By: Staff Writer
March 11, 2022
The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) says that the digital gaps in the Caribbean compared to the more developed countries is stark and needs to be addressed even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The IADB in a recently hosted webinar, “Digital Infrastructure & Development in the Caribbean,” said that the Caribbean has fallen behind other developed countries significantly in terms of bridging the digital gaps that are holding back development.
Henry Mooney, economics lead specialist, Caribbean Countries Department IADB, said that through focusing in particular on the six countries that are members of the IADB, Caribbean department, which are Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, and compared to other data from around the region on digital transformation, “As backdrop for all of this work is really the performance of countries in the region and as many of you who study the Caribbean or are from the Caribbean, or think about the Caribbean know, Caribbean countries have suffered from extreme volatility in terms of output growth, performance and as a consequence, Human Development performance over the course of many decades now.
He further detailed all of the past decade of volatility from 2010 to 2020, highlighted by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic that showed clearly the gaps in Human Development, he added that the region has had “declining levels of productivity for over the past 50 years.”
He also said: “The key to driving faster productivity growth is going to be not only to add more capital, but to make that capital work in a smarter way and to use investments, including public and private investment to drive sectors that have the potential to grow faster and add value. So high value added sectors that can compete globally.”
Antonio Gacria Zaballos, sector lead specialist, connectivity, markets & finance division, IADB also said: “It is clear that the pandemic has provoked a shock, not only in the demand, but also in the supply and the shock has a perfect reflection in the in the existing gap of data infrastructure.
“The Latin America and the Caribbean in particular, are lagging behind in terms of a digital infrastructure and connectivity, both in fixed and mobile broadband services. So particularly when we compare the situation of our region versus the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, we realize that there are double digit gaps. And in some particular cases, what we are observing is that the gap in terms of fixed broadband is also quite big in comparison to the gap on mobile broadband, this is having an impact from two different angles and two different approaches.
He continued, “One is from the angle of the fixed broadband connectivity, which is going to be instrumental to reduce the exclusion of social services such as the provision of e-school, e-education, e-health services, or any other public services that the government’s are trying to provide.
“Secondly is also having a clear impact in the terms of a quality of the services of a mobile broadband, and more importantly, in future applications related to 5G on key sectors of the economy.”
This is a “double challenge” that the region must try to keep up on in order to close the gaps in the Human Development Index, but the region has to invest more in the digital infrastructure in both fixed and mobile broadband services.
Mr Garcia Zaballos also said that countries in the region like Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and The Bahamas are already seeing significant GDP growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of their early investment in digital infrastructure.
He further advocated for “Strong national connectivity plans” and “sound policies and regulatory frameworks” to support the need for better digital infrastructure.