Digital dividends

Growth, jobs and services are the most important returns to digital investments. By reducing information costs, digital technologies greatly lower the cost of economic and social transactions for firms, individuals, and the public sector. They promote innovation when transaction costs fall to essentially zero. They boost efficiency as existing activities and services become cheaper, quicker, or more convenient. And they increase inclusion as people get access to services that previously were out of reach.

In India, it is expected that wide scale use of digital technologies would usher good governance, bring ease of doing business, create India as knowledge economy and empower people of India, especially vulnerable section of society.

However, the World Bank in its recent report highlighted that digital dividends are not spreading rapidly.

♤ Almost 1.063 billion Indians are offline and they cannot participate in the digital economy in meaningful way.

♤ There exist digital divides across gender, geography, age, and income dimensions.

♤ Approximately 40% population is living below poverty line, illiteracy rate is more than 25-30% and digital literacy is almost no-existent among more than 90% of India’s population.

Not surprisingly, the better educated, well connected, and more capable have received most of the benefits—circumscribing the gains from the digital revolution.