Free thesis proposal on the impact of the internet on global economic development

The advent of the internet has changed the world in ways that probably even its creators had not foreseen. From constrained beginnings, the internet has donned social mantle today, connecting people, communities and countries at an unprecedented level. Whenever we expect the web to have reached the peak of its utility, technological advances stretch its capabilities to new horizons. It can be said that the economic growth potential and technological development implications of the internet will continue to evolve in the future.
However, the impact of the internet on economic growth, globalization of companies and expansion of businesses has not been accurately gauged. While most companies have taken their product and service offering online, especially in the retail sector, the business gain derived from this and the potential that it holds has not been measured effectively. Governments of developed countries have automated most of their department functions. While several developing countries such as India have begun the process of automation, internet based technology has not been leveraged to its maximum capacity. There are numerous nations that have not undertaken any automation and their citizenry still relies on traditional methods of interaction.
I believe that, for the optimum utilization and adoption of internet technologies, it is crucial to understand the impact it has had on overall economic growth and development of nations. Analyzing the benefits of the internet on business growth will enable companies to measure the return on investment for expenditure made on internet technology and possibly drive initiatives towards adoption of future innovations. Measuring the benefits of efficiencies and monetary gain derived from the implementation of such technology will enable governments to promote the use of the internet.
Considering the multi-faceted and wide spread reach of the internet, it will be insufficient to focus solely on one company or a single country to analyze its impact. Instead, conducting a comparative study between a primary group consisting of: a) internet based businesses, b) moderately internet dependent businesses, and c) businesses functioning on a fully traditional model expect for basic communication through emails. This study would measure the overall operational and marketing cost each of these categories and measure the efficiencies and cost implications. Through this analysis, we can decipher the monetary benefit and business gain that can be derived by offering product and service offerings and virtualization of organizational functions.
A secondary group would consist of three categories of: a) developed nations with internet based government functions, b) developing countries with semi-automated functions moderately reliant on the internet, and c) developing or underdeveloped nations that have no virtualization of government functions. This study will evaluate the benefits derived from the internet in specific areas such as filing and payment of taxes, submission and processing of applications sent to various government departments, tracking of the progress of applications, managing a database of citizen information.
Finally, a third group of countries categorized as: a) countries with a majority of businesses based on the internet and fully virtualized government function, b) countries with a high percentage of online businesses but a moderately virtualized government, and c) countries with minimum virtualization among its businesses and no virtualization of the government. Such a study would enable us to compare the rate of economic growth of countries within each of these categories and correlate the same with the prevalence of internet use in the corporate and government spheres.
Considering that each of these studies would require a tremendous amount of data, I do not think it would be practicable to undertake extensive primary data collection. Instead, conducting an empirical study of data sources available on each of the study groups and sub-categories will enable a more controlled research and analysis, the quality of which can be ensured by relying solely on reputed and reviewed sources of information. These could be peer reviewed journals, government websites as well as information made available by international organizations such as the UN.
I believe taking this multi-pronged approach will allow us to study the impact of the internet on economic growth holistically. It will enable us to study the impact on businesses and governments individually, as well as provide a comparative analysis between the economic growths of countries. The current knowledge base of relevant information is highly diluted and lacks direction. A consolidation of latest data, empirical study and analysis of the economic growth implications of leveraging the internet in corporate and government sectors is the need of the hour.