Digital inclusion and resilient development Ayesha Zainudeen, Senior Research Manager Regional Expert Consultation on Connecting Asia Pacific s Digital Society for Building Resilience 5 6 September 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka The work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada (www.idrc.ca) and UKaid from the Department for International Development, UK (www.dfid.uk).
BOP connectivity WHERE WE STAND TODAY
Findings from Teleuse@BOP4 survey of bottom of the pyramid Actual population proportions SEC D+E (% of population) Bangladesh Pakistan India Sri Lanka Thailand 73 59 69 44 33 Less than USD2 per day (% of population) Year Source: World Resources Institute 84 2000 80 2004 74 2002 43 2003 25 2002 3
BOP representative surveys in 5 countries in mid 2011 BOP teleusers Margin of error @ 95% CL (%) Bangladesh Pakistan India Sri Lanka [1] Java [2] Thailand Total 2,050 1,835 3,181 1,200 1,088 800 10,154 + 2.% + 2% + 2% + 3% + 2% + 4% [1] Sri Lanka: Includes North and East [2] Java region only; separate sampling procedures and BOP definition used 4
Majority either have no, or irregular, personal incomes 5
And little education 6 Among BOP teleusers
But 89 99% of BOP have used a phone in previous 3 months Used a phone in the last 3 months (% of BOP) Bangladesh Pakistan India Sri Lanka Java Thailand 2008 95% 96% 86% 88% - 77 % 2011 99% 96% 89% 90% 90% 91% 7 Among BOP (OUTER SAMPLE)
>70% of BOP has made a call during the last week 8 Among BOP teleusers
> 75 % of BOP have access within the household 9 Among BOP teleusers
Phones have overtaken radio at BOP everywhere except LK (but some mobiles are used as radios) Mobile or fixed phone 10 Among BOP teleusers
Ownership: Mobile dominates 11 Among BOP teleusers households
Urban vs rural BOP: No major difference between rural and urban mobile ownership at BOP 12 Among BOP teleusers
Male vs female: Gender gap continues in BOP mobile ownership in sub continent. Flipped in TH 13 Among BOP teleusers
Mobile prices among lowest in the world Nokia basket study modeled on Economist Big Mac cost study Bangladesh and Sri Lanka among lowest in voice All 5 study countries below average (USD11.47) for a voice + data bundle 14
Nokia total cost of ownership study 2011 Ave with Internet premium: USD 15.05 Ave: USD 11.47 Source: Nokia 15
Computer use at BOP low, at best Not used a computer in last 12 months Used a computer in last 12 months 16 Among BOP teleusers
Internet use at BOP even lower Use the Internet (% of BOP teleusers) Bangladesh Pakistan India Sri Lanka Thailand 2% 2% 1% 9% 21% 17 Among BOP teleusers
Use of the mobile beyond voice is limited; SMS is used by at least 20% in each country % of BOP mobile owners Among BOP mobile owners B desh Pakistan India S Lanka Java Thailand Make phone calls 100 99 100 99 96 100 Receive phone calls 100 95 99 100 94 99 Send/receive missed calls 86 71 78 65 54 24 Send/receive SMS 19 38 23 55 89 37 Send/receive MMS 1 2 3 5 14 8 Send/receive e mail 1 3 2 Browse the Internet 3 1 1 10 5 Take photos/video 19 7 8 14 26 19 Play games 27 21 18 11 31 16 Listen to radio 13 15 12 17 26 18 Listen to music 25 5 15 8 26 30 Share that you have content created 1 1 3 2 8 3 Send/receive or download/upload other content 1 1 2 2 6 3 Use as an organizer 7 5 8 2 15 8 Check my bill/credit 13 20 11 18 16 3 Send/receive talk time/load 10 5 2 2 35 0 Access facebook 1 1 7 2 Access other social networking or blog applications 2 1
Voice connectivity is almost ubiquitous BOP is well positioned to receive information and services on mobile phones via voice But much remains to be done wrt more than voice services and applications involving SMS/data M payments, ag info, m health applications, etc 19
Current awareness of MTV services is very limited Among BOP teleusers
Usage is even lower: do the services really exist? Are they relevant? accurate? affordable? Among BOP who are aware of MTV services
HOW DO WE ENSURE THAT USEFUL SERVICES ARE DEVELOPED? 22
Accurate, reliable, timely INFORMATION/DATA is needed for useful apps and services Service design and development best left up to the private sector (app community) Operators and donors are already supporting these activities E.g. active and enthusiastic Android app developer community in Sri Lanka
Why not open up government data? A large amount of information and knowledge resides within government agencies on a vast range of topics E.g., train schedules, meteorological information, agriculture market price information Third party data collection is costly, plus issues of accuracy, credibility, accountability, scalability, sustainability Opening up this knowledge means: Codifying the knowledge: packaging the knowledge appropriately and making them computer readable Allowing open access: creating APIs that service providers can easily plug into What are the policy issues?
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Key take aways Mobile is near ubiquitous at BOP BOP require useful and accurate information and services Best way to deliver is through mobiles, not computers Government need not do it all Private sector is already playing a key role Even when government is active, scalability needs to be kept in mind Government can facilitate an enabling environment, especially in the context of smartphone proliferation Open access to information residing within government Computer readable Published APIs
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