Even after World Development Report, WDR, revealed that digital technologies have spread rapidly in most parts of the world, there are still many countries of the world lagging behind in terms of Internet usage. To be honest, it is only urban area settlers that still enjoy this services, especially in Nigeria.
In its 2016 edition of the report released last week , the WDR, indicated that the broader development benefits from using these technologies have lagged behind, despite the rapid spread across the global community.
The Impact?
To get the most out of the digital revolution, the study suggested that countries must work on the analog complements, by strengthening regulations that ensure competition among businesses, by adapting workers’ skills to the demands of the new economy, and by ensuring that institutions are accountable. The Nigerian Coordinator, Alliance For Affordable Internet (A4AI), Eng. Ernest Ndukwe in his remarks also at the occasion canvassed for increased education of broadband, especially among the leaders. Nukwe, who is also former Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission said the government must begin to tinker with the idea of giving subsidies and some measure of leeway to operators and investors in the nation’s telecom sector before the country can achieve inclusion in broadband access.
The transformational benefit
The report noted that the digital technologies such as the internet, mobile phones and all the other tools for collecting, storing, analyzing, and information sharing have the potential to promote inclusion, efficiency and innovation in every economy via heir rapid spread. According to the report, more households in developing countries have more access to mobile phones than to electricity and clean water. Among those in the bottom fifth of the economic scale, it showed that about 70 per cent own a mobile. On internet usage, the study revealed that the number of internet users tripled in just a decade to an estimated 3.2 billion at the end of 2015. This according to the report, has brought immediate private benefits; easier communication; more information source, and new forms of leisure.