Access to affordable high-speed Internet and mobile phone service are key to economic growth and job creation in developing countries, the World Bank said in a report.
The report, Information and Communications for Development 2009, found that for every 10 percentage-point increase in high-speed Internet connections there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points.
"Internet users in developing countries increased tenfold from 2000 to 2007, and there are now over four billion mobile phone subscribers in developing countries," said Mohsen Khalil, World Bank group director for global information and communication technologies.
"These technologies offer tremendous opportunities," Khalil said. "Governments can work with the private sector to accelerate rollout of broadband networks, and to extend access to low-income consumers."
The report identified the mobile platform as the "single most powerful way to reach and deliver public and private services to hundreds of millions of people in remote and rural areas across the developing world."
Broadband provides the basis for local information technology (IT) services industries which create youth employment, increase productivity and exports, and promote social inclusion, it said.
"Currently though, few people in developing economies have access to broadband networks," the report said. "In 2007, an average of less than five percent of the population of low-income economies was connected to broadband networks
, and that was mostly in urban centers."
"Access to broadband completes the information foundation for a modern economy and should be a priority in national development plans," said Katherine Sierra, World Bank vice president for sustainable development.
"Governments can play a key role in expanding broadband access by policies and incentives that encourage competition and private investment," she said.
The World Bank supports information and communications technology projects in more than 100 countries with a portfolio of more than three billion dollars.
Agencies
Showing posts with label developing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label developing. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Self rechargeable battery from Nokia soon
Nokia is in the process of developing a battery which can recharge itself when the phone has been kept on the standby mode. This technology will end the worries of the people, as the standby mode is always referred as a curse to the planet, reports the Guardian.
"A new prototype charging system from the company is able to power itself on nothing more than ambient radio waves- the weak TV, radio and mobile phone signals that permanently surround us. The power harvested is small but it is almost enough to power a mobile in standby mode indefinitely without ever needing to plug it into the mains," said Markku Rouvala, one of the researchers who have developed the device at the Nokia Research Centre in Cambridge, U.K.
The Oyster cards used by the commuters in London are of the same phenomenon, powering themselves from radio waves emitted by the reader devices as they are swiped. And similarly old crystal radio sets and more recently modern radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, which are increasingly used in shipping and as antitheft devices, are powered wholly by radio waves.
"The Nokia's prototype instead of harvesting tiny amounts of power (a few microwatts) from dedicated transmitters, it is able to collect relatively large amounts of discarded power around a thousand times more, even from miles away. Individually the energy available in each of these signals is miniscule. But by harvesting radio waves across a wide range of frequencies it all adds up," said Rouvala.
Similar kind of wireless transfer of energy was first demonstrated by Nikola Tesla in 1893, who was so taken up with the idea that he had attempted to build an intercontinental transmission tower to send power through wireless across the Atlantic. The antenna and the receiver circuit of Nokia are designed to pick up a wide range of frequencies - from 500 megahertz to 10 gigahertz - and convert the electromagnetic waves into an electrical current, as the second circuit is designed to feed this current to the battery to recharge it.
This will ensure that these circuits use less power than the amount that is being received,. Till now, the researchers have been able to harvest up to five milliwatts. Nokia's short-term goal is to get in excess of 20 milliwatts, which is enough power to keep a phone in standby mode indefinitely without having to recharge it. But this would not be enough to actually use the phone to make or receive a call. The hope is to be able to get as much as 50 milliwatts, which would be sufficient to slowly recharge the battery.
"Radio frequency power falls off exponentially with distance," said Steve Beeby, an expert in harvesting ambient energy at the University of Southampton. "It would be a remarkable achievement," Beeby added.
Agencies
"A new prototype charging system from the company is able to power itself on nothing more than ambient radio waves- the weak TV, radio and mobile phone signals that permanently surround us. The power harvested is small but it is almost enough to power a mobile in standby mode indefinitely without ever needing to plug it into the mains," said Markku Rouvala, one of the researchers who have developed the device at the Nokia Research Centre in Cambridge, U.K.
The Oyster cards used by the commuters in London are of the same phenomenon, powering themselves from radio waves emitted by the reader devices as they are swiped. And similarly old crystal radio sets and more recently modern radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, which are increasingly used in shipping and as antitheft devices, are powered wholly by radio waves.
"The Nokia's prototype instead of harvesting tiny amounts of power (a few microwatts) from dedicated transmitters, it is able to collect relatively large amounts of discarded power around a thousand times more, even from miles away. Individually the energy available in each of these signals is miniscule. But by harvesting radio waves across a wide range of frequencies it all adds up," said Rouvala.
Similar kind of wireless transfer of energy was first demonstrated by Nikola Tesla in 1893, who was so taken up with the idea that he had attempted to build an intercontinental transmission tower to send power through wireless across the Atlantic. The antenna and the receiver circuit of Nokia are designed to pick up a wide range of frequencies - from 500 megahertz to 10 gigahertz - and convert the electromagnetic waves into an electrical current, as the second circuit is designed to feed this current to the battery to recharge it.
This will ensure that these circuits use less power than the amount that is being received,. Till now, the researchers have been able to harvest up to five milliwatts. Nokia's short-term goal is to get in excess of 20 milliwatts, which is enough power to keep a phone in standby mode indefinitely without having to recharge it. But this would not be enough to actually use the phone to make or receive a call. The hope is to be able to get as much as 50 milliwatts, which would be sufficient to slowly recharge the battery.
"Radio frequency power falls off exponentially with distance," said Steve Beeby, an expert in harvesting ambient energy at the University of Southampton. "It would be a remarkable achievement," Beeby added.
