Martin Hilbert
I pursue a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the role of information, communication and knowledge in social, economic, psychological and political development. I am particularly interested in the implications of and requisites for the digitization of information in complex social systems. I share the gained insights through ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS and APPLIED hands-on TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (mainly in developing countries). I hold doctorates in Communication, and in Economics and Social Sciences, as well a permanent appointment as Economic Affairs Officer of the United Nations.
My ACADEMIC RESEARCH has been published in the world's leading peer-reviewed academic Journals in the fields of:
> multidisciplinary science (Science, with a 5-year TR Journal citation impact factor of 32).
> psychology and behavioral economics (Psychological Bulletin, with a 5-year impact factor of 18);
> international economic development (World Development, with a 5y impact factor of 2.5);
> foresight studies (Technological Forecasting and Social Change, with a 5y impact factor of 2.2);
> telecommunication infrastructure policy (Telecommunications Policy, with 5y impact factor of 1.7);
> women and development (Women's Studies International Forum; with 5y impact factor of 0.8);
I also published my findings in recognized peer-reviewed Journals in communication, information science, political science, and public policy, among others. I’m glad to see that my publications seem to be useful to other scholars and have been cited hundreds of times already. I’ve written six books (three with academic presses), have designed and taught a Master-level course on digital innovation for international development, have served on juries of public grants assignments, and acted as a guest editor in academic journals.
On the APPLIED SIDE, I have personally provided hands-on technical assistance to Heads of States, government experts, legislators, diplomats, private sector companies, and civil society organizations in over 20 countries. I had the opportunity to coordinate research and technical cooperation projects involving over 250 consultants for the United Nations and raised over US$24 million in grants to execute these projects. Policy makers from the highest political levels have officially recognized the impact of these projects in public declarations. For example, I spearheaded the creation and successful execution of the Latin American and Caribbean Action Plan for the Information Society (eLAC), an inter-governmental policy agenda which is already in its third successful generation (eLAC2007, eLAC2010, and eLAC2015). I also helped to design measurement indicators that have been officially adopted by the United Nations statistical system for permanent collection worldwide.
I speak five languages, have published in three of them, traveled to over 70 countries, and accumulated over ten years of research and working experience in four continents. My work has been featured in Scientific American, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, BBC, Sueddeutsche, Die Welt, Correio Braziliense, La Repubblica, El Mercurio, El Pais, among others.
Supervisors: Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider and Manuel Castells
Address: http://martinhilbert.net
My ACADEMIC RESEARCH has been published in the world's leading peer-reviewed academic Journals in the fields of:
> multidisciplinary science (Science, with a 5-year TR Journal citation impact factor of 32).
> psychology and behavioral economics (Psychological Bulletin, with a 5-year impact factor of 18);
> international economic development (World Development, with a 5y impact factor of 2.5);
> foresight studies (Technological Forecasting and Social Change, with a 5y impact factor of 2.2);
> telecommunication infrastructure policy (Telecommunications Policy, with 5y impact factor of 1.7);
> women and development (Women's Studies International Forum; with 5y impact factor of 0.8);
I also published my findings in recognized peer-reviewed Journals in communication, information science, political science, and public policy, among others. I’m glad to see that my publications seem to be useful to other scholars and have been cited hundreds of times already. I’ve written six books (three with academic presses), have designed and taught a Master-level course on digital innovation for international development, have served on juries of public grants assignments, and acted as a guest editor in academic journals.
On the APPLIED SIDE, I have personally provided hands-on technical assistance to Heads of States, government experts, legislators, diplomats, private sector companies, and civil society organizations in over 20 countries. I had the opportunity to coordinate research and technical cooperation projects involving over 250 consultants for the United Nations and raised over US$24 million in grants to execute these projects. Policy makers from the highest political levels have officially recognized the impact of these projects in public declarations. For example, I spearheaded the creation and successful execution of the Latin American and Caribbean Action Plan for the Information Society (eLAC), an inter-governmental policy agenda which is already in its third successful generation (eLAC2007, eLAC2010, and eLAC2015). I also helped to design measurement indicators that have been officially adopted by the United Nations statistical system for permanent collection worldwide.
I speak five languages, have published in three of them, traveled to over 70 countries, and accumulated over ten years of research and working experience in four continents. My work has been featured in Scientific American, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, BBC, Sueddeutsche, Die Welt, Correio Braziliense, La Repubblica, El Mercurio, El Pais, among others.
