Download The role of digital in driving economic growth and

Competitiveness - The role of digital in driving
economic growth and job creation
Ryan Hawthorne, Economist, Acacia Economics
2.3% of households have access to the
internet at home in LP, 17.3% in GP
Percentage of households who have a functional landline,
cellular telephone in their dwellings by province, 2014
Percentage of households with access to the Internet at
home, or with access to Internet by province, 2014
Source: Statistics South Africa
… and the ICT sector is declining as a
% of SA’s GDP
100
4
3.7
60
4
3.3
3.2
3.2
3.2
2.9 3
40
2
20
1
0
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) contribution to
gross domestic product (GDP)
ICT contribution to gross value added (GVA)
ICT contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) (%)
% GDP
R billion
80
5
Key weakness in SA ICT ranking:
government usage
Source: World
Economic Forum
network readiness
index
… despite a plethora of govt plans
(such as the DTPS ICT panel)
Source: DTPS ICT Panel final recommendations
For example, SA is nowhere near to
meeting SA connect targets for schools
Target
Penetration Baseline
measure
(2013)
By 2016
By 2020
By 2030
Broadband
%
access speed population
33.7% internet 50% 5Mbps
access
90% 5Mbps
50% 100Mbps
100% 10Mbps
80% 100Mbps
Schools
% schools
25%
connected
50% 10Mbps
100% 10Mbps
80% 100Mbps
100% 1Gbps
Health
facilities
% health
facilities
13%
connected
50% 10Mbps
100% 10Mbps
80% 100Mbps
100% 1Gbps
50% 5Mbps
100% 10Mbps
100% 100Mbps
Government % govt
facilities
offices
There are well known ways of fixing this
• Flexible procurement rules for innovative solutions, ICT
procurement from SMEs
• Assign high-demand spectrum
• Implement rapid deployment guidelines
• Make government data more open
• Fibre optic broadband for schools, human settlements
– Including LAN, WiFi
• Internship programme at state IT departments
• Support for technology hubs
THANK YOU
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