Agencies
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Cars that sense danger to pedestrians to roll out soon
BMW is refining a car-to-car communication system that offers more pedestrian protection by "sensing" situations and persons that cannot normally be seen by motorists, according to the car maker.
In a typical situation a child could suddenly jump onto the road from between two parked vehicles. In such a case the moving vehicle would communicate with an electronic transponder carried by the child or cyclist for protection.
The project is part of the AMULETT research project aimed at preventing accidents with sensoring and tracking technology. On board car systems are networked with those of other vehicles or transponders carried by persons. These can be installed in school bags, mobile phones or in a walking stick.
Should the system determine an impending collision or danger situation, the driver is warned with a signal on the head-up display. If he or she does not respond the system automatically triggers a braking procedure.
According to German government accident statistics 48 percent of child accident victims between the age of six and 14 ran onto the road without observing the traffic. Other research has shown that in 40 percent of fatal pedestrian accidents, the driver could not react in time.
Agencies
In a typical situation a child could suddenly jump onto the road from between two parked vehicles. In such a case the moving vehicle would communicate with an electronic transponder carried by the child or cyclist for protection.
The project is part of the AMULETT research project aimed at preventing accidents with sensoring and tracking technology. On board car systems are networked with those of other vehicles or transponders carried by persons. These can be installed in school bags, mobile phones or in a walking stick.
Should the system determine an impending collision or danger situation, the driver is warned with a signal on the head-up display. If he or she does not respond the system automatically triggers a braking procedure.
According to German government accident statistics 48 percent of child accident victims between the age of six and 14 ran onto the road without observing the traffic. Other research has shown that in 40 percent of fatal pedestrian accidents, the driver could not react in time.
Agencies
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Is Apple developing a touchscreen PC?
Apple will take third-quarter delivery of newly developed 10-inch touchscreens from Taiwan, a source said on Wednesday, amid talk the US firm is developing a touchscreen PC.
Taiwan touchscreen specialist Wintek already makes small screens for Apple iPhones, and has received orders for the larger ones that are roughly the same size as those used in mini PCs, said the source close to the Taiwan firm. He asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
He added that he did not know what the final product would be, or who would make it.
Wintek spokesman James Chen confirmed Apple was a major client of his company, but declined to comment on any new product development.
Taiwan media reported this week that Apple, which has brought touchscreens to the forefront with the success of its iPhones, is currently developing a touchscreen PC, as lines begin to blur between sophisticated smartphones and traditional PCs.
Some of those reports have said that Taiwan's Quanta Computer, the world's top contract laptop PC maker, would manufacture the actual PCs for Apple.
Apple's Hong Kong spokeswoman, Jill Tan, said the company did not comment on market speculation, while a Quanta spokeswoman also declined to comment.
Agencies
Taiwan touchscreen specialist Wintek already makes small screens for Apple iPhones, and has received orders for the larger ones that are roughly the same size as those used in mini PCs, said the source close to the Taiwan firm. He asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
He added that he did not know what the final product would be, or who would make it.
Wintek spokesman James Chen confirmed Apple was a major client of his company, but declined to comment on any new product development.
Taiwan media reported this week that Apple, which has brought touchscreens to the forefront with the success of its iPhones, is currently developing a touchscreen PC, as lines begin to blur between sophisticated smartphones and traditional PCs.
Some of those reports have said that Taiwan's Quanta Computer, the world's top contract laptop PC maker, would manufacture the actual PCs for Apple.
Apple's Hong Kong spokeswoman, Jill Tan, said the company did not comment on market speculation, while a Quanta spokeswoman also declined to comment.
Agencies
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Toyota developing solar powered green car
Toyota Motor Corp is secretly developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy in an effort to turn around its struggling business with a futuristic ecological car, a top business daily reported.
The Nikkei newspaper, however, said it will be years before the planned vehicle will be available on the market. Toyota's offices were closed Thursday and officials were not immediately available for comment.
According to The Nikkei, Toyota is working on an electric vehicle that will get some of its power from solar cells equipped on the vehicle, and that can be recharged with electricity generated from solar panels on the roofs of homes. The automaker later hopes to develop a model totally powered by solar cells on the vehicle, the newspaper said without citing sources.
The solar car is part of efforts by Japan's top automaker to grow during hard times, The Nikkei said.
In December, Toyota stunned the nation by announcing it will slip into its first operating loss in 70 years, as it gets battered by a global slump, especially in the key U.S. market. The surging yen has also hurt the earnings of Japanese automakers.
Still, Toyota is a leader in green technology and executives have stressed they won't cut back on environmental research despite its troubles.
Toyota, the manufacturer of the Lexus luxury car and Camry sedan, has already begun using solar panels at its Tsutsumi plant in central Japan to produce some of its own electricity.
Source: Agencies
The Nikkei newspaper, however, said it will be years before the planned vehicle will be available on the market. Toyota's offices were closed Thursday and officials were not immediately available for comment.
According to The Nikkei, Toyota is working on an electric vehicle that will get some of its power from solar cells equipped on the vehicle, and that can be recharged with electricity generated from solar panels on the roofs of homes. The automaker later hopes to develop a model totally powered by solar cells on the vehicle, the newspaper said without citing sources.
The solar car is part of efforts by Japan's top automaker to grow during hard times, The Nikkei said.
In December, Toyota stunned the nation by announcing it will slip into its first operating loss in 70 years, as it gets battered by a global slump, especially in the key U.S. market. The surging yen has also hurt the earnings of Japanese automakers.
Still, Toyota is a leader in green technology and executives have stressed they won't cut back on environmental research despite its troubles.
Toyota, the manufacturer of the Lexus luxury car and Camry sedan, has already begun using solar panels at its Tsutsumi plant in central Japan to produce some of its own electricity.
Source: Agencies
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