IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

The  Zimbabwe Digital Economy Diagnostic, a new report developed by the World Bank, finds that its digital financial services are the strongest foundation for the further development of the digital economy in the country.

Among Zimbabwe’s key strengths is the widely used digital payment system, through which 96 percent of all transactions in the country are transacted, and which Government uses extensively for its core business.

In March 2018, the Cambodian government announced its plan to be ready to transform into a digital economy by 2023. A digital economy is one in which economic processes and activities are based on digital technologies (electronic systems and devices that generate, store or process data). The digitisation of the economy drives innovation and fuels job opportunities and economic growth.

Cambodia’s economy grew at an estimated rate of 7.1 per cent in 2018, driven primarily by robust expansion in domestic consumption and exports. Despite this positive outlook, there are internal and external risks that may affect Cambodia’s future growth. These include the potential withdrawal of the European Union’s Everything But Arms trade preferences, unpredictable spillover effects of the ongoing trade frictions between the United States and China, and vulnerabilities in Cambodia’s financial sector related to the construction and real estate sectors.

A blueprint for digital economies and MOUs signed with Inmarsat and French consultancy Tactis – some of the outcomes of the Transform Africa Summit 2019. The fifth iteration of the summit, arranged by Smart Africa – a coalition of African member states committing to harnessing ICT for socio-economic development – was held this week in Kigali, Rwanda, under the theme ‘Boosting Africa’s Digital Economy’.

The directors of influential technology companies in Africa – GVG and Accenture (now Verrakis in Nigeria) – also spoke this week on their views for Africa’s digitization.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is taking place around the world with a boom in digital technology, creating great opportunities for but also challenges to the development of each country, enterprise, and person.

Vietnam’s digital economy has been growing at the fastest pace in ASEAN, about 38 percent annually compared to the region’s average of 33 percent since 2015. The country expects the digital economy will make up 20 percent of its GDP and at least 10 percent in each sector.

The plan argues that the internet economy has contributed to a 21 per cent growth in GDP within the G8 economies over the past five years.

Certain technological breakthroughs from recent years will continue to drive business transformation during 2012. Indicative examples are cloud computing - now entering a more mature phase - the proliferation of broadband, the extensive use of smart devices gathering real-time data from ‘the field’, and the evolution of Human-Computer interaction involving new and innovative means and devices, such as mobile phones and TV sets. When brought together creatively, these innovations provide new applications that empower users in various domains and contribute to a more connected, digital world.

Τhe European Commission has released the results of the 2019 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which monitors Europe’s overall digital performance and tracks the progress of EU countries with respect to their digital competitiveness.

Over the past year, all EU countries improved their digital performance. Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark scored the highest ratings in DESI 2019 and are among the global leaders in digitalisation. In emerging Europe, by far the highest scorer is Estonia, which ranks eighth out of the 28 EU member states. No other country in emerging Europe scores above the EU average.

European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said in this regard: "2013 will be the busiest year yet for the Digital Agenda. My top priorities are to increase broadband investment and to maximise the digital sector's contribution to Europe's recovery." The digital economy is growing at seven times the rate of the rest of the economy, but this potential is currently impeded by a patchy pan-European policy framework.

The topic of today does both. The digital revolution brings huge potential to improve lives, save public money and enhance enterprise, employment and wealth.

Twenty years ago, few had heard of the Internet: today, between and 2 and 3 billion people use it.

Already today, it's an 8 trillion dollar marketplace; and a platform for huge innovation. Today, on the fixed Internet alone, one day of traffic is equivalent to a whole year's worth back in 2000.

Nearly 300 Vietnamese and foreign experts gathered in a conference in Hanoi on May 2 to seek ways to complete institutions and fundamental conditions for the development of digital economy in Vietnam.

At the conference, part of the Vietnam Private Sector Economic Forum 2019, participants noted that in the past 10 years, Vietnam’s digital economy has developed in both infrastructure and business market.

South Africa lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to embracing the digital economy. There are five critical areas we need to address to bring us up to speed.

UCT Vice-Chancellor’s Virtual Open Lecture on 15 July 2020, Colin Coleman, the former Goldman Sachs CEO for sub-Saharan Africa, laid out a “10-point action plan” for South Africa. One of his action-plan points is “introducing an e-government initiative to transform and modernise the public service, making South Africa a capable country, with a smart and capable state”.

The ambitious national programme for the digital economy includes a set of main pillars and medium and long-term goals based

Aligned with Oman Vision 2040’s economic growth and job creation goals, digital transformation plays a key role as it supports the strategic and vital sectors in the Sultanate of Oman.

The world has seen an unprecedented change in the technology landscape over the last decade and innovation has become more important than ever before.

Technology can help build a digital India—a knowledge-based society and economy— by empowering, connecting and binding everyone.

The distinction between these two is not yet clear, but the IT industry hopes they will not be simply further restatements of aspirations.

Sturgeon must also fathom the byzantine structure of Scottish Government responsibilities in this area, and how all these interact. By Agenda's reckoning, her team comprises Graeme Dickson, director general, enterprise environment and digital; Paul Gray, chair of the national ICT board; Mike Neilson, digital director; head of digital strategy and programmes, Colin Cook (plus 12 underlings); and digital public services division director, Dr Jane Morgan (11 underlings).

He said the benefits of ICT could be applied to facilitate socio-economic development to bring enormous benefits to Ghanaians. Government therefore, remained committed to promote digital literacy in the country to ensure that the people reap full benefits of ICT usage.

Mr Iddrisu made the observation when the Ministry of Communication took its turn on the Meet-the-Press series organised by the Ministry of Information.

This, he explained, is as a result of the increasing role science education and technology is playing in shaping the global economy as the country positions itself as an ICT-driven economy.

“Ghana is committed to having an ICT-driven economy, and for this to be fully achieved requires high skill training of students in such fields and computer engineering is well-placed in the University of Ghana to provide the leadership role.

BuddeComm has been predicting for at least the last 20 years that major changes in technology will have massive social and economic implications. Unlike previous ‘revolutions’ that changed the world, this ‘digital revolution’ is unfolding within a short timeframe of 20-30 years. Compare this to the industrial revolution which developed over a few hundred years and the agricultural revolution that took a few thousand years - and it becomes easy to see how quickly we must adapt and accept this fast changing landscape.

With the rise of digital platforms, the world is rapidly changing. In newspaper and book publishing, TV and radio, film, music, and other forms of media, we see that the walls that protected organisations within traditional models are crumbling. Yet, despite the obvious need to move with the times, many professionals and organisations are still grappling with the digital economy and questioning the impact it will have on them – or, even worse, are ignorant about it. In many cases, their own consumers are well ahead of them. The public sector is also seriously affected; it should learn from the problems in other areas, especially book and newspaper publishing. Healthcare and education are classic examples here.