Information and communications technologies (ICTs) have led to important economic changes over recent decades, transforming value chains and the production and trade of goods and services. ICTs have become an increasingly important tool for development, providing access to information for science, technology and innovation, fostering and enhancing regional and international cooperation and knowledge-sharing. While this has led to substantial improvements in productivity, it has also created new barriers to entry. Only those individuals with the requisite skills and those firms with access to the right tools can reap benefits from the digital revolution. Moreover, the ICT sector is characterized by constant and rapid changes. It has the potential to bring large benefits in terms of productivity and economic development, but it can also by disrupting the status quo lead to inequality and exclusion.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a sweeping impact on economic activity, it has also resulted in an exceptional surge in the use of various digital solutions. Workers around the world have shifted to telework and online conferencing, while many students have had to follow their classes remotely, supported by a variety of digital technologies. Use of e-commerce, digital entertainment (streaming, e-media and web-based news services) and social media accelerated in 2020 (UNCTAD, 2021b). In addition to enabling continued business in many areas, digital solutions have also helped social and cultural activities to continue during the pandemic, thus contributing to maintaining a better quality of life while in isolation.
While this will likely have lasting effects on the adoption of ICTs in many areas, even beyond the crisis, there are also growing concerns about the unequal access to these digital goods and services, both between and within countries. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, there were already persistent differences in access between men and women, urban and rural sectors, low- and high-skilled workers, large and small firms, public and private schools, and others. The measures taken by the governments to contain the pandemic have the potential to increase these existing inequalities (UNCTAD, 2021b). In addition, privacy and data protection concerns have multiplied. In order to meet the SDG targets of universal access to ICTs, efforts to bridge existing and emerging digital divides should be reinforced in order to allow more countries and all sectors of the population to take advantage of digital technologies.
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Answer:
Information and communications technologies (ICTs) have led to important economic changes over recent decades, transforming value chains and the production and trade of goods and services. ICTs have become an increasingly important tool for development, providing access to information for science, technology and innovation, fostering and enhancing regional and international cooperation and knowledge-sharing. While this has led to substantial improvements in productivity, it has also created new barriers to entry. Only those individuals with the requisite skills and those firms with access to the right tools can reap benefits from the digital revolution. Moreover, the ICT sector is characterized by constant and rapid changes. It has the potential to bring large benefits in terms of productivity and economic development, but it can also by disrupting the status quo lead to inequality and exclusion.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a sweeping impact on economic activity, it has also resulted in an exceptional surge in the use of various digital solutions. Workers around the world have shifted to telework and online conferencing, while many students have had to follow their classes remotely, supported by a variety of digital technologies. Use of e-commerce, digital entertainment (streaming, e-media and web-based news services) and social media accelerated in 2020 (UNCTAD, 2021b). In addition to enabling continued business in many areas, digital solutions have also helped social and cultural activities to continue during the pandemic, thus contributing to maintaining a better quality of life while in isolation.
While this will likely have lasting effects on the adoption of ICTs in many areas, even beyond the crisis, there are also growing concerns about the unequal access to these digital goods and services, both between and within countries. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, there were already persistent differences in access between men and women, urban and rural sectors, low- and high-skilled workers, large and small firms, public and private schools, and others. The measures taken by the governments to contain the pandemic have the potential to increase these existing inequalities (UNCTAD, 2021b). In addition, privacy and data protection concerns have multiplied. In order to meet the SDG targets of universal access to ICTs, efforts to bridge existing and emerging digital divides should be reinforced in order to allow more countries and all sectors of the population to take advantage of digital technologies.
Explanation:
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P.S✓ [ if fofollow mo ako, i can check your questions at masasagutan ko rin ;> ]