This chapter shows how interconnections do exist within the same sector and how ICTs can provide useful coordinating functions in the sector of health care. This is based on how e-health and other technological variants have been developing around the world and how these are promoting further access to the overall chain of health care. An overall quantitative assessment of the relationships between variables related to health and independent variables representing ICTs are established using multiple regression. The attained results show that statistically significant relationships do globally exist between health improvements and further access to information technologies. These relationships are promising for ensuring further use of advanced technologies in the area of health care in general. While there are variations between countries, the great inputs from advanced technologies in health care appear to be globally promising. Coordination between different players in this area is in the process of showing enhanced outputs at the level of health care and its related channels.
TopInformation and Communication Technologies (ICTs) refer to technologies that allow communication along with the electronic acquisition, processing, and broadcast of information. ICTs have an impact on businesses in both developed and developing countries. New opportunities emerge from the use of ICTs such as the design and delivery of digital goods and margin and revenue increase by accessing foreign markets directly. In the pursuit of development, sectors interact and share knowledge and techniques. These interdependencies among sectors need to be coordinated in order to achieve better progress. For instance, the economic performance influences and is impacted by performances in health and education sectors. In addition, there are variations between countries and regions in benefiting from these interdependencies. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the importance of coordinating ICTs to benefit from the variations by sector and by country and region (developed versus developing, especially MENA) in promoting development.
This collaboration has to do with the way ICTs can be helpful in education, health, social and economic performances and how they are used to coordinate interdependencies within and between these sectors. This chapter explains how ICTs and related technologies have been means to improve the lives of people and compares between the era of limited ICTs access and the era of reduced digital divide and improved access to ICTs, including the enhancement of old functions and the creation of new ones such as e-commerce, e-health, e-education, e-tourism, e-finance and e-trade. Developed economies are assumed to benefit more from these ICTs than developing ones. It also seems that the MENA region has the potential of performing better.