A retired diplomat wrote in their published memoir: 'During my years in international trade negotiations, I watched technology reshape global commerce. Coun...
Question 1 Report
A retired diplomat wrote in their published memoir:
'During my years in international trade negotiations, I watched technology reshape global commerce. Countries that invested in digital infrastructure attracted foreign companies and created thousands of skilled jobs. Those that did not were left behind, exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished goods. The digital divide between nations is not merely a technology gap; it is an economic and political power imbalance that grows wider each year.'
(a) Identify the main argument made by the diplomat. [2]
(b) The diplomat claims that countries without digital infrastructure are 'left behind'. Explain the chain of reasoning that connects a lack of technology investment to economic disadvantage. [4]
(c) Explain two reasons why a diplomat's memoir might be a valuable but potentially limited source of evidence on this topic. [4]
(d) The diplomat describes the digital divide as 'an economic and political power imbalance'. Explain how limited access to technology could affect a country's political influence internationally. [4]
(e) A technology entrepreneur argues that mobile phone technology has already closed the digital divide in many developing countries. Evaluate this counter-argument, giving one point in its favour and one against. [4]
Answer Details
(a) The main argument made by the diplomat [2]
Countries that fail to invest in digital infrastructure fall behind economically [1], and this technology gap creates a wider imbalance of economic and political power between nations that grows more severe over time [1].
(b) The chain of reasoning connecting lack of technology investment to economic disadvantage [4]
Without digital infrastructure (broadband networks, data centres, reliable electricity for computing), a country cannot attract technology companies or develop a knowledge-based economy [1]. It remains dependent on exporting low-value raw materials while importing expensive manufactured or digital products and services, keeping the terms of trade unfavourable [1]. This means less government revenue, fewer skilled jobs, lower wages, and greater dependence on imports for the technology and services that drive modern economic growth [1]. Over time, the economic gap between digitally advanced and digitally poor nations widens, and each year of underinvestment makes it harder to catch up because the technology frontier continues to advance [1].
(c) Two reasons why a diplomat's memoir is valuable but potentially limited [4]
Valuable [2]: The diplomat has first-hand experience of international trade negotiations over many years and has directly observed how technology investment affected countries' bargaining positions and economic trajectories. This insider perspective provides insights that academic analysis conducted from the outside may lack.
Limited [2]: Memoirs are personal accounts written from the author's own viewpoint and memory. They may be selective in what they report (emphasising episodes that support the author's thesis), shaped by hindsight bias, and lacking the systematic data collection, peer review, and methodological transparency of academic research. The diplomat may also have a personal interest in framing their career as significant.
(d) How limited technology access could affect a country's political influence internationally [4]
Countries with limited technology may be excluded from digital trade platforms and international data-sharing agreements that increasingly govern global commerce, reducing their voice in setting the rules [1]. They have less capacity to develop cybersecurity capabilities or conduct digital diplomacy, making them vulnerable to external interference and less able to protect their interests in cyberspace [1]. In international forums, countries perceived as technologically underdeveloped may carry less influence over the rules governing digital commerce, data privacy, intellectual property, and artificial intelligence, because they lack the technical expertise to contribute meaningfully to these discussions [1]. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle: political marginalisation makes it harder to secure the investment and partnerships needed to develop technology, which in turn perpetuates the marginalisation [1].
(e) Evaluating the counter-argument about mobile phones closing the digital divide [4]
In favour [2]: Mobile phones have given millions of people in developing countries access to banking services (through mobile money platforms like M-Pesa), information, communication, and basic internet services without the need for traditional infrastructure such as landlines, physical bank branches, or fixed broadband. This has been genuinely transformative for financial inclusion and access to information in regions where conventional infrastructure was absent.
Against [2]: Mobile phone access alone does not constitute closing the digital divide. Many users in developing countries have limited data allowances, slow connections, and small screens. They lack access to laptops, broadband, or the computing power needed for education, remote professional work, software development, or running digital businesses. The gap in productive digital capacity between a smartphone user with intermittent 3G and a worker with high-speed broadband and a modern computer remains enormous.
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