Big Data and Cloud Computing for Development: Lessons from Key Industries and Economies in the Global South

This book provides a framework for evaluating big data and cloud computing based on how they evolve to fit users’ needs in developing countries in key areas, such as agriculture and education. The authors discuss how this framework can be utilized by businesses, governments, and consumers to accelerate economic growth and overcome information and communication barriers.

By examining the ways in which cloud computing can drive social, economic, and environmental transformation, readers gain a nuanced understanding of the opportunities and challenges these technologies offer. The authors also provide an authoritative and up-to-date account of big data’s diffusion into a wide range of developing economies, such as Brazil and China, illustrating key concepts through in-depth case studies. Special attention is paid to economic development in the context of the new Sustainable Development Goals formulated by the United Nations, introducing readers to the most modern standard of economic evaluation.

Students of information management, entrepreneurship, and development, as well as policy makers, researchers, and practitioners, will find Big Data and Cloud Computing for Development an interesting read and a useful reference source.

Nir Kshetri is a Professor at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro, USA, and a Research Fellow at the Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University, Japan. He is the author of Global Entrepreneurship, published by Routledge in 2014.

Torbjörn Fredriksson is the Head of ICT-related work for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva, Switzerland.

Diana Carolina Rojas Torres is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Universidad de la Sabana, Colombia.