ISLAMABAD: Pakistan needs to bridge the digital divide by ensuring equal access to digital technologies across the population segments to achieve steady development, according to an economic expert.
“When we talk about factors contributing to inequality, we see one of the reasons for this is digital divide,” said Shujaat Farooq, Assistant Professor at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE).
“Pakistan must ensure easier access to technology across different population segments. Digital divide across populations not only results in unequal access to information, but can also exclude those segments from greater prospects of economic growth,” he pointed out.
Prof Shujaat said, “if we look at the internet over the period of the last 20 years, it has been one of the most revolutionary technologies that change the future and fate of mankind and has also impacted the economies and cultures.”
Internet penetration over the years
“Internet is a basic human need. If we increase the penetration of internet in the society by 1%, it will have a positive impact on the GDP by 0.5%,” he said.
Prof Shujaat said the internet usage can be measured using two factors, namely the number of people using mobile technologies and the number of people using the internet in the country.
“In Pakistan, the percentage of mobile and internet usage is the lowest in South Asia. At the moment, 82% of the population is using mobile phones, but unfortunately, the percentage of people using the internet on these devices is only 40%.,” he added.
According to the World Bank, 25% of the population in Pakistan used the internet in 2020.
Internet users in Pakistan
“In Pakistan, the percentage of female internet users is extremely low. Pakistan ranks amongst the worst countries in the Global Internet Gender Gap, only above a few countries from the bottom,” he pointed out.
“If we look at developed economies, the contribution of the internet to the GDP is more than 5%, but in countries like Pakistan, this contribution is only between 1-2%,” said an official of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom.
“Access to seamless internet has been a challenge. In smaller towns and far-flung areas, especially in interior Sindh, Southern Punjab, there are no good quality 3G or 4G services because the cellular companies don’t invest in these areas,” the official said.
This amply illustrates Pakistan’s difficulties as it advocates a bigger role for digital technologies.
To address this issue, the official said the government and private sector need to work together to increase access to technology and digital infrastructure. The official said the government can invest in broadband infrastructure and provide incentives for businesses to adopt digital technologies.
This will not only reduce economic inequality, but also contribute to the country’s overall development. By bridging the digital divide, more individuals and businesses will have access to education, job opportunities, and healthcare, which will result in a more prosperous and equitable society.
