Emerging from the technology colony: a view from the south

Summary form only given. Even though many countries of the world gained political independence after WW-II, they essentially remained “technology colonies”. This has had the effect of delaying, if not thwarting the economic development of such countries. Broadly speaking, the strategic issue for the technology colony is how to grow its economy beyond the limitation of its domestic market. Many countries have made a tremendous success of being technology colonies. Technology colonies that are richly endowed with natural resources, have a more complex set of alternatives to “weave” into a national development strategy. Three alternatives are discussed: generic strategy open to all colonies, i.e. to develop their human resources to become highly productive; benficiation of natural primary products available to them; and White Space initiatives, or new ventures in areas where no businesses existed in the country before