Additional International Topics Related to Software Engineering

So far, we looked at software engineering industry in the United States, India, and Israel. Naturally, these are only three countries and there is more to say about what goes on globally with respect to software engineering. Among other related topics, there are attempts to help the developing countries become more technology oriented. For example, there is a UN initiative to help developing countries boost IT infrastructure, especially in countries that are lagging behind the rest of the world in these areas. The idea is to grant these countries seed money programs to help them get started. It is accepted that each country will continue after that in the development processes with the support of other governments and companies.

There is consensus that the problem of spurring the developing countries can be solved mainly by their educational systems. To help governments with this challenge, the private sector should take a more active role in extending the opportunities afforded through information technology to the poor and disadvantaged parts of the world. Indeed, many companies initiated special programs to promote their relationships with the community. Intel s Innovation in Education project is just one example ⁷ ( www.intel.com/education/projects/global_tour/ ) .

Part of the gaps can also be reduced by equal opportunity. As a starting point, some governments have to address historical problems of gender discrimination and other equality issues in order to help all their citizens take advantage of the knowledge economy and to help the underprivileged become knowledgeable workers.

We sum up this section of this chapter thus:

The last decade can be conceived of as a decade of the natural selection of high-tech companies that match economic conditions (similar to the biological evolutionary process). Accordingly, when the worldwide high-tech industry recovers, the main lesson investors will remember is to invest money proportionally to what companies offer and not based on their optimism .
The development of the high-tech markets enables developing countries to enter the high-tech industry. With their relatively cheap workforce, some of these countries may gradually acquire position and influence the high-tech sectors.
The IT niche directly influences areas such as education, economy, diplomacy , unemployment, and so forth. Specifically, it becomes clear that an educated population is a central condition for international economical success.
The high-tech economy may serve as a means for closing cultural and social gaps.