Photo courtesy of MEI

In 2007, a Vodafone Executive named Nick Hughes conceived a Corporate Social Responsibility project aimed at providing banking services to millions of people in Kenya who had never seen the inside of a bank. Kenya’s financial infrastructure was limited with most rural areas lacking bank branches, ATMs or even reliable electricity. Traditional banking required expensive brick and mortar infrastructure that would take decades to build and might never reach remote villages.

Hughes’s solution was elegantly simple: turn every mobile phone into a bank. M-Pesa, launched that year, allowed users to deposit, transfer and withdraw money using basic text messages on the simplest mobile phones – no smartphones, no internet connection, no bank account required. Within three years, M-Pesa served 19 million users processing $150 million daily. Today, 96% of Kenyan households use mobile money and the country has become a global model for financial inclusion.

What makes this story particularly relevant for Sri Lanka is not just M-Pesa’s success but how it represents a new form of development strategy: technological leapfrogging. Rather than following the slow, expensive path that developed countries took by building extensive bank branches, training thousands of tellers and installing ATM networks, Kenya jumped directly to a more advanced solution that was cheaper, faster and more inclusive.

This is the power of learning strategically from others’ experiences. Successful leapfrogging requires more than just copying foreign technologies. It demands understanding how different societies progress at different rates, why some innovations succeed while others fail and how cultural readiness determines which technological opportunities a society can actually grasp.

For Sri Lanka, currently rebuilding from our worst economic crisis while navigating political transformation, these lessons offer crucial guidance for avoiding costly mistakes while accelerating beneficial changes.

The differential speeds of change

Not all countries, not all sectors and not all aspects of society change at the same pace. Understanding these differential speeds is crucial for strategic planning and realistic expectations.

For example, Nordic countries consistently rank among the world’s most advanced societies and lead the way in areas of gender equality, social welfare, environmental protection and democratic governance. Yet in some technological domains, they adopt more cautiously.

Norway is a good example of this. Despite being one of the world’s wealthiest nations, Norway has deliberately chosen selective technology adoption. While leading in electric vehicle usage (where over 90% of new car sales are electric) and renewable energy (98% of electricity from hydropower), Norway maintains strong collective bargaining systems that moderate the pace of workplace automation. This reflects cultural values prioritizing worker security and social cohesion over pure economic efficiency.

The result is that Norway demonstrates how cultural leadership can guide technological adoption rather than simply react to it. Norwegian society decides what kind of future it wants – evidently one that holds high environmental standards, strong social safety nets and democratic decision making – and then selects technologies that support these goals while rejecting or modifying those that conflict with their values.

This stands in sharp contrast to the Gulf States, which showcase the opposite pattern where technological advancement often outpaces cultural frameworks. The UAE aims for artificial intelligence to contribute 14% of GDP by 2030, leads globally in 5G deployment and has created remarkable technological infrastructure including smart cities, blockchain governance systems and some of the world’s most advanced transportation networks. Yet this technological sophistication coexists with significant restrictions on political expression, limitations on women’s independence and social hierarchies that conflict with the democratizing tendencies of many digital technologies. The UAE has successfully managed this tension through careful control and economic prosperity but it represents a development model where technology and culture advance at markedly different speeds.

Technological and cultural change advancing at different speeds would most likely create social tension and it is unclear how such countries plan to avoid tipping points that could lead to social instability or collapse in the long run.

The mechanics of successful leapfrogging

Pioneers and early adopters of technological advancements always get to decide which way a technology develops and choose who to partner with in the development and implementation of new innovations. However, leapfrogging often works because late adopters enjoy several systematic advantages over early pioneers.

Cost Advantage: Early adopters bear the full cost of research, development and market creation. Later adopters benefit from mature technologies at much lower prices. The first mobile phones cost thousands of dollars; today’s smartphones with far superior capabilities cost a fraction of that amount. Similarly, renewable energy costs have plummeted as early adopters (mainly European countries) subsidized the initial development and scaling.

Learning Advantage: Early adopters often make costly mistakes while figuring out what works. Late adopters can study these experiences and implement refined versions.

