Quaternary, quinary, outsourcing and the digital divide

Two further levels sit above the tertiary sector.

Quaternary activities centre on knowledge: collecting, producing and spreading information. They include research and development, and services such as consultancy, finance, insurance, software and media. Like tertiary activities, they can be outsourced: they are not tied to resources or markets. In developed economies, over half of all workers are now in this knowledge sector.

Quinary activities are the highest level: the top decision-makers and policy-makers, senior executives of business and government, research scientists, and financial and legal consultants. Their work is so valuable that they are called 'gold-collar' professionals.

Outsourcing (or off-shoring) means a company giving work to an outside agency, often in another country, where skilled workers are available at lower cost. Data entry, call centres, accounting, banking support, and software work are outsourced to countries such as India, the Philippines and Eastern Europe. KPO (knowledge processing outsourcing) involves work that needs highly skilled workers: research, analysis, legal and medical services.

But not everyone shares in these opportunities. The digital divide is the gap between countries, and between regions within countries, in access to information and communication technology (ICT). Big cities usually have good access, while rural and remote areas lag behind.