We all get so immersed in our busy professional lives that we often forget to reflect on the big picture and human side of information technology and its role in global society. I was reminded of this when I recently spoke with Jiten Patel, whom I had the pleasure of working with when he was CIO at the microfinance organization, FINCA.

Like you, Jiten works in IT-driven organizations and deals with the complexities of delivering secure consumer technologies and cloud computing services to internal and external stakeholders. In particular, his lens is open to the worldwide view — especially, developing nations. In his current role as CEO of MicroPlanet Technologies, Jiten provides cloud services to microfinance institutions that, in turn, make microloans in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

For some of us, it’s difficult to connect the dots between high-technology platforms such as cloud computing and the poverty, lack of infrastructure and instability that many of the world’s populations face. We frequently hear about the boom in cell phone use in developing nations and the growth of high-tech industries such as call centers, often outsourced from U.S. businesses. But the realities of unreliable electricity, lack of Internet connectivity and insufficient skills are far more common. As Jiten writes in his blog on Smart Enterprise Exchange this month, information and communication technology (ICT) holds out promise and opportunities for these nations despite huge challenges. I encourage you to comment on his blog and to get involved as you can. You can also join a group on this site to discuss issues with your peers in London, India or Mexico Or on the topics of cloud computing, green IT or Web 2.0.

All you need to do is scan the headlines to see stories about ICT’s role in economic growth in countries from South   Africa to Kenya; Brazil to the Philippines. Brazil this month announced that it is offering 75,000 scholarships for secondary students to study science and engineering — fields that lag significantly behind the study of humanities. Right now, Brazil has a shortage of qualified applicants for the high-tech industries that are growing most quickly. This contrasts with other fast-developing nations, such as India and the Philippines, where graduate choices are heavily skewed toward computing, science and engineering.

If you’d like a more academic explanation of global economics, several upcoming new business books may provide helpful background and food for thought. The basic principle of Western capitalism is the subject of two upcoming business books — each with a different conclusion. Based on previews of the book Capitalism at Risk: Rethinking the Role of Business, co-authors and Harvard Business School professors Joseph Bower, Herman Leonard and Lynn Paine, argue that while governments must play a role, businesses should take the lead in sustaining market capitalism. Due out in October, the book explains how business “must serve both as innovator and activist, developing corporate strategies that effect change at the community, national and international levels.”

By contrast, Standing on the Sun: How the Explosion of Capitalism Abroad Will Change Business Everywhere, due out next February, contends that new economic models will unfold as the emerging economies of the world — primarily, Brazil, India, China and others — surge forward. The co-authors, Christopher Meyer and Julia Kirby, ask: “As these fast-growing, low-income economies mature, will they adopt the practices of the old guard or will they make their own way, and create the next prevailing version of capitalism?”

Finally, in India Inside: The Emerging Innovation Challenge to the West, due out in November, leading management experts Nirmalya Kumar and Phanish Puranam describe the quiet, but dramatic rise in innovation occurring in India — from B2B products and R&D outsourcing to process and management innovation. The authors maintain that “for certain kinds of innovation, the long-held monopoly of the developed world is over.”

So, as some of you wind down the last days of summer holidays, or perhaps as you travel the globe, observe the rise of technology and weigh its implications for future economies. Then consider: What role will you and your enterprise play on this global stage?

Paula  Klein

Editor and Community Manager

Smart Enterprise Exchange