The Financial Fee for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) unveiled right this moment its Digital Development Observatory (DDO), a brand new instrument that goals to provide, collect and analyze related knowledge and knowledge to establish traits, consider progress and assist coverage formulation and implementation on digital transformation within the area.
The DDO’s web site (https://desarrollodigital.cepal.org) accommodates greater than 100 indicators and qualitative data in 12 thematic areas seen as key for international locations’ digital transformation, together with connectivity and digital inclusion, companies and productive digital transformation, e-commerce and digital providers, digital expertise, digital authorities and synthetic intelligence.
“The launch of the Digital Growth Observatory marks a big milestone in ECLAC’s efforts to know and promote digital transformation in our area. Its aim is evident: to provide indicators and knowledge that may enhance the formulation of evidence-based insurance policies in areas of digital transformation in an effort to drive extra productive, inclusive and sustainable improvement in our international locations,” José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, the United Nations regional group’s Government Secretary, emphasised throughout the digital presentation.
In accordance with the Observatory’s knowledge, more than 60% of companies in Latin America and the Caribbean that use the Internet have a passive presence, which suggests they don’t use this device to make transactions, for instance. The scenario is much more worrisome within the case of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) – which in lots of international locations account for greater than 98% of companies – since 70% of them don’t even have a web-based presence.
However there’s not solely concern over the gaps in adopting mature applied sciences such because the Web in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Fee warns. The state of affairs is much more alarming upon analyzing rising digital applied sciences, corresponding to artificial intelligence (AI). For instance, between 2010 and 2021, when it comes to personal funding, mixed funding in AI in all Latin American international locations didn’t surpass 1.7% of the quantity invested by the US, or 5% of China’s whole. Equally, as of September 2023, the region’s AI companies represented less than 3% of all AI companies at a global level (with the US and Europe representing 37% and 30%, respectively).
This scant use of digital know-how within the manufacturing framework limits and situations enhancements within the area’s productiveness and competitiveness, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs harassed. “Stepping up and escalating efforts on digital technological outreach will likely be key for the area’s future,” said ECLAC’s highest authority, who thanked the European Union (EU) for its assist in constructing the DDO.
In his opening remarks, Félix Fernández-Shaw, Director for Latin America and the Caribbean on the Directorate-Common for Worldwide Partnerships (DG INTPA) of the European Fee (EC), described the Observatory “as another instance of all that the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, and the EC and ECLAC, can do collectively.” He referred to as for engaged on a simply and inclusive digital transition and for collectively addressing points corresponding to cybersecurity, synthetic intelligence, digital authorities and everlasting monitoring of the state of digital transformation for decision-making functions.
In accordance with the Observatory’s knowledge, regardless of progress in latest many years, mounted broadband penetration within the area is at ranges beneath 20% of the inhabitants versus the 40% seen in Europe. With regard to connection high quality, the area can be beneath the worldwide common, each for mounted and cell broadband.
The DDO additionally signifies that the digital divide by household income level continues to persist. In 2022, Web penetration in higher-income households was practically double that of lower-income households in some international locations. Moreover, 77% of city households in Latin America and the Caribbean have connectivity, whereas that share drops to simply 38% in rural areas.
The Observatory launched right this moment by ECLAC additionally compiles data on national digital agendas, in addition to the Digital Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean (eLAC).
Digital agendas can play a key function in driving the transformations that the area urgently wants, ECLAC says, however lately a sure weakening of those devices has been noticed. Though they exist within the majority of nations, they lack concrete roadmaps, operational authorities, finances allotments and mechanisms for analysis, the DDO reveals.
Digitalization is usually a highly effective device for addressing the area’s structural issues alongside completely different dimensions, corresponding to schooling, well being, safety, justice, institutional weak spot and productive transformation, to call just a few. However to attain this, it have to be thought of a elementary component in nationwide improvement agendas and in international locations’ and territories’ productive improvement insurance policies, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs concluded.
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