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Abstract
To promote digital transformation, equal emphasis needs to be placed on digital skills development as to infrastructure development. Integral to investment in digital skills development is the subsequent management and evaluation of digital training programmes. This paper assesses mechanisms to ensure digital training programmes are adequately managed using a standardized data collection framework to measure an internationally accepted digital literacy index. Such an index requires an agile definition of digital literacy, responsive to the fluid nature of the digital economy. The paper also explores the extent to which a G20 advisory body may inform a nationally representative data collection strategy within the context of a data collection process that is cognizant of the evolving demands of businesses and users alike.
(Published as Global Solutions Paper)
JEL C83 J20 J22 J23 J24 F63 F66 F68 I24 I25 O15 O19
Keywords Digital literacy; digital skills; digital divide; digitalization; information literacy; computer literacy; media literacy; communication literacy; technology literacy; agile policy making; representative sampling
1Background
The digital divide is characterized by two crucial problems, viz., (1) limited and costly infrastructure and (2) limited digital literacy in low/middle income communities. Low/middle income communities have limited access to digital technologies due to high costs and a general lack of infrastructure, ranging from intermittent supply of electricity to limited availability of ICT facilities. In China, the growth of internet usage has slowed, with the primary reason for non-use identified as a lack of internet knowledge (CINIC, 2016). Similarly, in South Africa, it was found in 2015 that 33% of households saw no relevance in accessing the Internet (see Figure 1). Generally these responses emanated from disadvantaged communities where large portions of the population were not engaged in formal employment (Statistics South Africa, 2015). Although individuals in disadvantaged communities recognize their personal skills gap, it is the role of government agencies to holistically measure the extent of the gaps and identify their location.
To address the challenges in digital access in low/middle income countries it will be necessary to mobilize significant investments to target limited mobile broadband services, expanding the use and allocation of the mobile spectrum, costly devices and weakly secured service provider infrastructure. Igun (2011) refers to ICT Poverty affecting the African continent and argues that international bodies...