Technological Globalization

• Technological globalization is one of eight types of globalization
• It describes globalization in 21st Century information societies.
• Technological globalization involves the spread of technologies across borders, including technological knowledge and the movement of technological goods.
• Rapid technological innovation in the 21st Century has accelerated technological globalization.
• A digital divide between the rich and poor raises concerns about economic mobility.
• Technological globalization is the increasing speed of technological diffusion across the global economy, especially from developed to developing nations.
• Arjun Appadurai identified technological globalization as one of five 'spheres of globalization', labeling it the 'technosphere’.
• Technologies spread more easily due to political and economic globalization like free trade agreements.
• Technologies like the internet and cell phones facilitate cross-border trade and interactions.
• Air flight efficiency has increased the flow of people.

Examples of Technological Globalization

• Multinational technology corporations have grown due to trade liberalization and economic globalization.
• Multinational Corporations include Microsoft, Apple and Sony
• Multinational mobile phone corporations include Samsung and Apple
• Mobile banking has accelerated access to money and allowed faster capital movement via smartphone stock trading apps.
• Mechanization of manufacturing lowers labor costs but can displace traditional manufacturing jobs.
• Media globalization spreads media via technologies like computers and cell phones.
• The US exports media culture through Hollywood films.
• Cultural homogenization worries that indigenous cultures will be diluted into one world culture.
• A related theory is technological determinism.

Advantages

• Digital technologies speed up customs, move money efficiently, and expedite goods transportation.
• International currency conversion apps like TransferWise exemplify easier international trade
• Automating trade creates a more cohesive globalized economy and economies of scale.
• One nation with a competitive advantage can mass-produce a good cheaply for the world.
• McDonaldization is a related concept.
• The World Bank found that it has contributed to rising domestic productivity in advanced and emerging economies.
• Technologies enable more efficient production with less manpower, reducing costs and allowing business scaling.
• Overall poverty rates around the world have been reduced
• Rapid technological progress in developing countries has been central to poverty reduction in recent decades
• Technology's global spread enables scientists and engineers worldwide to engage in global competition improving technology development.
• The internet allows people to connect with others sharing hobbies and interests helping people develop identities beyond traditional formations.

Disadvantages

• Wealthier individuals often have better access to technology than poorer individuals
• The digital divide gives a comparative advantage to wealthier developed nations.
• Factories now use new technologies to automate menial tasks
• Automation worries include potential industry destruction, leading to unemployment and disillusionment
• Andrew Yang warns against the possible effects of automated driverless trucks on the trucking industry.
• Technology has played a key role in globalization by making communication and trade faster, cheaper, and more efficient along with communication, trade, and business
• The internet, social media, and mobile technology have made it easier for people to connect and share information.
• Containerization and air cargo have reduced the cost of transporting goods, which have helped promote international trade.
• Telecommunications and computers have made it easier for businesses to conduct international business.
• New technologies have led to research and development of new medicines and treatments, and to the optimization of crop yields.
• New technologies have allowed for the virtual integration of supply chains.
• Globalization is a driving force for the development of newer technologies.
• The liberalization of economies has led to changes in trade, investments, and technologies.

Technological globalization involves the spread of technologies across borders. Rapid innovation in the 21st century has accelerated this. Technologies spread more easily due to political and economic globalization like free trade agreements, with the internet and cell phones facilitating cross-border trade and interactions.