Governments in Western Europe and North America were quick to realise the potential of Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) in fueling economic growth, creating high-value-added jobs, and making efficiency gains in business sectors. However, this lax view that ICTs are about just communication and correspondence is still prevalent among many developing economies, including Pakistan.
Realising the need for a change in ICT perspective, growth and jobs was chosen as central theme of the 2013 edition of Global Information Technology Report (GITR), which is the flagship ICT publication from World Economic Forum released in partnership with INSEAD. Since 2002, the GITR has been monitoring ICT advances worldwide, raising awareness for ICTs on competitiveness and societal well-being.
Released last week, the 2013 GITR gives a detailed analysis of ICT readiness in 144 economies (over 98 pc of world GDP), based on a Networked Readiness Index (NRI) framework. The NRI framework gauges the conduciveness of regulatory framework for ICT uptake, prevalence of affordable ICT infrastructure, and respective ICT usage capacities of individuals, business, and governments (see illustration).
The 2013 GITR would make for an insightful read for Pakistans policymakers, businesses and academia, for it contains Pakistans detailed ICT profile on 10 distinct pillars comprising 54 ICT indicators. The report estimates that an increase of 10 percent in a countrys digitization level can drive a 0.75 percent growth in its GDP per capita, leading to a 1.02 percent drop in its unemployment rate.
Unsurprisingly, it is the Nordic countries - Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, which have declared ICT access as basic human right - that dominate the top ten ICT rankings, alongside the tech-focused countries of United States and United Kingdom, and the city-state of Singapore.
In the South Asia region, India leads the rankings by occupying the 68th spot, closely followed by Sri Lanka at 69 - but Pakistan ranks a distant 104, ahead of Bangladesh at 114. An ICT-wise lackluster 2012 has translated into rankings downfall for Pakistan, which lost three spots over its 2012 rank in the 2013 report. The country profile shows that Pakistans ranking slipped in six out of ten ICT pillars.
The biggest slump came in the individual usage of ICT services, as the country slid from 104th spot in 2012 to 123rd in the 2013 rankings. That could be attributed to multiple factors, including a slowdown in broadband subscriptions growth during CY12, the countrys inability to migrate towards third-generation mobile networks, and blockade of YouTube services since September last year.
On the social impact pillar, Pakistan lost 14 places to come down to 113 among the 144 countries studied for this report. Pakistan is ranked amongst bottom 25 countries in terms of impact of ICTs on provision of basic services as well as governance efficiency, getting the least scores among its regional peers. However, the country fares better than Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in terms of internet access in schools, though it lags behind India on this count.
The ICTs economic impact ranking declined for Pakistan by five places over previous year. The data shows that currently, the impact of ICTs on new products and services, as well as organisational models is unsatisfactory, apart from low scale of business-to-business and business-to-consumer internet usage.
Interlinked with the above is the NRI frameworks pillar of political and regulatory environment, on which Pakistan slipped down 13 positions to reach 123 in the 2013 rankings. The policymakers have significant work cut out for them in the areas of formulating or updating segment-wise ICT policies, implementing laws on intellectual property protection, dispute resolutions, and contract enforcement.
The usiness and innovation environment pillar also sank six spots to come down to 102. Specific areas that are dragging down Pakistans ranking here include the IT start-up woes, low government procurement of advanced technology, and low tertiary education enrollment rate. Governments own ICT usage also has to pick pace, which can only happen when all government tiers issue binding instructions to its ministries and divisions.
The reports breakdown of issues plaguing the Pakistani ICT pinpoints areas for future policy action. It is about time that Pakistans policymakers realise the socioeconomic potential of the ICTs and become proactive facilitators in what the report calls a digital market making activity.