Bridging digital divide in Pakistan.

KARACHI -- One of the biggest challenges in Pakistan is to bridge the widening digital divide. The digital divide across popula- tion segments occurs due to inequality in access to digital technologies.

It not only results in un- equal access to information but can also exclude those segments of population from greater prospects of economic growth.

Digital technologies can be adopted across different eco- nomic sectors. Small busi- nesses benefit from digital technologies by expanding their customer base and farmers can benefit from in- formation about crop prices for maximising their profits.

The importance of easier access to digital technologies has increased multiple times during the Covid-19 pan- demic as work environment has changed from physi- cal presence to online. However, the digital divide becomes more apparent due to inequality in the adop- tion of digital technologies across different population segments.

According to the World Development Indicators, Pakistan had 73 mobile cel- lular subscribers per 100 people in 2018, increasing from 63 in 2015. There was a significant drop in 2015 as a result of the SIM registra- tion process. The average for South Asia is 87.

Pakistan has 15% of its pop- ulation connected to the in- ternet. The average for South Asia is 30%. Furthermore, 0.85 people out of every 100 have fixed broadband con- nections compared to 1.8 in South Asia.

Interestingly, the sub-Sa- haran African region is bet- ter connected with 25% of the population having internet access and 82 people out of every 100 having mobile cel- lular subscription.

The Global Connectivity Index of Huawei, developed to analyse performance of the information and com- munication technology (ICT) sector in a country, its digital competitiveness and poten- tial for future growth, ranks Pakistan among the bottom five out of 79 countries. This clearly indicates the chal- lenges faced by Pakistan as it pushes for a greater role of digital technologies.

Mobile ecosystem

The recently published report of GSMA titled 'Pakistan: Progressing Towards a Fully Fledged Digital Economy', put total economic contribu- tion by the mobile ecosystem in Pakistan at 5.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) or $16.7 billion in 2018.

A major proportion is con- tributed by productivity improvements through the use of digital technologies across different sectors. It is expected that its contribu- tion to GDP will increase to $24 billion in 2023.

The mobile ecosystem em-...