Access to affordable broadband Internet and mobile phone services enables development across all levels of the economy and society
Governments should work with the private sector to accelerate rollout of broadband networks, and to extend access to low-income consumers
Information technology services industries create jobs, especially among youth
Modern, technology-enabled governments are more efficient, transparent and responsive
June 30, 2009--With a simple trip to the choupal – a traditional communitygathering venue– millions of small farmers in India are increasing their productivity and profits. They are using computers to access the latest information on weather forecasts, crop prices in nearby markets and sowing techniques. E-Choupal, a program run by India’s largest agricultural export company ITC, has reached 40,000 villages since it launched in 2000. The program provides broadband connectivity and equipment, and trains well-respected, literate members of the community who in turn help farmers to access vital information.
Connectivity—whether the Internet or mobile phones—is increasingly bringing market information, financial services, health services—to remote areas, and is helping to change people’s lives in unprecedented ways.
Between 2000 and 2007, the number of Internet users in developing countries increased tenfold.
Today, three billion mobile phone users live in developing countries.
“The mobile platform is emerging as the single most powerful way to extend economic opportunities and key services to millions of people,” says Christine Zhen-Wei Qiang, World Bank economist and editor of a new Bank Group report on information technology and development.
Virtually all new mobile customers in the coming years will be in developing countries, and more specifically in rural areas, she says.
“In countries like Kenya and Uganda, farmers receive updated crop prices on their mobile phones. In Sierra Leone, we know that workers in the cities are transferring money to their families in remote villages, bypassing intermediaries who would charge a fee. In other countries like Peru, public health officials are monitoring medical inventories by text messages,” she says.
New information and communications technologies (ICT), in particular high-speed internet, are changing the way companies do business, transforming public service delivery and democratizing innovation.
As Katherine Sierra, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development, says, access to broadband completes the information foundation for a modern economy and should be a priority in national development plans.
Broadband is also the basis for local information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITES) industries, which generate new job opportunities, especially for youth and women.
Each new job in these fields creates between two and four new jobs in other sectors.
“Many stimulus packages in the ongoing financial crisis include broadband to take a global edge in productivity and long-term competitiveness,” says Mohsen Khalil, World Bank Group Director for Global Information and Communication Technologies.
Still, less than 15 percent of the potential global market for IT services is being utilized.
“The opportunity for developing countries is enormous, particularly because this $500 billion global market remains largely untapped,” says Philippe Dongier, World Bank sector manager for Information and Communication Technologiesand an author of the report.
“Governments should proactively encourage the development of local IT services industries through policies and incentives directed at entrepreneurs and the private sector, and through investments in skills and infrastructure.”
In the Philippines, 65 percent of professional and technical workers in IT services are women. In India, women make up 30 percent of the workforce in this industry. In both countries, women hold a greater number of high-paying jobs in this sector than in most other sectors of the economy.
India is the global leader in both industries, and China, Mexico, and the Philippines are emerging as potential players in this space. Countries in East Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Middle East and North Africa are also developing their capacity in this area.
Transforming Governments, One Application at a Time
The effective use of ICT can make governments more efficient and help collect revenue.
Ghana increased custom revenues by 49 percent in the first 18 months of operation and reduced clearance times from three weeks to two days by implementing online databases and information sharing systems.
ICT can also transform governments, making them more accountable and transparent.
“This transformation requires organizational and behavioral changes that must be managed with high level political commitment, coordination and continuity,” says Dongier.
“ICT offers unprecedented opportunities for people in developing countries, but realizing the promise of this fast-changing sector takes timely regulatory and policy responses, leadership, and partnerships that harness the ability of the private sector to meet public sector objectives,” says Khalil.
“We are working with governments and the private sector on the issue of access, to make sure that affordable and reliable ICT services are available to the most remote populations. Access makes it possible to expand public and private services through ICT, and this is an increasing focus for us. And it enables locally-driven, ICT-enabled innovation, which is the third area of focus.”
RSS