The next frontier: enhanced estimates for countries lacking recent ICT household data

ITU is also exploring how statistical models built from subnational data across several countries can be applied to improve and refine Internet use estimates — particularly in countries lacking recent household survey data on the proportion of individuals using the Internet.

Preliminary findings are encouraging, showing that big data-based estimates align closely with official ITU figures.

The maps below illustrate high-granularity subnational estimates of Internet use in Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania, generated using a multi-country African model trained on census data from Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana (shown here for illustrative purposes only).