Digital Economy Can Create Many Opportunities For The Region

  • Coverage, especially in rural areas, and affordability are some of the issues that need to be addressed to achieve an efficient digital economy within the region. This was revealed by Francisco Soto, Huawei’s chief expert in Wireless Solutions, Latin America, and the Caribbean, who said the digital economy brings with it several opportunities, but also new challenges and rules of the game in the global market.
  • Soto pointed out that the positioning of the country on the global stage largely depends on its ability to adapt to new conditions. He noted that the digital economy brings a new set of benefits, which can make it possible to reduce the differences that exist between rich and poor nations.
  • “Developing countries have the opportunity to transform their economy and to contribute to the development of the digital economy. Although these economies are characterised by high added value, faced with numerous obstacles, many developing countries cannot adequately respond to the demands of the digital economy,” Soto disclosed to the Express Business last week.
  • Also, he said inadequate access to the latest technology, sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure, low computer literacy as well as numerous cultural and socio-economic factors are just some of the challenges that developing countries have to face.
  • A report from Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) on Digital inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean which was published on its website a few years ago showed that Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest regional level of income inequality in the world.
  • Affordability is a big barrier to Internet adoption for people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. For the bottom 40 per cent of the population, the cost of mobile ownership is on average 17 per cent of income. This the report said compares to just two per cent of income for the top 20 per cent of the population. The report identified that effective collaboration between the government and mobile operators is necessary to overcome the barriers to digital inclusion.

(Source: Trinidad Express Newspapers)