Impact of technology on economic development through energy, transport and information and communication technologies

Abstract

The link between technology adoption and economic development is widely recognized, but too frequently overly broad generalisations are made. This thesis argues that most of technology adoption and, in turn, economic development, can be meaningfully estimated by three sectors: energy, transport and information and communication technologies (ICT). We estimate and specify the effect of these sectors on technology adoption and measure it through the proxy variables of energy, transport and ICT. The results indicate that a significant portion of economic development can be attributed to the efficient use of energy, transport and ICT. While the effects of insufficient energy production have lessened in recent years, the availability of efficient, high intensity power has become a major factor in determining growth. We argue that, while transport efficiency remains a crucial contributor to development, the most future growth potential stems from ICT and its applications.