Reference no: EM133169235

Back in 2000, Seattle hosted a conference that had, as its stated purpose, "To address the growing worldwide inequalities in information technology, education, and economic growth by encouraging corporate investing in underdeveloped countries around the world." It was sponsored by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank focusing on environmental and development issues.

WRI shared some statistics that were, frankly, amazing to me. According to WRI's research, at that time 80 percent of the world population had never made a telephone call and only two percent had access to the Internet. Now 20+ years later, the telephone and Internet statistics have increased somewhat but still remain amazingly low.

Do you see any ethical challenges that these statistics might imply?

I wanted to put my thoughts forward on this question. I'm not saying that they're right - just thought that another perspective might be called for if you're interested.

Whether the statistics are still true or not, I just don't know positively. However, it is most certainly true that there is a huge chasm between what we have in the West vs. much of the rest of the world technologically speaking. That said, my theory is that for companies to come into these areas to bring in a large technological infrastructure makes no sense at all - and may be doomed to fail. You may have learned about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in an earlier class. Think of a pyramid with "Food, Shelter, and Clothing" as the base, and "Self Actualization" at the tip (with several intermediate sections in between). Maslow says that you cannot start moving up the pyramid until you have fulfilled all of the needs beneath. 

According to his theory, why would a company invest in technical infrastructure in a country where people's main concern is securing food and shelter (the base of the pyramid)?