Information and knowledge are
essential elements of poverty alleviation strategies, and ICTs offer the
potential of easy access to huge amounts of information useful for the poor
wherein it can transform the economy and the society.
However, according to the
World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report 2015, the world's developing
and emerging economies are failing to make use of the capabilities of
information and communications technologies (ICTs) to build social
and economic transformation and catch up with
more advanced nations.
The Networked Readiness Index
(NRI) identifies the potential of countries to leveraging ICT, by evaluating
the overall political and business environment, the level of ICT readiness and
usage of ICT among the population, businesses and government, including the
overall impacts of ICTs on the economy and society in general.
The 2015 results, which
include 143 economies, confirm the dominance of advanced economies and the
persistence of the multiple-faceted digital divides not only across but also
within economies. They reveal the gap between the best and worst performing
economies is widening. Those in top 10 percent have seen twice the level of
improvement since 2012 as those in the bottom 10 percent.
This shows the degree of the
challenge facing developing and emerging nations as they seek to develop the
infrastructure, institutions and skills needed to obtain the full benefits of
ICTs, as only 39 percent of the global population enjoys access to the internet
even though that more than half now owns a mobile phone.
The NRI ranks Singapore as the
top country in the world when it comes to utilizing ICTs for social and
economic impact wherein it replaces Finland, which had been number one since
2013. The other Asian country that also made it to the top 10 was Japan, which
climbs to the 10th position after being in the 16th position last year.
Taking up the third place
behind Finland is Sweden, while the highest-placed Group of 7 (G7) economy is
the United States which is 7th place, followed by the United Kingdom in the 8th
place. The world's fourth largest econoy, Germany, ranks down to 13th place.
The Russian Federation is the
highest-placed BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nation,
climbing nine places in 2015 to 41st. It is joined in the top half of the
ranking by China, which continues to be at 62. All other members of the nation
have dropped their rankings, with South Africa which ranks in the 75th place
(down five), followed by Brazil (84th, down fifteen) and India (89th, down
six).
Report says that other
countries that have improved their NRI ranking over the last decade or so are
now facing stagnation or regression. This is partly down to persisting divides
within countries between rural and urban areas and around income groups, which
is causing large portions of the population being left out of the digital
economy.
Given the persistent pace of
technological development, the digital divide across nations is increasing and
raising great concern because less developed nations are at risk of being left
further behind and definite actions are needed immediately to deal with this.
It is expected with
high-income economies to occupy the top 30 places. The report identifies a
number of countries that have made significant improvements, both in terms of
their index score and ranking such as Armenia (58th) and Georgia (60th), which
are among the most improved nations since 2012. Outside of the Caucasus, the
UAE (23rd), El Salvador (80th), Macedonia FYR (47th), Mauritius (45th) and
Latvia (33rd) all improved notably during the same period.
Countries like Burkina Faso,
Cape Verde, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda
are being witnessed with early-stage improvements. They have all liberalized
their ICT markets, while Kenya and Tanzania are starting to see the benefits of
similar reforms.
The report also notes that
government leadership in the creation of a good regulatory and business
environment with competitive ICT markets is an important requirement for all
countries. However, while government action is necessary to address digital
divides, efforts must also be made to motivate the people to engage in the
digital economy.
With the theme of "ICTs
for Inclusive Growth", the 2015 edition of the report provides solutions
fromleading experts and practitioners to reduce digital poverty and make the ICT
revolution a global reality.
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