For example, institutions and individuals who are adapting Western medicine to the Chinese environment have questions that cannot readily be answered by use of available resources. As more 'foreign' technology is introduced, more widely and in more forms, there will be many more questions that are not anticipated in print or electronic publications, and thus an increasing demand for dynamic information services. While these and other needs continue to grow, the costs of information continue to rise. Costs of books, journals, and reference works have in many cases climbed so high that consumers in the West, including major research universities, cannot afford all the information that is wanted. There are needs for more open and effective information-sharing.
Individuals struggle to maintain contact with colleagues in their own countries and overseas.
The sum of these restrictions can frustrate the best efforts to implement projects and to sustain relationships. The new technologies can transport information to wherever it is needed in efficient and responsive forms, and help maintain links among colleagues, including those who may be the most informed thinkers and decision-makers working on a problem but who are literally worlds apart. The Internet speeds communication, increases the radius of contact, and reduces needs for localization of data in libraries or paper publications. It promises extraordinary benefits for poorer countries in Asia but is not sufficient to close to the knowledge gap. Capacities of many lines and links are low, and some local networks are saturated.