Supervisors: Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider and Manuel Castells
Address: http://martinhilbert.net
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PAPERS on the world's infomation capacity by Martin Hilbert
ABSTRACT: We estimated the world’s technological capacity to store, communicate, and compute information, tracking 60 analog and digital technologies during the period from 1986 to 2007. In 2007, humankind was able to store 2.9 × 1020 optimally compressed bytes, communicate almost 2 × 1021 bytes, and carry out 6.4 × 1018 instructions per second on general-purpose computers. General-purpose computing capacity grew at an annual rate of 58%. The world’s capacity for bidirectional telecommunication grew at 28% per year, closely followed by the increase in globally stored information (23%). Humankind’s capacity for unidirectional information diffusion through broadcasting channels has experienced comparatively modest annual growth (6%). Telecommunication has been dominated by digital technologies since 1990 (99.9% in digital format in 2007), and the majority of our technological memory has been in digital format since the early 2000s (94% digital in 2007).
characteristics of
the world’s technological capacity to
communicate information in bits per second during the
two decades that were characterized by the digitization
of global information flows (1986
to
2007/2010). We
distinguish between 12 broadcasting and 31
telecommunication technologies. Television still
accounts for 95 % of the effective information flow in
2007. This also implies that most of the world’s
technologically mediated information (99 %) is carried
through downstream channels, while upstream
communication is still marginal (even though rapidly
growing). We show that technological progress is the
main driver behind the world’s
telecommunication
capacity and that the contribution of the installation of
new infrastructure is becoming less significant to the
total growth of global communication. From an
international perspective it is striking that the shape
and form of the digital divide measured in kbps per
capita turns out to be quite different from the
evolutionary trajectory of the digital divide when
measured in terms of technological devices per capita.
While the average inhabitant of the developed world
counted with some 40 kbps more than the average
member of the information society in developing
countries in 2001, this gap grew to over 3 Mbps per
capita in 2010. It shows that telecommunication
capacity (in kbps) is highly concentrated on the
international level. Only eight countries host two-thirds
of the installed global telecommunication capacity. All
of this shows that it is pivotal to start measuring the
world’s communication capacity not merely in terms of
the installed number of devices, but also in terms of the
transmitted amount of information.
PAPERS on ICT-for-Development by Martin Hilbert
adequate conceptual frameworks. In 2003, the United Nations Regional Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC) proposed a threedimensional
conceptual framework that models the transition toward information
societies as the interplay among technology, policy, and social change. It
has its theoretical roots in Schumpeterian innovation theory. This so-called
“cube framework” has been adopted on several occasions throughout the region
at the local, national, and international levels. It has been employed in all
stages of the policy cycle to identify areas and priorities for research and
hands-on policy making (planning), to coordinate actors and stakeholders (execution),
and to monitor progress toward information societies (evaluation).
This article presents the framework and its particularities, reviews some of the
diverse applications it has found during recent years, provides concrete suggestions
on how it could be used in the future, and discusses its strengths and
limitations. The cube is not a dynamic model that can make predictions, but it
turns out to be useful as a conceptual framework; it can be used to structure
the often-confused discussion about what is involved in the ongoing social
transformation.
PAPERS others (complexity, psychology, etc.) by Martin Hilbert
BOOKS by Martin Hilbert
The first part of the book presents the theoretical concepts that inform it, based on an evolutionary view of technical progress, innovation and development. This section of the book examines the nature and causes of international and domestic digital divides, and details the results of quantitative exercises to measure the impact of ICT on economic growth and productivity in the region. Given this analytical approach, special importance is placed on technological variables and on the complementarities resulting from the coevolution of technological, economic, social and institutional structures.
The second part of the book focuses on the development of technologies, specifically on the production of ICT goods and services, such as hardware, software and telecommunications providers. It supplements this analysis with an examination of issues such as telecommunications regulation and the debate on intellectual property rights in the context of ICT. The third part of the book examines advances in the field of technologies for development, especially ICT applications in areas such as education, public administration, business, disaster management and health. The fourth deals with public policies relating to the development of ICT and to ICT for development in the region, and describes ECLAC recommendations in this area.
