There was a time when new telecommunications services, consumer electronics developments and media content were invariably tested in developed nations and then eventually made their way to the developing world. That time is rapidly coming to an end.

The Accenture study, Telecommunications Competitive Future Research: A Consumer Perspective, surveyed a number of sophisticated early adopters of technology devices and networked services in major economies around the world (a group we term "tech-forwards"). Because our survey sample included not only the United States, Europe and Japan but also Brazil, China and India, our data analysis uncovered several interesting insights about tech-forward consumers in developing nations compared with their counterparts in the industrialized world.

The headline finding from the research is that advanced users of communications services in emerging economies are setting a pace at least as fast as those in the developed world. Although these consumers represent a smaller percentage of the overall population in emerging economies, they are more enthusiastic about the future of technology than those in industrialized nations. They are optimistic about what a networked world can do for them, their families, their communities and their nations—and are more likely to associate digital devices and services with advancing their personal economic position.

These emerging-world consumers are prepared—maybe even more than their developed-world counterparts—to be extremely entrepreneurial in their adoption and use of technologies. Accenture believes that communications and high-tech companies should see these consumers as forerunners of a much broader market. They are also an excellent target group with which companies can test new devices and service offerings, and from which the next generation of entrepreneurs might be developed.

Corporate interest in the developing-world marketplace
Interest in the emerging marketplace is not new, of course. A global power shift—part of what Accenture calls the "multi-polar world"—is affecting business strategy in most industries. As an equipment manufacturing executive told us recently, "The rate of growth in the emerging markets is outpacing anything we've seen before—both with respect to the technology and the sophistication of the user."

Tech-forward consumers from the developing nations in our study make up a small but important market segment. In Brazil, India and China, these consumers are highly educated and constitute an emerging middle class. They embrace technology innovations and are willing to spend to acquire those innovations. These consumers provide a beachhead of sorts for companies interested in expanding their business into the developing world.

As an executive with a major Internet service provider told us: "Huge middle classes are rapidly maturing in places like India and China. They are going to want and expect advanced networked services, creating major new opportunities for providers."

The interests of tech-forwards in emerging economies
In many ways, the tech-forward consumers from developing nations are similar to their US and European counterparts: They use the same devices and services, and they actually spend about as much on technology—despite having lower incomes. Nearly identical percentages of emerging-nation consumers and US/European consumers use devices such as digital cameras, mobile phones and laptop computers.

And, if anything, emerging consumers are even more focused on communications services—including instant messaging, social networking and photo sharing—than their US and European counterparts. These consumers have leaped right into the Web 2.0 era without needing to go through the earlier stages of the Internet that shaped the usage patterns of US and European tech-forwards.

We also found that tech-forward consumers from Brazil and China demonstrate high levels of interest in what Accenture calls "trivergence": the coordination of devices, data and controls over a ubiquitous network to provide an integrated user and service experience (something that can be seen in products such as the Apple iPod).

Across all the regions studied, consumers expect trivergence to result in almost all digital devices being linked to a single network. However, tech-forwards in emerging nations are even more optimistic about the reach and benefits of trivergence. For example, while only half the US and European tech-forwards expect networking to extend down to the level of small appliances such as toasters and coffeemakers, almost three-fourths of emerging-world tech-forwards see this as a likely occurrence.

Consumers in developing nations also believe the networked, digital world can influence their lives positively. Significantly higher percentages of consumers in Brazil, India and China agree that the trend toward networked devices will help them save time, create new business opportunities and advance their careers. To put it bluntly, these consumers see networked technologies and services as a way to make money.

Emerging-world consumers are also more forward-thinking than those in developed nations about networked-device innovations. They are more likely, for example, to express strong interest in networked solutions for digital home management, health care, entertainment and communications.

Implications
What does this all mean? Digital technologies and communications are diffusing into the emerging world at an unprecedented rate. Internet services and digital devices are now intrinsically global. Leading-edge and technology-savvy consumers are embracing the networked, digital world at least as strongly as their counterparts in Europe, Japan and the United States. Indeed, our research suggests that the emerging world is increasingly the place to go to test new ideas, services, devices and other technologies.

We asked survey respondents to consider some examples (some fanciful and some already on the market) of user experiences that depend on the networking of multiple devices and services. Tech-forwards in developing areas expressed significantly higher interest in every single user experience than their US and European counterparts. One such example was a service that alerts consumers via mobile device to a home intrusion; another was remotely monitoring the health of a loved one through new virtual health-care applications.

Conclusion: Look to the developing world to test trends
This Accenture research study strongly supports the idea that the developing world is now an extremely receptive market for new ideas and services—perhaps even more than North America and Europe.

This means three things in particular. First, the emerging world is a great place to test new ideas. Companies will find a highly engaged and well-educated group of consumers among the more sophisticated users of communications services. Such a strategy may also come with less risk. Introducing a service in America or Europe that does not go well may doom it for all time. But companies might be able to work out the "kinks" in new services in emerging-world markets.

Second, winning over the tech-forwards in these emerging economies establishes a beachhead from which the greater market can be pursued if all goes well.

Finally, companies should be looking to the emerging world for part of the next generation of entrepreneurs. These consumers have the education, tools, motivation and access to markets needed to figure out how to make money through applications of networked technologies.

Indeed, the Accenture research study suggests, provocatively, that the next Silicon Valley is already emerging in places like Brazil, India and China. Best of all, it's a much bigger valley. The path to high performance in communications and high tech will certainly pass through the developing world.

About the Author
Andy Zimmerman is the global managing director of Accenture Communications.

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