Australian commercial-critical infrastructure management protection

Secure management of Australia\u27s commercial critical infrastructure presents ongoing challenges to owners and the government. Although managed via a high-level information sharing collaboration of government and business, critical infrastructure protection is further complicated by the lack of a lower-level scalable model exhibiting its various levels, sectors and sub-sectors. This research builds on the work of Marasea (2003) to establish a descriptive critical infrastructure model and also considers the influence and proposed modelling of critical infrastructure dependency inter-relationships.<br /

Total Factor Productivity and Technical Efficiency of Indian Manufacturing: The Role of Infrastructure and Information & Communication Technology

Drawing on a recent dataset of the Indian manufacturing industry for 1994 to 2008, this paper shows for eight sectors that core infrastructure and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) matter for Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and Technical Efficiency (TE).In the analysis, we use a range of advanced estimation techniques to overcome problems of non-stationary, omitted variables, endogeneity and reverse causality (such as System-GMM, panel cointegration and FMOLS). Estimation results suggest that the impact of core infrastructure is rather strong on TFP and TE (elasticity of 0.32 and 0.17 respectively), while the effect of ICT appears slightly smaller (0.12 and 0.08, respectively). This finding is of particular importance in the Indian context of infrastructure bottlenecks. It strongly supports the idea that a lack of infrastructure can hamper growth in developing countries. Our results also reveal that the impact of infrastructure and ICT varies among the industries. Interestingly, Transport Equipments, Metal & Metal Products and Textile, which are sectors relatively more exposed to foreign competition, are also found to be more sensitive to infrastructure endowment. This result can be extended to the Chemical industry for TE. This finding implies that improving core and ICT infrastructure would proportionally benefit more to these sectors, which could play a leading role in the competitiveness and the industrial growth of the Indian economy.infrastructure;Manufacturing Industry;India;Information and Communication Technology;total factor productivity;Technical efficiency

Total Factor Productivity and Technical Efficiency of Indian Manufacturing: The Role of Infrastructure and Information & Communication Technology

Drawing on a recent dataset of the Indian manufacturing industry for 1994 to 2008, this paper shows for eight sectors that core infrastructure and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) matter for Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and Technical Efficiency (TE).In the analysis, we use a range of advanced estimation techniques to overcome problems of non-stationary, omitted variables, endogeneity and reverse causality (such as System-GMM, panel cointegration and FMOLS). Estimation results suggest that the impact of core infrastructure is rather strong on TFP and TE (elasticity of 0.32 and 0.17 respectively), while the effect of ICT appears slightly smaller (0.12 and 0.08, respectively). This finding is of particular importance in the Indian context of infrastructure bottlenecks. It strongly supports the idea that a lack of infrastructure can hamper growth in developing countries. Our results also reveal that the impact of infrastructure and ICT varies among the industries. Interestingly, Transport Equipments, Metal & Metal Products and Textile, which are sectors relatively more exposed to foreign competition, are also found to be more sensitive to infrastructure endowment. This result can be extended to the Chemical industry for TE. This finding implies that improving core and ICT infrastructure would proportionally benefit more to these sectors, which could play a leading role in the competitiveness and the industrial growth of the Indian economy.infrastructure, Manufacturing Industry, India, Information and Communication Technology, total factor productivity, Technical efficiency

Burkina Faso's infrastructure : a continental perspective

Infrastructure contributed 1.3 percentage points to Burkina Faso's annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the past decade, much of it due to improvements in information and communication technology (ICT). Raising the country's infrastructure endowment to that of the region's middle-income countries (MICs) could boost annual growth by more than 3 percentage points per capita. Burkina Faso has made significant progress developing its infrastructure in recent years, especially in the ICT sector. The country has also moved forward in the areas of road maintenance and water and sanitation, but still faces challenges in these sectors, as well as in the electricity sector. As of 2007, Burkina Faso faced an annual infrastructure funding gap of $165 million per year, or 4 percent of GDP. That gap could be cut in half by the adoption of more appropriate technologies to meet infrastructure targets in the transport and the water and sanitation sectors. Even if Burkina Faso were unable to increase infrastructure spending or otherwise close the infrastructure funding gap, simply by moving from a 10- to 18-year horizon the country could address its efficiency gap and meet the posited infrastructure targets.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Infrastructure Economics,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,E-Business,Energy Production and Transportation

