THE GAINS AND CHALLENGES FROM INVESTING IN ICT.

The gains for governments from investing in ICT are many. But policymakers face many challenges as new technologies come on stream.

This year the OECD has published an interim report on the state of the development of the digital economy within OECD countries. This is a very in-depth and well-researched report with many valuable findings. This post discusses a few of the more salient policy and governance-related issues.

It is now the case that the offices of the Prime Minister or the President in a number of respective OECD countries are directly taking the lead in the development of specific digital agenda policies. Examples of such countries include Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Mexico and Slovakia. There is now a clear recognition that innovation incorporating new information communication technologies (ICTs) are transforming key vertical industries such as in the energy, transport, agriculture, health and manufacturing sectors. In other words, advances within the field of ICT are moving centre stage in terms of the contribution that the ICT sector can make to future and existing national economic and social policymaking. In a number of other OECD countries different ministries work together in leading the development of national digital agenda policies. Such countries include France, Germany, Chile and Korea.

Governments that strategically invest more in ICT, research, innovation and science will deliver stronger economic returns. But the challenges that governments face in delivering comprehensive nationwide digital agenda plans are many. Again, the OECD delivers some findings that governments should carefully analyse as they formulate new digital agenda plans. Thirty percent of businesses on average with 10 or more employees use cloud computing technology and only 15% of these companies use big data. Women account for 20% of tertiary graduates that cover ICT-related education courses. Fourteen percent of jobs are at high risk of obsolescence as a result of automation over the next 15-20 years due to technological innovations such as robotics. In some OECD countries broadband penetration levels fall below 50% in rural areas.

Governments need to respond in three ways. They must invest in national broadband plans so that all the people living in a country can connect to the internet and at strong speeds. This means that people in rural and remote areas can secure proper levels of connectivity. This requires a strong financial investment from governments. But it will ensure that people living in both rural and urban areas can use and access the internet so as to properly promote social and economic development. But the challenge is not just about ensuring that the general population and companies alike can connect to and can access the internet at high speeds. People must also be trained in using these technologies. And this is where governments around the world must learn from one another so that best practice training, education and skills development initiatives are implemented in a global context. STEM education programmes must be strengthened so as to increase higher levels of participation by women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematic sectors.

Governments around the world are putting in place a series of digital agenda plans. But there is no perfect policy template that governments can utilize to enact new laws that support the uptake of new technologies for social and economic benefit. But there are some guiding principles that governments can use as they formulate and roll-out these digital agenda programmes. Strong financial investment in the ICT sector, the promotion of competition in the marketplace, universal access to technologies and ensuring the implementation of more training and educational courses in the field of ICT should be supported. All of society must benefit from this digital revolution that is now underway across the length and breadth of the world.

The arrival of 5G next year will dramatically accelerate this digital revolution. The number of internet connections globally will increase exponentially. Higher transmission speeds over telecom networks will deliver self-driving cars, high speed drones and a whole range of new products connected to virtual and augmented reality. These new innovations will operate via a mixture of artificial intelligence, self-automation and from a more structured use of big data. But to more effectively roll-out these new innovative products, services and policies, governments around the world must work more closely together so as to agree common operating standards. This will give the regulatory certainty that businesses need to grow and flourish within this ever-changing ICT work driven environment.  

David Harmon is Vice-President for Global Public Affairs at Huawei Technologies.