The recommendations cover seven areas: developing the complementarities necessary to ensure that ICT impact economic and social development; improving coordination in the use of scarce resources and foster initiatives to create synergies; continuing and strengthening intraregional cooperation; transferring policy leadership from actors interested in ICT per se to those responsible for the areas in which the technologies are effectively employed; and strengthening the institutions responsible for policy implementation, in order to reduce the separation between the processes of policy-making and policy implementation in a field of fast innovation. In short, this book is framed by a recognition of the tension that exists between the demands of a fundamentally exogenous and accelerating technological revolution, and the productive and institutional structures of the region’s countries, whose paths of evolution have led to deficiencies which, in a context of great uncertainty, limit their ability to respond to the pressures of the digital paradigm.
En la primera parte del libro se presentan los conceptos teóricos que lo orientan, basados en la perspectiva evolucionista del progreso técnico y el desarrollo, se analizan las brechas digitales internacional e interna, así como las variables que las determinan, y se informan los resultados de ejercicios cuantitativos que miden el impacto de las TIC en el crecimiento y la productividad de la región.
Siguiendo ese enfoque analítico se otorga particular importancia a las variables tecnológicas y a las complementariedades resultantes de la coevolución de las estructuras tecnológicas, económicas, sociales e institucionales.
La segunda parte se centra específicamente en el análisis de la producción de bienes y servicios TIC: hardware, software y operadores de telecomunicaciones. Estas reflexiones se complementan con el examen de temas como la regulación de las telecomunicaciones y el debate sobre la propiedad intelectual en el ámbito de las TIC. En la tercera parte se estudia el avance de la utilización de las TIC en diversas áreas de aplicación, como la educación, la administración pública, los negocios, la salud y la gestión de catástrofes. En la cuarta, se abordan las políticas públicas relacionadas con las TIC en la región y se plantean las recomendaciones de la CEPAL al respecto.
Esas recomendaciones se materializan en siete mensajes, entre los que se destacan: desarrollar las complementariedades imprescindibles para concretar el impacto de las TIC en el desarrollo económico y social; coordinar mejor el uso de recursos e iniciativas para generar sinergias; continuar y fortalecer las experiencias de cooperación intrarregional; transferir el liderazgo en las políticas de los actores interesados en las TIC per se a los responsables de las áreas en las que estas tecnologías se emplean, y fortalecer las instituciones a cargo de la puesta en marcha de las políticas, reduciendo la brecha entre la formulación de estas y su efectiva implementación.
First of all, what kind of "information society" is desired? Based on an analytical framework developed by ECLAC for the consideration of the many complex issues involved in the construction and operation of an information society, it is of vital importance to determine the purpose and aims of all lines of action oriented towards the transition to an information society. The first chapter of this study lays the groundwork for such an analysis.Secondly, what are the basic characteristics and specific traits of the transition towards an information society in Latin America and the Caribbean? In order to understand what current and future paths the region can choose to follow in making the transition to an information society, the second chapter reviews some of the specifically regional features of the current process.
Thirdly, what policies can be used to support the transition towards an information society? The third and final chapter proposes an agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean in the transition to an information society.
ABSTRACT: We estimated the world’s technological capacity to store, communicate, and compute information, tracking 60 analog and digital technologies during the period from 1986 to 2007. In 2007, humankind was able to store 2.9 × 1020 optimally compressed bytes, communicate almost 2 × 1021 bytes, and carry out 6.4 × 1018 instructions per second on general-purpose computers. General-purpose computing capacity grew at an annual rate of 58%. The world’s capacity for bidirectional telecommunication grew at 28% per year, closely followed by the increase in globally stored information (23%). Humankind’s capacity for unidirectional information diffusion through broadcasting channels has experienced comparatively modest annual growth (6%). Telecommunication has been dominated by digital technologies since 1990 (99.9% in digital format in 2007), and the majority of our technological memory has been in digital format since the early 2000s (94% digital in 2007).
characteristics of
the world’s technological capacity to
communicate information in bits per second during the
two decades that were characterized by the digitization
of global information flows (1986
to
2007/2010). We
distinguish between 12 broadcasting and 31
telecommunication technologies. Television still
accounts for 95 % of the effective information flow in
2007. This also implies that most of the world’s
technologically mediated information (99 %) is carried
through downstream channels, while upstream
communication is still marginal (even though rapidly
growing). We show that technological progress is the
main driver behind the world’s
telecommunication
capacity and that the contribution of the installation of
new infrastructure is becoming less significant to the
total growth of global communication. From an
international perspective it is striking that the shape
and form of the digital divide measured in kbps per
capita turns out to be quite different from the
evolutionary trajectory of the digital divide when
measured in terms of technological devices per capita.