The Central African Republic's infrastructure : a continental perspective

Between 2000 and 2005, infrastructure contributed less than 1 percentage point to the Central African Republic's annual per capita GDP growth, despite substantial spending in the road sector. Raising the country's infrastructure endowment to that of the region's middle-income countries could boost annual growth by about 3.5 percentage points. The CAR has made significant progress in the transport, water, power, and information and communications technology (ICT) sectors. But the high cost of fuel, which raises transportation and energy costs, has been a vexing issue across all infrastructure sectors. The CAR's most pressing infrastructural challenge lies in the transport sector, which relies heavily on neighboring countries and could benefit from improved road conditions and enhanced performance at the port of Douala in Cameroon. In the power sector, the country suffers from a deteriorating infrastructure stock that it can no longer afford to maintain, and an inefficient and unreliable power supply. Additional challenges include a need for improved infrastructure in the water and sanitation and ICT sectors. Addressing the CAR's infrastructure challenges will require sustained expenditure of $346 million per year over the next decade. The nation already spends around$134 million per year on infrastructure, with $37 million a year lost to inefficiencies of various kinds. If those inefficiencies were fully eliminated, the country's annual infrastructure funding gap would be$183 million per year. Improvements in funding, coupled with the prospect of an economic rebound and prudent policies, could lift the country from its fragile state back to and beyond the prosperity standards it once enjoyed.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Energy Production and Transportation,Infrastructure Economics,E-Business

International benchmarking of Lesotho's infrastructure performance

The author provides a preliminary benchmarking of infrastructure performance in Lesotho in four major sectors--electricity, water and sanitation, information and communication technology, and road transportation--against the relevant group of comparator countries using a new World Bank international data base with objective and perception-based indicators of infrastructure performance from over 200 countries. The results of the benchmarking are revealing of several major, comparative deficiencies in infrastructure performance in Lesotho: (1) extremely low access to electricity and its affordability; (2) poor coverage, quality, and the cost of local (non-cellular) telephony; and (3) poor quality of roads. Infrastructure service delivery in electricity, telephony, and roads is well below what would be expected, on average, for a country in Lesotho's income group. In these sectors, Lesotho also compares unfavorably with many other geographical country groups. Unless addressed, such infrastructure shortfalls are likely to adversely affect the welfare of Lesotho's poor, and the cost competitiveness and growth prospects of a range of economic sectors (such as tourism and trade) that depend critically on a stable and competitive supply of basic infrastructure service. They could also affect the speed and quality of Lesotho's regional economic integration within the South Africa Customs Union (SACU) sub-region with attendant consequences for the long-term growth of regional trade and real output. By contrast, Lesotho's performance is solid in the access to improved water and sanitation, in the aggregate and in both rural and urban areas. Finally, this benchmarking, combined with more in-depth, sector analyses, could provide policymakers in Lesotho a useful guide to the areas of infrastructure performance requiring attention.Infrastructure Regulation,Urban Services to the Poor,Urban Slums Upgrading,Banks&Banking Reform,Roads&Highways

International benchmarking of South Africa's infrastructure performance

The paper provides a first systematic, comprehensive benchmarking of South Africa's infrastructure performance in four major sectors--electricity, water and sanitation, information and communication technology, and transportation--against the relevant group of comparator countries using a new World Bank international data base with objective and perception-based indicators of infrastructure performance from over 200 countries. Specifically, the paper seeks to answer a number of relevant questions: How does South Africa compare on major indicators of infrastructure sector performance against the relevant country groups? What do outcome indicators tell us about the relative strengths and weaknesses of South Africa's infrastructure compared with various income and geographical comparator groups of countries? Where are the largest deviations-positive and negative-from the benchmarks and other comparators? And how does one interpret some of these comparisons to be useful for policy purposes?Infrastructure Regulation,Economic Theory&Research,Income,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Economic Conditions and Volatility

Cameroon's infrastructure : a continental perspective

The poor state of Cameroon's infrastructure is a key bottleneck to the nation's economic growth. From 2000 to 2005, improvements in information and communications technology (ICT) boosted Cameroon's growth performance by 1.26 percentage points per capita, while deficient power infrastructure held growth back by 0.28 points per capita. If Cameroon could improve its infrastructure to the level of Africa's middle-income countries, it could raise its per capita economic growth rate by about 3.3 percentage points. Cameroon has made significant progress in many aspects of infrastructure, implementing institutional reforms across a broad range of sectors with a view to attracting private-sector participation and finance, which has generally led to performance improvements. But the country still faces a number of important infrastructure challenges, including poor road quality, expensive and unreliable electricity, and a stagnating and uncompetitive ICT sector. Cameroon currently spends around $930 million per year on infrastructure, with$586 million lost to inefficiencies. Removing those inefficiencies would leave an infrastructure funding gap of $350 million per year. Given Cameroon's relatively strong economy and natural-resource base, as well as its success in attracting private financing, the country should be able to close that gap and meet its infrastructure goals within 13 years.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Infrastructure Economics,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Energy Production and Transportation,Banks&Banking Reform

Knowledge Infrastructure, Service Sector, And Economic Growth In Africa

Economic theory and studies have theoretical and empirical evidence suggesting that countries which remain underdeveloped have consistently low levels of human capital, and a large agricultural sector. Of equal importance are the roles of the information technology and service sectors in improving economic growth and stability. This paper examined the extent to which non-industrial factors, such as information technology, knowledge infrastructure, and the service sectors activities helped contribute to the economy of African nations. The results from the analysis of 38 African nations indicate the information infrastructure for index public expenditures on education and personal computers per 1,000 capita contributed significantly to economic productivity