Emerging markets

Information and communication technology (ICT) is being used to increase gross national happiness (GNH) in Bhutan. Bhutan Information and communication technology Policy and Strategies (BIPS) is trying to connect a direct link between ICT and GNH. A meaningful source of employment and income is central to happiness. Alongside the generic draw of low cost, tech-skilled graduates, one can identify a number of Bhutanese unique selling points that may help the country find its own particular niche, and create jobs from technology. Social media, Skype and other applications can help maintain, perhaps even strengthen, social capital at a distance. In Bhutan and elsewhere, people should be bringing to the fore the kind of e-mentoring, e-volunteering, e-assistance applications that have somewhat languished on the sidelines of digital economy discussions.