MANAMA: Bahrain ranked first globally in female digital skills training and STEM education – a broad term used to group together the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – in the 2022 Inclusive Internet Index.
Developed by Economist Impact with support from Meta (previously, Facebook), the index measures whether the Internet is accessible and affordable in each country and how much it enables social and economic mobility.
It assesses the performance of 100 countries in four indicators of inclusion: availability (usage, infrastructure and quality), readiness (literacy, safety and policy), affordability (price and competitive environment), and relevance (local and relevant content).
Topping the charts in multiple sub-indices including national female e-inclusion policies, open data policies, and privacy regulations, Bahrain ranks 40th overall globally, showcasing an improvement of five places since last year.
The kingdom’s local and relevant content, digital literacy and trust and safety scores, significantly exceed global averages.
However, the competitive digital environment in the kingdom has weakened year-on-year.
Bahrain’s local and relevant content, digital literacy and trust and safety scores exceed global averages
Dalal Buhejji, executive director of investment origination at the Economic Development Board (EDB), said, “Bahrain continues to focus on creating equal opportunities within the tech and innovation sector, as well as leading on female tech-inclusion with initiatives like ‘Women in fintech’ led by the Supreme Council for Women.
“Prioritising IoT and ICT comes naturally to us due to the kingdom’s availability of talent, best-value operating costs, and its forward-thinking regulators – coupled with the infrastructure that drew companies such as Citi to set up their global tech hub in Bahrain,” she added.
It is worth noting that Bahrain was recently ranked first in the GCC for the availability of advanced computer programming talent in Information and Computer Technology (ICT), according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Report 2020.
Telecommunications, ICT, and digital economy are considered vital sectors under the Economic Recovery Plan. The sector strategy aims to establish a world-class digital infrastructure by attracting big-tech companies, and making Bahrain a regional digital innovation hub.
Singapore ranks 1st in the index and it retains its first place in the availability category. It has also experienced exceptional improvement in the Affordability category where it ranks second from last year’s 27th position.
The index highlights how far the world has come in extending connectivity and its benefits to the world but also how much more needs to be done.
This has been highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic where those equipped with digital skills and access to high-speed, affordable Internet, were better able to proceed in a recognisable, if altered, fashion.
Nearly 70 per cent of people around the world surveyed in preparing the index believed that greater use of the Internet in all aspects of life is a ‘new normal’.
On the other hand, the fifth year of the 3i illustrated a stubborn digital divide preventing billions of people, prominently in low-income and lower middle income countries, from enjoying the full benefits that the Internet has to offer.
avinash@gdnmedia.bh
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