The Internet and Sustainable Development

Informatization is the process through which the new communication technologies are used as a means for furthering socioeconomic development, as a nation increasingly becomes an information society. Informatization is often accompanied by processes of globalization and privatization, as free-market competition increases on a worldwide basis (with the exception of certain nations). In recent years, informatization has provided an alternative to previous strategies of development communication as an important means of social change. Development through the process of informatization may be sustainable, because its sources of funding and other resources are institutionalized. Thus, development by informatization fits with such other worldwide processes as globalization and privatization. Use of the Internet may contribute to sustainable development by substituting for personal travel, thus saving energy.