State of ICT(Information and Communications Technology) in Asia and the Pacific Report, 2016

 The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has released its report named ‘State of ICT in Asia and the Pacific 2016: Uncovering the Widening Broadband Divide’. This report highlights alarming disparity in broadband access among Asia-Pacific countries and broadband concentration in East-Asia
Highlights of the report:

• 74.89% of total fixed broadband subscriptions in 2015 were concentrated in East and North-East Asia, followed by South and South-West Asia (9.77%), North and Central Asia (7.68%), South-East Asia (5.74%) and the Pacific (1.93%).
• Over half of the global fixed broadband subscribers, or 52.3%, are located in ESCAP member states, a 14.2 point increase compared to its worldwide share of 38.1 in 2005.
• Moreover, the report said that in 2015, less than 2% of the population had adopted fixed broadband in as many as 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, with the digital divide between high-income and low-income countries growing at an alarming speed.
• The report also found a strong correlation between e-commerce and access to fixed broadband connectivity, suggesting that enhancing access to ICT infrastructure would cultivate business-to-business e-commerce in the region.
• India ranks lower than countries such as Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in ESCAP countries in 2015.
• India ranks a low 39th in terms of fixed broadband adoption among Asia Pacific countries, with just 1.3 per cent of its citizens subscribing to such a service in 2015.
• Hong Kong, New Zealand, Japan, Macao, Australia and Singapore topped the list of 53 countries covered in the report.

Analysis:

• Broadband connectivity is a critical foundation for the digital economy and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific countries.
• As a result of this digital divide, millions of people are shut out from transformative digital opportunities in education, health, business and financial services.
• In particular, e-commerce is found strongly correlated with access to fixed broadband connectivity, suggesting that enhancing the ICT infrastructure connectivity will very likely increase business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce in the region.

By: Vishal