The World Market for Telematics Applications to Education: Challenges and Opportunities for Industrialized and Developing Countries

This paper discusses the prospects for industrialized and developing countries in the international market of telematics applications to education. The discussion evolves around three issues. One is the relationship between telecommunication infrastructure and wider telematics applications. Telecommunication requirements of such applications to education would add to the reasons for infrastructure upgrading, which have international trade effects. The second issue is the currently narrow choice customers have in the international market where suppliers are concentrated in the USA and Canada and products are dominantly in the English language. Demands for diversification of suppliers and of offer in various languages will created opportunities for content producers in developing countries and push for stronger international trade. Finally, the third issue is the risk this new area of trade may represent for educational and training policy decisions in developing countries. Scarce resources may be diverted from cheaper and more efficient ways of addressing the educational agenda to more expensive and not necessary the most adequate solutions. A careful assessment of educational and training needs and new forms of collaboration have to be created for this new area of trade to be beneficial to industrialized and developing countries.