Rwanda and Leapfrogging

Alex Steffen writes about Rwanda's Leapfrogging Vision 2020 project goals:

Transforming a nation's society and economy while building from scratch a new infrastructure is no mean feat. In some places, it may be that it simply can't be done in any short-term way, as Bono and the TED team learned in Ethiopia and some American entrepreneurs are finding in parts of Rwanda. Then, too, some of the kinds of problems that face many developing countries in adopting technology are particularly severe in Rwanda. The essential question is can basic improvements, from democracy-building to movement-building to transparent governance to the creation of a free press to the provision of essentials be better delivered in a nation with a focus on employing new technologies.