Facebook report says India ranks 36th in internet inclusiveness
Published: Mar 02, 2017
By TIOLCORP News Service
NEW DELHI, MAR 02, 2017: PER an in-depth report by the Economist Intelligence Unit commissioned by Facebook's Internet.org, the social-networking company has worked on an index of Internet Inclusion in 75 countries on the basis of 46 indicators classified into four categories: Availability, affordability, relevance and readiness. The report concluded that despite the infrastructure in place, the majority of the world remains under-connected, that the key to an inclusive internet is the relevance of local content and a widening gender gap is hindering inclusiveness on the internet.
According to Facebook, connectivity is not just a by-product of progress, it is a crucial enabler. Access to internet is key to economic opportunity and enables free exchange of data and information. Internet is crucial in providing tools to address some of our biggest challenges including delivering education, healthcare, sourcing clean water, increasing energy efficiency and making governments more effective and responsive to the needs of its citizens.
In the index, India ranks 36th among the 75 countries overall. It ranks 12th among the 22 Asian countries indexed and near the top of the lower-middle income bracket. The index notes that India has leapfrogged from fixed-broadband lines to a high proportion of mobile subscribers. It also stood first jointly with Japan and Malaysia for policy in the readiness category and is the top among Asian countries in terms of affordability because of market competitiveness, spurred perhaps by the launch of Reliance Jio's 4G services.
But unless a truly inclusive internet is put in place, the connectivity alone will not be sufficient in overcoming the global challenges. The report describes an inclusive internet as a widely available, affordable network that allows usage promoting positive social and economic outcomes.
And to address the gaps hindering a truly inclusive internet, the Inclusive Internet Index has concluded that on an average, 94 per cent of the population in the 75 countries surveyed live within range of a signal but only 43 per cent have access to a 4G signal. As a result, people predominantly in the developing countries are using internet less that they would have if it were cheaper and faster. The report that despite the infrastructure being in place, connectivity must be improved to make it inclusive.
Moreover, local language content is vital to achieving an inclusive internet. According to the report, 91 per cent of the countries in the index have basic information in all official local languages but not all relevant information is available locally. It found that only 49 per cent of the countries in the index have a government website that allows users to conduct transactional services online.
In addition, closing the gender gap is essential to realise an inclusive internet. The index measured differences in connectivity between men and women and found that while connectivity has improved across the world, women still make up a smaller proportion of internet users today than in 2013. Women in developing countries are less likely to have data-capable smartphones than men and also less likely to have even heard of the internet.
