The Internet-Based Economy and Rural Economic Competitiveness

The first Internet Web browser was introduced in 1993. Today, the Internet seems ubiquitous and indispensable. We have witnessed a true phenomenon with the growth of the World Wide Web. Advances in the Internet and other telecommunications technologies have opened new frontiers in communication, commerce, medicine, politics, and almost every other aspect of private and public life. It is not an overstatement to suggest that the Internet is among the most powerful forces shaping the early twenty-first century.