Infrastructure Advantage: Legacy systems often constrain early adopters while late adopters can build new systems from scratch. This is why many African countries have better mobile networks than Europe (which had to work around existing landline infrastructure) and why some developing countries are installing more advanced electricity grids than industrialized nations (which must upgrade century-old systems).

Timing Advantage: Late adopters often encounter technologies when their cultural readiness has developed through exposure to global media, education, and gradual adaptation. By the time mobile banking reached most developing countries, populations had already adapted to mobile phones, digital interfaces and cashless transactions through exposure to global practices.

Strategic Advantage: Pioneers and early adopters often choose the path of least resistance – the path that seems most obvious, and easiest or fastest to implement – because with the backing of bullish venture capital, they are primarily concerned about securing the advantages of being the first to market. Late adopters, having foregone their first to market advantages and eager investors, tend to search for disruptive innovations. This is playing out most apparently in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) space right now where pioneers like Open AI spent billions of dollars building LLMs, which competitors like DeepSeek have been able to copy for a fraction of the cost and use open-sourcing strategies to gain competitive advantages. Moreover, the well-funded and established players at the forefront of the AI race are investing heavily in expensive datacentres, partnering with the highest quality chipmakers and making investments in energy providers that will take multiple years to pay off. Given that energy and infrastructure are the largest inputs for AI platforms, these invariably create opportunities for competitors with innovations with lower energy use or low cost (cheaper energy and low cost infrastructure) strategies to disrupt the market.

What is important to note however is that technological leapfrogging isn’t easy or automatic. It requires specific conditions and strategic choices.

Cultural leapfrogging

Sri Lanka represents one of the most remarkable examples of successful cultural leapfrogging in democratization, achieving a direct transition from absolute monarchy to stable democratic governance through colonial occupation rather than organic democratic evolution. This transformation bypassed the gradual institutional development typical of European democracies yet have created a political system where democratic principles have become genuinely embedded in society as dramatically illustrated by the peaceful nature of the 2022 aragalaya movement compared to violent upheavals in Bangladesh and Nepal.

Sri Lanka has historically been a politically fractured island ruled by monarchs. This system featured divine legitimacy, hierarchical administration and compulsory labour service, providing no conceptual foundation for representative governance or popular sovereignty. However, the revolutionary Colebrooke-Cameron Reforms of 1833 dismantled these monarchical institutions wholesale, replacing them with parliamentary procedures, an independent judiciary and merit-based civil service. Most significantly, Sri Lanka received universal adult suffrage in 1931, preceding many European democracies and earning recognition as Asia’s oldest democracy.

What makes Sri Lanka’s case extraordinary is how thoroughly these initially foreign democratic principles have taken root. Sri Lankan democracy was imported wholesale but have developed authentic local foundations mainly due to high literacy rates and vernacular political discourse that makes democratic concepts culturally accessible. The embedding process created dense networks of democratic engagement that have survived a 26-year civil war and successive regimes that actively sought to roll back democratic norms.

Sri Lanka’s democratic exceptionalism demonstrates that successful cultural leapfrogging requires more than inherited institutions; it demands their adaptation through consistent practice and social embedding. The country’s leapfrog succeeded because colonial-era reforms created comprehensive educational systems, legal frameworks and administrative structures enabling genuine democratic participation. The aragalaya’s peaceful triumph, followed by constitutional succession and continued electoral competition, illustrates how thoroughly democratic norms can penetrate society even when initially imposed from outside, creating authentic foundations for accountable governance that survive acute political and economic crises.

Learning networks and knowledge transfer

Successful leapfrogging requires sophisticated learning networks that connect societies facing similar challenges. The most effective knowledge transfer at national level occurs between countries facing similar opportunities and constraints. Sri Lanka must therefore strengthen its foreign policy and diplomatic network to share the experiences of other nations, particularly those in the global south.

At individual scale, online education platforms combined with social media create unprecedented opportunities for individuals and communities to access global knowledge.

Networks of experts, international organizations and think tanks also facilitate fast policy diffusion but tapping into those must be done more discerningly with full awareness of their incentives and ensuring their interests and the interests of the nation are compatible, if not aligned.

