Marketing Your City’s Industries to the World: Building and Retaining Export Oriented Clusters through Strategic ICT Investments

Abstract

This chapter discusses the importance of making strategic investments in information communication technologies (ICTs) in order to benefit from globalization and the benefits created by robust exportoriented business clusters. Examples of investments made by local governments in India, Jamaica, and Hong Kong will illustrate how an adept ICT strategy can position a city to grow local industries and encourage exports. The authors argue that a coherent and comprehensive city marketing plan can attract and retain investments and play an instrumental role in the city’s future prosperity. Intelligent investments in ICT infrastructure that address a city’s unique attributes, objectives, needs, and competitive advantages can open up new export markets, especially in the service industry where ICTs can make local labour globally accessible.