While the average inhabitant of the developed world
counted with some 40 kbps more than the average
member of the information society in developing
countries in 2001, this gap grew to over 3 Mbps per
capita in 2010. It shows that telecommunication
capacity (in kbps) is highly concentrated on the
international level. Only eight countries host two-thirds
of the installed global telecommunication capacity. All
of this shows that it is pivotal to start measuring the
world’s communication capacity not merely in terms of
the installed number of devices, but also in terms of the
transmitted amount of information.
adequate conceptual frameworks. In 2003, the United Nations Regional Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC) proposed a threedimensional
conceptual framework that models the transition toward information
societies as the interplay among technology, policy, and social change. It
has its theoretical roots in Schumpeterian innovation theory. This so-called
“cube framework” has been adopted on several occasions throughout the region
at the local, national, and international levels. It has been employed in all
stages of the policy cycle to identify areas and priorities for research and
hands-on policy making (planning), to coordinate actors and stakeholders (execution),
and to monitor progress toward information societies (evaluation).
This article presents the framework and its particularities, reviews some of the
diverse applications it has found during recent years, provides concrete suggestions
on how it could be used in the future, and discusses its strengths and
limitations. The cube is not a dynamic model that can make predictions, but it
turns out to be useful as a conceptual framework; it can be used to structure
the often-confused discussion about what is involved in the ongoing social
transformation.
The first part of the book presents the theoretical concepts that inform it, based on an evolutionary view of technical progress, innovation and development. This section of the book examines the nature and causes of international and domestic digital divides, and details the results of quantitative exercises to measure the impact of ICT on economic growth and productivity in the region. Given this analytical approach, special importance is placed on technological variables and on the complementarities resulting from the coevolution of technological, economic, social and institutional structures.
The second part of the book focuses on the development of technologies, specifically on the production of ICT goods and services, such as hardware, software and telecommunications providers. It supplements this analysis with an examination of issues such as telecommunications regulation and the debate on intellectual property rights in the context of ICT. The third part of the book examines advances in the field of technologies for development, especially ICT applications in areas such as education, public administration, business, disaster management and health. The fourth deals with public policies relating to the development of ICT and to ICT for development in the region, and describes ECLAC recommendations in this area.
The recommendations cover seven areas: developing the complementarities necessary to ensure that ICT impact economic and social development; improving coordination in the use of scarce resources and foster initiatives to create synergies; continuing and strengthening intraregional cooperation; transferring policy leadership from actors interested in ICT per se to those responsible for the areas in which the technologies are effectively employed; and strengthening the institutions responsible for policy implementation, in order to reduce the separation between the processes of policy-making and policy implementation in a field of fast innovation. In short, this book is framed by a recognition of the tension that exists between the demands of a fundamentally exogenous and accelerating technological revolution, and the productive and institutional structures of the region’s countries, whose paths of evolution have led to deficiencies which, in a context of great uncertainty, limit their ability to respond to the pressures of the digital paradigm.
En la primera parte del libro se presentan los conceptos teóricos que lo orientan, basados en la perspectiva evolucionista del progreso técnico y el desarrollo, se analizan las brechas digitales internacional e interna, así como las variables que las determinan, y se informan los resultados de ejercicios cuantitativos que miden el impacto de las TIC en el crecimiento y la productividad de la región.
Siguiendo ese enfoque analítico se otorga particular importancia a las variables tecnológicas y a las complementariedades resultantes de la coevolución de las estructuras tecnológicas, económicas, sociales e institucionales.
La segunda parte se centra específicamente en el análisis de la producción de bienes y servicios TIC: hardware, software y operadores de telecomunicaciones. Estas reflexiones se complementan con el examen de temas como la regulación de las telecomunicaciones y el debate sobre la propiedad intelectual en el ámbito de las TIC. En la tercera parte se estudia el avance de la utilización de las TIC en diversas áreas de aplicación, como la educación, la administración pública, los negocios, la salud y la gestión de catástrofes. En la cuarta, se abordan las políticas públicas relacionadas con las TIC en la región y se plantean las recomendaciones de la CEPAL al respecto.
