT to address problems, they are now harnessing it in business, education, socioeconomic development, healthcare, and governance. "IT's role and growth in emerging markets will be significant, offering IT professionals, educators, researchers, and businesses the chance to help create a better world in which the power of IT is harnessed to lift the socioeconomic status of the two-thirds of the global population that is largely at the bottom of the pyramid," said Murugesan. "To harness the potentials that emerging markets present, IT applications must be relevant to the users' real needs, have local significance, offer value, and be affordable." Computing Now's IT in Emerging Markets includes the following articles:
"IT in India," in which Sowmya narayanan Sadagopan outlines innovative, ambitious, and challenging applications that have been deployed or are in progress; "ICT Trends in Brazil," in which Marcelo Nogueira Cortimiglia and his colleagues discuss the challenges facing the huge Brazilian ICT market, as it's poised to contribute to the country's social and economic development; "Cloud Computing in Taiwan," in which William Cheng-Chung Chu and his coauthors discuss ongoing developments in cloud computing, including strong incentive programs by government, industry, academia, and the research community; "Mobile Payments in Emerging Markets," in which Nir Kshetri and Sharad Acharya present an overview of m-payment systems in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, highlighting that person-to-person money transfer offers financial services to users without traditional bank accounts; "Making Technology Invisible in the Developing World," in which Gary Marsden and his colleagues report on three projects—Spoken Web and Pragati, both based in India, and Big Board in South Africa—that provide convenient and affordable access to a wide range of data sources; "Tracking Water Collection in Rural Ethiopia," in which Rohit Chaudhri and his colleagues describe a mobile-phone-based system that gathers and aggregates relevant data to help researchers address the problem; and "How ICTs Affect Democracy and Corruption in Emerging Societies," in which Daniel Soper and Haluk Demirkan examine the extent to which information and communication technologies have affected democracy and political corruption in emerging societies. To access and comment on the articles, visit http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingnow/archive/october2012. The IEEE Computer Society's IT Professional magazine has been publishing articles highlighting how IT helps emerging markets in its "IT in Emerging Markets" Department/Column, since January 2011. The column is edited by Murugesan.
Computing Now's IT in Emerging Markets collection is just one way that IEEE Computer Society is striving to fulfill IEEE's mission of being dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. As an example of the humanitarian projects underway, IEEE recently partnered with Sirona to install six solar charging trailers in Haiti to light 240 customer homes and six small businesses. Visit YouTube to view a video of the project in Haiti.
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