Leapfrogging is not always the answer

Not all attempts at leapfrogging succeed. Understanding common barriers helps explain why some technologies or practices that work brilliantly in one context fail completely in another. Especially policies or technologies that work in one cultural or economic context may fail in another. Successive Sri Lankan leaders have been lured by the Singaporean model of economic development without adequately understanding not only its context and mechanics but also its social consequences. Singapore’s top down development model has worked so far in a small island city-state without much historical baggage and where the culture has been homogenised using English as the unifying language. There is no indication that it can succeed in a larger, more ancient and more culturally plural country like Sri Lanka.

Perhaps the most common reason why leapfrogging strategies fail is when countries copy the visible aspects of successful practices of another while missing crucial underlying factors. For example, many countries scrambled to build technology parks after seeing Silicon Valley’s success but failed to create the entrepreneurial culture, risk capital and university-industry connections that made Silicon Valley work. Successful leapfrogging also requires strong institutions to coordinate complex changes. Countries with weak governance, limited administrative capacity or high corruption struggle to implement sophisticated innovations even when they understand them well.

The technology-culture learning loop

Successful leapfrogging creates virtuous cycles where technological adoption and cultural change reinforce each other. In Kenya, M-Pesa didn’t just provide banking services; it changed social relationships. Young people gained economic independence earlier, women’s economic participation increased, rural-urban remittances became easier and more frequent and small businesses could operate more efficiently. These cultural changes then created demand for more sophisticated financial services, driving further innovation.

Digital governance systems that work well will create cultural expectations for transparency, responsiveness and participation that pressure governments to further democratize. Estonia’s e-governance success led citizens to expect high quality digital services and transparent decision making processes. Sri Lanka must be prepared to respond to and carry forward the cultural shift and momentum that the present government’s digital strategy will inevitably bring about. Any actual or perceived attempt by the government or bureaucracy to stifle those expectations for increased transparency and democratic participation will eventually risk creating a public backlash.

Common pitfalls

Transformation is fundamentally not a technology first process. Simply importing advanced technology without cultural preparation often fails. Investments in high speed digital networks must be accompanied by those aimed at improving digital literacy. Investments in upgrading healthcare infrastructure and installing smart boards or computer labs in schools will not bear fruit until medical staff and teachers are trained to use them effectively. Successful leapfrogging often requires significant temporary investments in training, institutional development and social adjustment. Skipping these transition costs often cause otherwise promising initiatives to collapse.

Ultimately, development strategies must benefit urban elites as well as the rural populations. The national AI strategy must serve both tech entrepreneurs as well as rural farmers. Innovations that target or benefit some while marginalizing others typically create social instability that exact costs far in excess of their benefits.

Strategic implications for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka possesses several advantages for successful leapfrogging: high literacy rates (92%, highest in South Asia), multilingual capabilities (English, Sinhala and Tamil), advanced telecommunications infrastructure, strategic geographic location and cultural values emphasizing education and cooperation. Rather than trying to transform everything simultaneously, Sri Lanka should focus on a few high impact areas where technology and culture align well, build successful experiences that create confidence and learning and then gradually expand to more challenging domains.

The countries that have leapfrogged successfully share certain characteristics: pragmatic leadership willing to learn from anywhere, strong institutional capacity to coordinate complex changes, cultural openness to beneficial innovation and patient persistence through difficult transition periods.

Sri Lanka possesses many of these prerequisites. Our current political moment creates unprecedented opportunity for strategic transformation. The economic crisis, painful as it has been, has also created cultural readiness for change that didn’t exist before. But opportunity alone isn’t sufficient. As we’ve seen from global examples, successful leapfrogging requires conscious strategy: identifying which innovations align with our cultural strengths, investing in the institutional capacity needed for implementation, preparing our population for beneficial changes and maintaining consistent effort across political cycles.

The third article will examine specifically how Sri Lanka can apply these global lessons to our current challenges. From addressing the persistent problems of militarization and labour migration to building on our cultural assets for inclusive development, we will explore concrete strategies for aligning technological possibilities with cultural wisdom in the service of national transformation. The global experience shows it can be done. The question is whether we have the wisdom and persistence to do it our way.

This article is the second in a three part series. The final article will apply these global lessons specifically to Sri Lanka’s current transformation priorities and opportunities.

Read Part 1 here: https://groundviews.org/2025/09/23/technology-and-culture-the-agents-of-social-transformation/