Esas recomendaciones se materializan en siete mensajes, entre los que se destacan: desarrollar las complementariedades imprescindibles para concretar el impacto de las TIC en el desarrollo económico y social; coordinar mejor el uso de recursos e iniciativas para generar sinergias; continuar y fortalecer las experiencias de cooperación intrarregional; transferir el liderazgo en las políticas de los actores interesados en las TIC per se a los responsables de las áreas en las que estas tecnologías se emplean, y fortalecer las instituciones a cargo de la puesta en marcha de las políticas, reduciendo la brecha entre la formulación de estas y su efectiva implementación.
First of all, what kind of "information society" is desired? Based on an analytical framework developed by ECLAC for the consideration of the many complex issues involved in the construction and operation of an information society, it is of vital importance to determine the purpose and aims of all lines of action oriented towards the transition to an information society. The first chapter of this study lays the groundwork for such an analysis.Secondly, what are the basic characteristics and specific traits of the transition towards an information society in Latin America and the Caribbean? In order to understand what current and future paths the region can choose to follow in making the transition to an information society, the second chapter reviews some of the specifically regional features of the current process.
Thirdly, what policies can be used to support the transition towards an information society? The third and final chapter proposes an agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean in the transition to an information society.
progresiva de nuevas formas de organización social y productiva. Esta "actividad digital", que se va convirtiendo poco a poco en un fenómeno global, tiene su origen fundamentalmente en las sociedades industrializadas más maduras. De hecho, la adopción de este paradigma basado en la tecnología está íntimamente relacionado con el grado de desarrollo de la sociedad. Sin embargo, la tecnología no es sólo un fruto del desarrollo (por ser consecuencia de éste), sino también, y en gran medida, uno de sus motores (por ser una herramienta de desarrollo). Desde el punto de vista de América Latina y el Caribe, resulta de la
mayor importancia determinar cómo puede contribuir este nuevo paradigma al logro de objetivos de desarrollo más amplios y a la cabal integración de la región en la sociedad de la información mundial. Con el fin de enfrentar la ardua tarea de incorporar el paradigma de la sociedad de la información en la agenda del desarrollo, la CEPAL se ha propuesto dar respuesta a tres preguntas fundamentales: La primera de ellas es ¿qué tipo de sociedad de la información se desea construir? A partir de un marco analítico desarrollado por la CEPAL para estudiar temas complejos relacionados con la construcción y el funcionamiento de una sociedad de la información, es de vital importancia determinar el propósito y los objetivos de todas las iniciativas destinadas a facilitar el proceso de transición a dicha sociedad. En el primer capítulo de este documento se describen los fundamentos de este análisis.
La segunda pregunta que se plantea es ¿cuáles son las características básicas y las particularidades del proceso de transición a la sociedad de la información en América Latina y el Caribe? Para comprender cuáles son los caminos que puede recorrer la región en este proceso de transición, en el segundo capítulo se examinan algunas características específicamente regionales del actual proceso.
La tercera pregunta es ¿qué medidas de política se podrían adoptar para impulsar la transición hacia la sociedad de la información? En respuesta a ella, en el tercer y último capítulo se propone una agenda para la transición de América Latina y el Caribe hacia la sociedad de la información.
1. What does the "Information Society" consist of?
The first chapter of this study develops an analytical framework to consider the many complex issues involved in the construction and operation of an Information Society.
2. What are the basic characteristics and distinctive regional aspects of the transition to an Information Society?
In order to understand what current and future paths Latin America and the Caribbean can choose to follow in making the transition to an Information Society, chapters two, three and four review some of the specifically regional features of the current process.
3. What policies can help to facilitate the transition towards an Information Society?
The fifth and final chapter proposes a positive agenda for the Latin American and Caribbean region's transition to an Information Society. "
de programas de Centros de Acceso Público a las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación
(CAPT), existentes en los países seleccionados para el estudio. El resultado del mismo es un
mapeo que debe ser entendido como una primera aproximación a la situación actual. En este
sentido, el levantamiento no proclama ser exhaustivo, ni completo, o estadísticamente
representativo, sino un primer paso en un terreno todavía bastante desconocido, pero de crucial
importancia para el desarrollo de las Sociedades de la Información en América Latina (AL). No
obstante, cabe mencionar que, de acuerdo con la literatura revisada, este estudio es el más extenso
y profundo sobre esta temática realizado en la región hasta la fecha.