There is an assumption about technology that the frontier is in the established places — the research parks of the advanced economies, the labs of the global companies. The assumption has a long history, and it is increasingly false.
The frontier of technology is being built in the developing world too — in the fintech that leapfrogs the bank, in the green energy that skips the grid, in the local solutions that the global models do not fit. The frontier is not one place; it is many, and the developing world is building its own.
The fintech frontier
The most visible frontier of the developing world’s technology is the fintech — the finance built for the unbanked.
The mobile money that gave the transaction to the unbanked, the credit that the credit bureau never knew, the insurance that was built for the informal — the fintech of the developing world is not the imitation of the developed; it is the solution to the needs that the developed model left out. The frontier is the finance of the excluded, and the exclusion is the opportunity.
This is why the fintech matters: it is the frontier built for the people the global model did not serve.
The green leap
The developing world is also building the green frontier, and the leap is the advantage.
The solar that arrives where the grid did not, the mini-grid that serves the village the central system missed, the storage that makes the local power reliable — the green technology of the developing world is built for the places that were never connected, and the building is the leap. The green frontier is the electrification of the unserved, and the unserved is the opportunity.
This is why the green leap matters: it is the frontier built for the places the old system skipped.
The local solutions
The developing world’s frontier is also the local — the solutions that the global models do not fit.
The logistics built for the crowded city, the agriculture tooled for the small plot, the health service designed for the rural reach, the education built for the mobile — the local solutions are the adaptations that the global product did not make, and the adapting is the innovation. The local is not the lesser version; it is the solution to the conditions that the global never faced.
This is why the local matters: it is the frontier built for the actual conditions, and the conditions are the design brief.
The talent of the frontier
The frontier is being built by a talent that is the developing world’s own, and the talent is the foundation.
The engineers, the designers and the founders of the developing world are building the solutions to their own conditions — the understanding of the local that the outsider lacks, and the stake in the outcome that the global model does not have. The talent is the frontier’s engine, and the engine is the local knowledge. The frontier is being built by the people who live where it is built.
This is why the talent matters: it is the frontier’s foundation, and the foundation is the local understanding.
The innovation of the constraint
The developing world’s frontier is the innovation of the constraint, and the constraint is the spur.
The building without the resources forces the ingenuity — the cheaper, the simpler, the more efficient. The constraint that the developed world does not face is the developing world’s design pressure, and the pressure produces the innovation. The frugal solution is the frontier’s product, and the product is the constraint’s response.
This is why the constraint matters: it is the frontier’s spur, and the spur is the innovation.
The global relevance
The developing world’s frontier is increasingly relevant to the whole world, and the relevance is the proof.
The mobile money that was built for the unbanked is now studied by the banks of the developed; the solar that was built for the unconnected is now the model for the distributed; the frugal that was built for the constrained is now the answer to the resource-scarce. The solutions built for the developing world are becoming the models for the future, and the becoming is the frontier’s global significance.
This is why the relevance matters: the frontier built in the developing world is the frontier the whole world is learning from.
The honest conclusion
The frontier technologies being built in the developing world are a frontier in their own right, and the building is the frontier.
The fintech for the unbanked, the green leap for the unconnected, the local solutions for the actual conditions, the talent of the local, the innovation of the constraint and the global relevance — the developing world is not waiting for the frontier to arrive; it is building its own.
The frontier is not one place; it is many, and the developing world’s is being built now — by the talent that lives there, for the conditions that exist there and increasingly for the whole world that is learning from it. The frontier of technology is being redrawn, and the developing world is one of its newest and most consequential frontiers.