According to Bridging the Digital Divide report, issued by Roland Berger, which the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) also published, Egypt jumped eight places in Roland Berger's Digital Inclusion Index (RB DII), in 2020, ranking the 50th, compared to the 52nd in 2017. Egypt scored an overall of 60 points, becoming the third in the list of top 10 improvers of the 82 nations assessed, after Myanmar and Vietnam.
The Index measures and analyzes levels of digital inclusiveness in countries across the globe. Each country is scored out of 100, with a higher score representing greater digital inclusiveness.
Commenting on the report, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat stated that the State's policies that support digital transformation and the development of the telecommunication infrastructure helped position Egypt among the top 10 improvers in digital inclusion in 2020.
He referred to the efforts of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) to build Digital Egypt, carry out a plan to raise the efficiency of telecommunication networks, and develop the telecommunication infrastructure nationwide, capitalizing on cutting-edge technologies, such as fiber optics.
This is in addition to working to boost Internet speed at an EGP 30 billion cost, leading to an increase in the average broadband speed, from 6.5 Mbps in January 2019, to 34.9 Mbps in December 2020. Work is underway to complete the project at an EGP 5.5 billion cost, in 2021, said the ICT Minister.
Talaat highlighted that Egypt has made great strides in achieving digital transformation through digitizing governmental services and making them available through several channels to serve all segments of society and encourage citizens to use digital services. Forty five digital services were made available on the pilot version of Digital Egypt platform, with work in progress to reach 550 digital services by 2023.
Egypt Post also saw a significant development, becoming a main channel for rendering financial inclusion services, along with the governmental and postal services it already provides through post offices available nationwide.
Moreover, the ICT Minister said that as part of the strategy of the National Council for Payments, initiatives and policies were adopted to promote the use of electronic payments. Talaat stressed MCIT keenness to develop the e-commerce scene in Egypt and encourage citizens to use electronic payment methods.
MCIT also works to promote digital literacy and create a safe digital environment through developing a national system to protect citizens' transactions in Digital Egypt, secure the telecommunication and critical information infrastructures for all sectors, and create an enabling legislative environment for protecting personal data.
Talat stated that the number of internet users in Egypt keep growing, as people are increasingly relying on digital applications to learn and work, especially with the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, last year.
The RB DII measures and analyzes levels of digital inclusiveness in countries across the globe, based on their scores across four digital inclusion levers: accessibility, affordability, ability and attitude.
In Accessibility, a lever that assess the availability of digital access to an individual, Egypt moved 13 points up. In Affordability, which assesses the financial capability to pay for digital access, Egypt moved five points up. In Ability, where digital literacy regarding the use and knowledge of ICT as part of digital readiness is assessed, Egypt’s ranking was the same as 2017, achieving 56 points. In Attitude, which assesses trust and enthusiasm to harness ICT, Egypt moved 11 points up.
To view the full report, kindly click here.
