The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that connectivity is essential for citizens, businesses, and institutions across the world. These two last years meant rebuilding in a digital environment, as the world became accustomed to a health crisis. The pandemic brought to the world’s attention the importance of the IT&C sector, however, despite the “connectivity boost” there are still almost 3.0 billion people offline and hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs or had their incomes diminished.
4.9 billion people connected to the Internet
In 2015, all the world’s countries adopted a document containing 17 development goals, but not including IT&C. The pandemic brought to the world’s attention the importance of internet connectivity and the importance of the IT&C sector. In this context, we are rebuilding bridges differently, relying on the IT&C industry.
The pandemic brought approximately 782 million more people online in 2020 compared to 2019. We now have 4.9 billion people connected — or 63% of the world’s population. The unusually strong increase in the number of people connected suggests that the measures taken during the pandemic (isolation, working from home), have forced both governments and individuals to go online. That’s a 17% increase on the previous year, according to data published by The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) — the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs).
It was a forced transition to a virtual world; however multiple industries, operators, equipment manufacturers, and so on, have adapted quickly. Governments have taken steps to make it easier to connect to the internet, such as pricing and moving to online learning. But is that enough?
UN’s goal: everyone should be connected by 2030
The UN’s overarching goal is for everyone to be connected by 2030. But is that possible? Let’s look at some key figures.
According to the previously mentioned ITU report, 96% of the world’s population is covered by at least 3G telecoms services. On the other hand, 2.9 billion people worldwide are not connected. That’s 37% of the world’s population.
Where do these differences come from? For one thing, they come from culture, but also geography. The least connected nations are in Africa and South Asia.
Globally, an average of 62% of men use the Internet compared with 57% of women. Although the digital gender divide has been narrowing in all world regions and has been virtually eliminated in the developed world (89% of men and 88% of women online), wide gaps remain in the least Developed Countries (31% of men compared to just 19% of women) and in Landlocked Developing Countries (3% of men compared to 27% of women).
There is also a huge gap between urban and rural areas, while in developed countries, the gap is almost zero. The gap in other parts of the world is actually wide, with urban – 76% and rural – 39%.
Lack of internet access at home, a social problem during the pandemic
When it comes to Internet connectivity, there is a clear generation gap in all regions of the world and this became a social problem during the pandemic.
Nearly a quarter of young people aged 18-24 globally, or about 325 million people, have lost their jobs or have their incomes diminished by the pandemic, and in the medium to long term automation is the next threat, reveals a report by PwC, UNICEF and Generation Unlimited.
Called “Reaching YES. Addressing the youth employment and skills challenge”, the report notes that while the number of young people aged 15-24 increased by 30% between 1999 and 2019, the employment rate among them fell by around 12% over the same period. Of those young people who are employed, many are in the informal economy and in jobs with low pay or hazardous working conditions — they have been most exposed to job losses during the pandemic. Of those in formal employment, many are employed in positions below their qualifications because they do not possess skills aligned with employers’ needs or because the supply of suitable positions is too low.
Many households may technically be connected to the Internet, but only via a smartphone, for instance, rather than a laptop or a PC. As demonstrated during the pandemic, this can create significant barriers to activities such as remote working and schooling.
Moreover, the transition from school to the labor market is difficult for many youngsters either because they have trained for professions where it is too little on offer, because their skills are not aligned with employers’ expectations, or because they do not want to pursue other learning programs, believing that formal education is sufficient. In other words, there is a gap between what the real economy offers and the skills of the generation now entering the labor market.
The situation risks becoming more complicated in the context of accelerating digitization which will require increasingly sophisticated training, meaning technical skills, but also creativity, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the urgency of expanding connectivity, but further work is needed to ensure that its roll-out across the world is comprehensive and inclusive. Although connecting the whole world by 2030 seems like an over-optimistic goal, the need for a post-pandemic connectivity boost is real, and developing countries should be the main priority.
