A report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has called on governments in developing countries to connect their communities through “digital development”.
HumanIPO reported yesterday that African countries had performed badly in the WEF’s 2013 Networked Readiness Index as part of its Global Information Technology Report.
The WEF report said: “Governments play a crucial role in supporting this digital development, from funding broadband networks to addressing complex issues such as privacy and security.
“The economy as a whole will eventually reap the benefits as remote rural areas are tied into the national network, resulting in new jobs and broader educational opportunities.”
The South African government has set itself the target of 2020 for 100 per cent broadband penetration, but it has been criticised for not doing enough to fulfil its commitment.
The WEF also pointed to research by Deloitte which showed countries with proportionately higher share of 3G connections enjoy “greater economic growth than countries with comparable total mobile penetration, but lower 3G penetration”.
It added: “For a given level of mobile penetration, countries that had a 10% higher 3G penetration between 2008 and 2011 experienced an increase in their average annual GDP per capita growth rate of 0.15 percentage points.”
