From "fragm2":

GLOBAL VILLAGE: The world seen as one interdependent community linked by telecommunications. (Oxford Canadian dictionary)

GLOBALIZATION:

· refers to recent interpenetration of national labour markets and the communication-mediated creation of a single global capital market
· Globalization is connected with "telecommunications" with high speed digital networks' increasing bandwidth
· creates growing interconnectedness in the world
· stands for emergence of a world economy, world polity and world culture ("Globalization, inequality and difference: Consequences of transnational flows")

Negative effects:
· Fragmentation=>the process or an instance of breaking into fragments, or isolated or incomplete parts (Oxford Canadian dictionary)
· economic globalization tends to shift balance of power towards business, which is becoming increasingly global and mobile, away from workers and the state which remain more national
· Digital divide=>wealth and opportunities disproportionately favours privileged; more privileged capitalists, managers, bureaucrats and investors are leading beneficiaries of globalization
· concern that it will increase range of options available to privileged elite, and of spreading neo-liberal market ideology that threatens human rights because transnational business is using globalization that give power to neo-classically liberal states that give more emphasis to markets, so markets have more power than states
· also spreads the homogenized Western "consumer culture" (cultural consequence)

Positive effects (bridging digital divide):

· wide range of goods, services and opportunities created
· only some transfer of resources from relatively privileged Western workers to less privileged workers
· number of computers predicted to be linked by Internet will go from 100 million to one billion by 2005; number of satellites, wireless access and availability of bandwidth (pipe through which information flows) predicated to increase greatly; decreasing dependency on telephone lines and cable ("Reinventing Diplomacy: A Virtual Necessity", Gordon S. Smith, United States Institute of Peace, Feb./99, www.usip.org/oc/vd/vdr/gsmithISA99.html)
· virtually unrestricted access to information where anyone with a computer and modem can log on to get mainly free information

(Globalizing) Fragmegration (fragmentation + integration):

· fragmegration is a "decentralized fusion of global and local interests . . . a concept that juxtaposes the processes of fragmentation and integration occurring within and among organizations, communities, countries and transnational systems such that it is virtually impossible not to treat them as interactive and causally linked"; leads to dispersion of authority away from states and increases role and powers of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), social movements and other transnational networks ("Sovereignty and Diplomacy in Information Age", James Roseneau)

· contradictory processes of increasing global interdependence and fragmentation fundamentally linked, according to Roseneau
· explosion of transnational linkages immensely facilitated by telecommunications technologies
· information technologies central to globalization of production and finance
· resurgence of local activities and communities (old and new) fostered by increasingly effective digital access to centers of power and resources
· individuals empowered to make choices and develop relationships not previously available to them
· human rights advocates and citizens' use of electoral, organizational and moral power enhanced significantly by globalization to establish, maintain and protect states committed to economic and social rights
· alliance created between government or state elites and public
· helps to maintain or re-establish social control over markets to ensure economic and social rights for everyone
· more than any other technology, Internet gives non-state actors effective means to voice their concerns about their environs to wide audience, transcending local, regional and national boundaries, independently of traditional media, publishing and dissemination outlets ("Diffusion of Diplomacy" by Sheryl J. Brown, Margarita S. Studemeister)
· Internet fosters community action, transparency and political equality (Brown & Studemeister)
· Citizens can access Internet under democratic and free market conventions; becomes "Netizens" regardless of policies and positions of their government (Brown & Studemeister)
· Changed geopolitical landscape: nation states no longer enjoy exclusive power to legitimize or delegitimize new regimes, recognize new states, and negotiate and execute treaties and international law; international power contenders represented by powerful multinational corporations and communities, coalitions of NGOs and international organizations and student bodies (Canadian Federation of Students, Oxfam Canada, RaisingtheRoof.org)
· Transparent nature of Internet allows shift from hard power (military sanctions and hardball politics) to soft power (those who use access to convince more people about the credibility of their pitch gain more power; citizens' information network forced national government to become accountable to global politics and the playing field is leveled
· Cyberactivism lack of group or community homogeneity and hierarchy challenges states and other power groups
· Increasing importance of NGOs (15,000 NGOs operating internationally) makes soft power a necessity, with power of ideas, activism and networks (i.e. NGOs have their own sites regularly accessed); government and aid agencies are working more closely than ever with NGOs

Localization (Similar to Fragmegration):
· another aspect of globalization where the "local and global" are increasingly linked without the intermediation of the state; new information and transportation technologies increasingly allow weak (or have-nots) have more power than before
· ordinary citizens with access to latest communications & transportation technologies interact more with one another regardless of boundaries between or interests of states
· stands for the rise of localized, culturally defined identities within boundaries of state

