In recent years, rapid technological progress has helped raise income and alleviate poverty in many developing countries. The spread of cell phones, computers, and other technological innovations has generated economic growth, while also improving health care and agricultural production in developing nations. But these nations still have a long way to go to catch up to the developed world. VOA's Bill Rodgers explores the impact of technology on the developing world.

Traditional healer Musa Kayairanga of Rwanda uses herbs and ointments to treat his patients, and over the years he has learned a lot about natural medicines.

After learning how to use the computer at a rural Rwandan telecenter, the 62-year old healer says he now exchanges information with other herbal doctors as far away as Canada.

I have been exchanging experiences with them, he says, and now I have improved my knowledge of herbs and plants to treat people.

This ability to communicate from such remote regions shows how technology is changing life in developing countries.

"Technological progress is ultimately probably the most important driver of incomes, of growth in developing countries," said Andrew Burns, the lead economist at the World Bank, and main author of a recent report on technology in developing nations.

The study found that technology has spread faster in emerging economies than in rich nations. It also found that technological progress has helped raise incomes in developing countries and reduced the share of people living in absolute poverty from 29 percent in 1990 to 18 percent in 2004.

"When we take a look at who are the good performers in terms of income growth, in terms of improving living standards, those are the countries that have the highest rate of technological progress," said Burns. "So for example, in East Asia and the Pacific we see something in the range of four and five percent per annum improvements in productivity."

Advances in communications technologies have spurred the growth of so-called call centers, centralized offices where most of the phone calls for a particular business can be answered. These centers, often located in countries like India or Pakistan, where wages are relatively low, serve both domestic and international markets and have contributed to economic growth by providing well-paid jobs and new skills to workers who otherwise might not have had such opportunities.

"It improves my language skills, it improves my sales skills, it improves my confidence and all that. It gives you experience how to work, how to deal with people," Ahsan Saeed, a young call center worker in Karachi, Pakistan.