Huawei : Digital divide is now a digital chasm

Apr 18, 2017 - Shenzhen, China -

Huawei is back with their Huawei Global Connectivity Index (GCI) 2017. The fourth annual study shows how countries are progressing with digital transformation based on 40 unique indicators that cover five technology enablers: broadband, data centers, cloud, big data and Internet of Things. According to some of the findings, digitally-developed economies around the globe are continuing to progress due to larger investments and adoptions in ICT. At the same time, digitally-developing economies have also started to accelerate their growth by investing strategically in ICT capabilities and their digital transformation journeys – yet the gap between the two continues to grow.

Malaysia made a notable improvement from 2015, climbing five positions in the ranks. This is an outcome of the government’s aggressive investment to improve its international bandwidth, 4G coverage and Cloud over the past three years. This significant increase can also be attributed to citizens’ increased in usage and improved experience with ICT. The overall ICT strategy that brings these activities together has enabled Malaysia to increase the contribution of its Digital Economy sector to account for 17% of its national economy in 2016, one of the highest in the world, according to the Department of Statistics of Malaysia.


The report said economic planners should give priority attention to widening inequality, noting “the digital divide becomes a digital chasm”. “By examining three years of GCI data, we see growing inequality, an ICT version of the ‘Matthew Effect’ – the sociology theory that states: ‘the rich get richer and the poor get poorer’. This suggests, groups or individuals that have an accumulated advantage over time not only succeed, but leverage their initial advantage to pull farther and farther ahead of competitors. Policy makers need to understand that this widening digital divide will impact every sector of the economy and society. Nations that cannot build sustainable economic growth may also have difficulty in feeding, educating and providing job opportunities for their people,” the report said.

“The widening gap has had a significant impact on countries as they develop and work their way toward digital transformation,” said Kevin Zhang, President of Huawei Corporate Marketing. “To stay competitive, nations at an early stage of digital transformation will need to prioritize ICT infrastructure development, especially broadband connectivity and cloud adoption to a strategic level in economic planning to activate local resources and reach sustainable growth. At the same time, nations aiming to capitalize on their Frontrunner status will want to prioritize cloud as a potent catalyst to initiate a chain reaction of transformation through big data and IoT.”

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