Examples of Globalization:
· STATS: Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association says one in three Canadians has a mobile phone; the Meta Group estimates that more than 32 million workers in U.S. talk in transit, and by 2005, the Gartner Group estimates there will be 137 million wireless data subscribers in North America, creating huge potential for new m-commerce services
· Firms and their technologies are joining forces to hasten development of effective global infrastructure served by a wireless carrier, which is necessary to launch e-commerce (i.e. mobile phone giants Rogers Wireless Inc. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc agreed to market new voice-enabled version of BlackBerry pager in next-generation wireless networks; Waterloo-based Research In Motion (RIM), maker of popular BlackBerry pager (has 20,000 Canadian Blackberry pager customers) offering trial service in Netherlands, Ireland, Germany as part of European Wireless Network; $400/year + one year connection fees and $5/mo. for software
· STATS: Roger's Wireless has 26,000 Blackberry subscribers on its Mobitex data-only- Network; it will become first wireless carrier in Canada to offer RIM's new device (can make phone calls, send e-mail, access Internet, and also functions as electronic organizer, scheduler and address book)

SOCIAL, ECONOMIC & ENVIRONMENTAL:

· Internet & Web access began to transform every aspect of trade, marketing and corporate human resources and communications.

Examples:

· m-commerce key component in creating rich, interactive global information network; blends old and new business models, creates hybrids like online auctions and wireless bidding that will create new industries world-wide
· business-to-business e-commerce in Canada will surpass $270-billion by 2005, according to Forrester Research, making it one of largest Internet economies
· Forrester Research also estimates that global Net commerce will jump to U.S. $6.9 trillion by 2004

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS:

POSITIVE:
· Video conferencing, e-mail, ICQ, instant messaging, alternatives to travelling (cuts down on pollution from driving)
· Department of Energy's Laurence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated that annual electricity consumption of all office and network equipment in U.S. is about 74 terawat hours or two per cent of nation's total (3 per cent to include manufacturing of hardware); says Net not cause for power crisis ("Is the Net to blame for the Energy Crisis? Todd Lappin, Aug./01, from GeoFieldProjResearch.doc)
· Nearly 150 million computers predicted to be recycled in 2005, and only 55 million will be sent to landfills "Computer recycling: Resources and research)
· Telework offers economic, social and environmental benefits; by working in "virtual offices" at home, reduces need to drive, avoid side trips without commuting; also cuts back on use of energy, hot water and soap with less laundry needed (STATS: For AT&T, based on avoided commutes, teleworking avoids 110 million miles of unnecessary driving a year, saving about 5.1 million gallons of gas and emission of 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide; significant reduction of dirty clothes from two laundry loads a week to about one per week (teleworkers can work in their PJs); over one quarter of all AT&T managers telework at least once a week, more than 10 per cent have no assigned workspace in any AT&T building and work in "virtual offices") ("Complex systems and rebound effects" by Dr. Braden Allenby, AT&T Environment, Health and Safety Vice President); "The patterns tend to shift from a mental model where one must drive to everything (beginning, of course, with work) to one where the world comes to you, in the form of e-mail and online services", Allenby says.

NEGATIVE:

· Negative health effects with correlation between cellphone use and cancer
· Increased Internet use discourages exercise, promotes inactivity

LANDSCAPE:

· E-mail replacing snail mail; observers say postal services aren't as popular as newer, faster technologies like e-mail ("Canada Post hikes prices", Cambridge Reporter)
· Connected Canadians like never before and postal officials admit snail mail appears headed for a steady decline
· Raised prices, slower and less convenient delivery services, post offices will go out of business, predicts communications expert Charles Meadow.
· Meadows says Internet use exploded, rising to more than 4.5 trillion messages sent in '99 from 10 billion messages in 1986
· Canada Post spokesman John Caines said mail volume dropped slightly over past five years, falling by about one or two per cent each year BUT overall mail use increased slightly over same period from strong use by businesses and advertisers, who rely on security of mail for important letters and documents via snail mail

DIGITAL DIVIDE refers to the gap between those who can effectively use new information and communication tools, such as the Internet, and those who cannot. While a consensus does not exist on the extent of the divide (and whether the divide is growing or narrowing), researchers are nearly unanimous in acknowledging that some sort of divide exists at this point in time. (from www.digitaldividenetwork.org)