Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) enable the world’s most vulnerable countries to tackle key development challenges, including in areas such as financial inclusion, poverty reduction and health. They are a key building block of the digital economy and for the development of e-commerce.
According to the UNCTAD Information Economy Report 2017, the net impact of countries, and in particular, of developing countries, to take advantage of digitalization depends on the readiness of governments, enterprises and people to harness the changes put forth by the evolving digital economy.
However, as documented by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), more than half of the world's population remains offline and only one in six people in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) currently uses the Internet. The share of people using broadband is lower still, hampering the ability of many countries to take advantage of the evolving digital economy.
This event will highlight key issues for enhancing ICT affordability, access and use in the LDCs, landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) and discuss the key findings of a recently launched ITU report on ICTs, LDCs and the SDGs - Achieving universal and affordable Internet in the least developed countries. The event will show progress and challenges, and provide policy guidance for the most vulnerable countries to drive ICT uptake.
As e-commerce is expected to grow exponentially over the coming years, with potentially the digital trade divide too, the readiness of developing countries in digital trade and e-commerce, and especially LDCs has been the center of the attention of the work at UNCTAD in recent months with a new product, the eTrade Readiness Assessments (eT-Ready). These assessments help countries assess their current strengths, weaknesses, gaps and opportunities in seven key policy areas: E-commerce readiness assessment and strategies formulation, ICT infrastructure and services, Trade logistics and trade facilitation, Payment solutions, Legal and regulatory framework and E-commerce skills development. The main outcome for these assessments is the identification of priority actions that could be supported by the beneficiary countries and partners.
Selected representatives of developing countries, including a few beneficiaries of the eT-Ready assessments, will share their experiences, with particular focus on specific constraints faced by LLDCs and SIDS, to make effective use of ICTs to foster sustainable development.
The event will further emphasize the critical importance and opportunities of ICTs for e-commerce, with other eTrade for all partners sharing their experiences and lessons learnt.
The objectives of this session are to advance the discussion on key issues of ICT affordability, connectivity, access and use in the most vulnerable countries as key enablers for economic growth, trade and employment opportunities. Technology normally moves faster than policy, but it is important that policies that address technology be inclusive.
The key issues and questions that this session will address include:
- Making the Internet accessible, affordable and sustainable for all: current situation, challenges and solutions
- Internet ecosystem: key bottlenecks for LDCs
- Business use of ICTs: how to access the digital market and generate value
- Key findings from Rapid eTrade Readiness Assessments for LDCs: challenges and opportunities with regard to connectivity
- Way forward: how to increase ICT use and access for effective business opportunities by working together