Digital Technology is not the greatest achievement in the world. Someone said that, before making a step in solving any problem, one must recognizing there’s one. In the past, people protected and placed their believes in their customs. Through their strong believes, they waged war against poverty not towards opportunistic solutions. They came up with laws from moral reasons and implemented the same laws from stringent good moral values. Nowadays, morals must comply with the changing generation and the ever evolving technology.
In this generation, a staunch Christian has the right to say that people have mistaken technology to Malekut instead of God. In addition, a North Korean living in the remote areas of the country where there’s no electricity is left wondering why the country spent nearly one-quarter of its gross domestic product on high-tech weaponry.
Ideally, digital technology is out of reach in many areas, and many people are excluded from the ever growing economy.
âThe digital revolution is transforming the world, aiding information flows, and facilitating the rise of developing
nations that are able to take advantage of these new opportunities,â said Kaushik Basu, World Bank Chief
Economist. âIt is an amazing transformation that today 40 percent of the worldâs population is connected by
the internet. While these achievements are to be celebrated, this is also occasion to be mindful that we do not
create a new underclass. With nearly 20 percent of the worldâs population unable to read and write, the
spread of digital technologies alone is unlikely to spell the end of the global knowledge divide.”
World Bank Report
According to World Bank, 60% of the World’s population is still in the dark and not involved in the growing digital technology. As much as nations are proud to announce massive technological advancement, rapid digital expansion have been skewed towards the wealthy, skilled, and influential around the world, who are better positioned to take advantage of the new technologies leaving marginalized communities wallowing in naivety and poverty. In addition, four billion people lack internet access despite the fact that the number of internet users worldwide has more than tripled since 2005, according to Deepak Mishra and Uwe Deichmann from World Bank.
âDigital technologies are transforming the worlds of business, work, and government,â said Jim Yong Kim,
President of the World Bank Group. âWe must continue to connect everyone and leave no one behind
because the cost of lost opportunities is enormous. But for digital dividends to be widely shared among all
parts of society, countries also need to improve their business climate, invest in peopleâs education and
health, and promote good governance.â
Kaushik Basu, World Bank Chief Economist commented, “the digital revolution is transforming the world, aiding information flows, and facilitating the rise of developing nations that are able to take advantage of these new opportunities. It is an amazing transformation that today 40 percent of the worldâs population is connected by
the internet. While these achievements are to be celebrated, this is also occasion to be mindful that we do not
create a new underclass. With nearly 20 percent of the worldâs population unable to read and write, the spread of digital technologies alone is unlikely to spell the end of the global knowledge divide.”
Besides the retrogressive arguments, digital technology promotes efficiency and innovation. In East Africa, at least more than 35 percent adults are able send and pay utility bills using mobile phones thanks to M-PESA and other solutions in the region.
According to World Bank report on Digital Dividends, eight million entrepreneurs in Chinaâone third
of them womenâwho use an e-commerce platform to sell goods nationally and export to 120 countries.
India has provided unique digital identification to nearly one billion people in five years, and increased access
and reduced corruption in public services. And in public health services, simple SMS messages have proven
effective in reminding people living with HIV to take their lifesaving drugs.
The way forward
- Making the internet universal, affordable, open, and safe; and strengthening regulations that ensure competition among business, adapting workersâ skills to the demands of the new economy, and fostering accountable institutionsâmeasures which the report calls analog complements to digital investments.
- Digital development strategies need to be much broader than information and communication technology
(ICT) strategies i.e coming up with regulations that facilitate competition and market entry, skills that enable workers to leverage the digital economy. - Investing in basic infrastructure, reducing the cost of doing business, lower trade barriers, facilitating entry of
start-ups, strengthening competition authorities, and facilitating competition across digital platforms.
