Transferring or transplanting technologies? The case of informatics technology

Technology transfer is viewed as a transplant operation involving societies as living organisms. It is argued that such a transplant is subject to rejective forces similar to those usually encountered in the world of living beings. A number of these forces are discussed which are applicable to a wide class of transferred technologies. Specific examples are cited from problems facing informatics technology in the developing world. It is finally argued that the difficulty of the transplant operation is related to the complexity of the recipient society as well as to its economic development indicators.