Developing countries and frontier technologies
Channel: UNCTAD
Date: 2021-04-30

The pace of technological change is accelerating due to digitalization and frontier technologies. These include artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics and nanotechnology.

UNCTAD’s Technology and Innovation Report 2021 warns that emerging technologies can have severe downsides if they outpace a society’s ability to adapt.

The report provides a "country readiness index" that assesses the ability of countries to take advantage of frontier technologies. It finds that the countries least prepared are in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions.

But the index spotlights some developing countries performing better on frontier technologies than their per capita GDPs would suggest. 

More: https://unctad.org/news/few-developing-countries-overperform-frontier-technologies-most-lag-behind