Digital inclusion is an expansive and critical topic that manifests itself in many ways. The proliferation of digital technologies in daily life has made it such that we are all in pursuit of a moving technological frontier. The need to keep pace risks leaving some behind, and policymakers have rightly taken steps to mitigate the potential digital divide. Critical to success is an understanding of local contexts for the development of tailored policies.
In this webinar on “Enhancing Digital Inclusion in ASEAN” we explored the gaps in digital inclusion manifested across the EU and ASEAN, and the policies adopted to address them. Joined by academic panelists with policy experience from leading regional think tanks, we delved deeper into the local contexts of Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore.
Key Highlights
1. Digital Skills must match needs
- On a regional level, both the EU and ASEAN place a high emphasis on digital literacy and both organizations aim to support and coordinate digital skills policy between member states. Yet, the type of digital divide and their policy approaches differ.
- Where the EU has an opportunities divide between members, ASEAN has a skills divide. This results in differences in the skillset focus and types of partnership.
- The organizational capacities of the two regional organizations also differ; the goal setting of the EU is more concrete than ASEAN and accompanied by higher funding.
2. Indonesia faces large domestic digital disparities in several dimension despite seeing improvements at the national level
- Digital developments in Indonesia center on Jakarta, the gap between Jakarta and other regions has widened over time.
- Digitalisation is still largely centred on urban areas.
- Digitalisation of MSMEs emphasise on-boarding but little attention is paid to continuity.
- There are stark generational differences in digital skills, different age groups require different skills development policies.
3. Malaysia faces a mismatch in demand and supply of digital skills
- Malaysia produces a large pool of graduates with basic skills but needs more employable skills.
- Malaysian employers have low levels of automation and digitization, and there is heavy reliance on unskilled labour.
- Malaysian firms have difficulty retaining skilled labour due to outside competition.
4. Laos saw an acceleration of cross-border e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic which now requires a broader set of policies to sustain
- E-commerce in Laos occurs on a largely informal basis.
- Laos still lacks physical infrastructure such as internet connectivity and logistics networks.
- Laos also lacks rules on e-commerce and electronic cash
- These are proving to be a constraint on Laos’ ability to leverage their international linkages and sustain cross-border e-commerce.
5. Singapore’s experience shows that digital skills development is a continuous journey
- Despite the relatively early start in the 1980s, Singapore still experiences disparities in dimensions such as age, gender and income.
- The level of trust in digital technologies is low despite high usage.
- Own-account workers are an area of concern with issues such as trade-offs between income and training, recognition of certification and quality of training being key.
By TAN, Kway Guan, SENGSTSCHMID, Ulrike
View and download the presentation materials below:
ACI Perspectives 