Back to news list Audiences at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) discovered the exciting potential Wales has for levelling the playing field within economic development, during a professorial lecture held last night Wednesday 18th November 2009. It is increasingly suggested that advances in technology have levelled the global economic playing field. Every company and individual, it is argued, can be a global economic player no matter where on earth they are located. In a flat world, the argument goes, ‘you can innovate without having to emigrate’. So, has the world really become that flat? During the lecture, Professor Robert Huggins of UWIC’s Cardiff School of Management examined the flat world thesis from the perspective of measuring and understanding the competitiveness of locations. In addition, he illustrated that although the economic world in certain respects can be said to be flattening, it remains incredibly spiky. Competitiveness ‘peaks’ and ‘valleys’ at a local and regional level indicate that the world is far from a level playing field. Professor Huggins argues that uneven economic development and competitiveness differences across particular locations result from differences in the creation and use of knowledge and the capability to innovate. For government, improving competitiveness in the age of the knowledge-based economy represents a range of significant and difficult-to-achieve challenges. 19/11/2009Is the world really flat?
