ABSTRACT
Revolutionary changes are going on worldwide that will affect the future of East Asia and its relationship with the rest of the world’s economies. Many of today’s developments in the economy, the business world, and the IT/e-business fields already presage what is to come. The process of change is usually gradual. Many changes are introduced a small step at a time. When innovation represents a radical departure, it takes a long time before the new technology is widely diffused among potential users. Often, the new application calls for infrastructure or technical expertise that also takes time to develop. The gradual dissemination of networked computers and availability of Internet services is an example, with some countries providing widespread service and others lagging behind. Gradually most of the world’s economies will move to the sunny side of the digital divide. Similarly, new technologies and programming are first introduced in some advanced countries and then gradually disseminated to the rest of the world. Consequently, we can glimpse the future by looking carefully at existing trends.
