Month: December 2012

A.K.M. Muzahidul Islam

(Corresponding Author), Malaysia-Japan Int’l Institute of Technology (MJIIT), e-mail: akmmislam@ic.utm.my OR islam_muzahidul@yahoo.com

Lalitha Bhavani Jivanadham

Advanced Informatics School (AIS), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Nafees Mansoor

Malaysia-Japan Int’l Institute of Technology (MJIIT)

Sabariah Baharun

Malaysia-Japan Int’l Institute of Technology (MJIIT)

Shamsunnahar Khanam

Graduate School of Environmental and Life Sciences

Toyohashi University of Technology, 441-8580 Aichi, Japan

Abstract

The most exposed advancement in this era of globalization has been the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) influx. It has turned the world into a global village with boundless connectively, interactive organizations, information sharing and infinite accesses across the globe. It is a cross-cutting issue as well as an indispensable instrument for social and economic development. For decades ICT has been playing an important role in creating employment, hovering work skills and production. The adoption of ICT can dramatically reduce corruption from a society, thus can bring forward-looking governance in the country. The life and livelihood of a large number of populations, especially those living in rural areas, cannot be developed without utilizing the ICT scope for them. However, Bangladesh, a developing country, with huge potential, despite many problems still far away from using ICT, when the whole world is getting developed with the blessings of ICT. Malaysia, another developing country, was once seen as potential high-tech hub that is downplaying its role now and has focused on developing its own infrastructure. On the other hand, Japan as a developed country and one of the top industrialized countries in the world, has been able to exploit the all-out paybacks from ICT till date.

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive empirical analysis on Information and Communication in developing and developed countries where Bangladesh, Malaysia and Japan are the study regions. We also provide a comparative analysis, raise some future challenges and describe the steps taken forward for the ICT development in these regions before providing a set of recommendations for these nations which also can be adopted by other developing countries.

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Prodromos Prodromídis

Centre for Planning and Economic Research, and Athens University of Economic and Business

pjprodr@kepe.gr

Abstract

The paper studies the income mosaic of Greece at the local community level, from the time the country joined the EMU to the advent of the international crisis. It econometrically isolates the average income, income-filer population size, and annual effects, and brings to light sub-regional and cross-regional patterns that might otherwise go undetected. This provides a better understanding of the internal heterogeneity of the country and facilitates the formulation of better-targeted interventions aiming to reduce disparities and stimulate economic growth.

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Georgios Xanthos Business Administration Department

Technological Educational  Institute of Crete, Greece

xanthosg@ret.forthnet.gr

Christos Ap. Ladias

University of Central Greece, caladias@otenet.gr

Christos Genitsaropoulos

University of Central Greece,  cgenits@ucg.gr

Abstract

Regional inequalities are a topic which has timely occupied both the academic society as well as the directorate authorities. The different methodology approaches in solving the problem are offered for critical analysis and possible alterations. In this article, a composite weighted indicator of growth is proposed, which will be used to portray regional inequalities. Moreover, the methodology for the choice of a number of variables as part of the composite indicator will also be put forward. The depiction of the inequalities regards those between the country’s regions (NUTS 2) as well as those between ex-prefectures (NUTS 3).

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