Continuing with our review of the 2013 edition of “Measuring the Information Society” published by the International Telecommunications Union, the ITU’s findings on digital natives in the Caribbean.
As part of its review of ICT development globally, in the latest edition of Measuring the Information Society, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) highlighted the concept of the digital native, and their likely numbers worldwide. This post summarises the ITU’s findings on digital natives in the Caribbean/CARICOM region, and briefly discusses the extent to which Caribbean countries are poised to embrace the information Society.
Who and what are digital natives and why are they important?
It is widely recognised that the younger population is driving take-up and use of digital technologies: many of them do not know a world without the mobile/cellular phone and the Internet. Hence, this segment of our population tends to be first adopters of new technologies, and is also heavily influencing the products and services that are coming to market, along with trends on user interest and demand.
Currently, there is no truly standardised definition of who the digital native is. However, based on the literature that was examined and summarised in Measuring the Information Society, the ITU used the following definition:
A digital native is defined as a youth, aged 15—24 inclusive, with five years or more experience using the Internet.
From a country perspective, digital natives, which as per the definition comprise the youth population, are important because they are “shaping and driving the Information Society” (Source: ITU). Consequently, there has been a growing emphasis on ensuring that the youth perspective and issues on technology and ICT captured and addressed.
Caribbean-specific results
Using the above definition as a starting point, the ITU estimated the number of digital natives in 2012 using either country data on the number of young people online, or a statistical model (summarised in the report) to generate an output. The resulting estimates, which were compared against overall country population data, is expected to provide some insight into the potential impact of digital natives on ICT and the Information Society in individual countries and worldwide.
In its digital natives exercise, 180 countries were assessed, which included 13 countries from the Caribbean/CARICOM region. Figure 1 shows estimates of digital natives in Caribbean countries as a percentage of their total population and their global ranking.
Figure 1: Digital natives as a percentage of population in select Caribbean in 2012 with global ranking out of 180 countries (Source: ITU)
From the exercise, Barbados was the highest ranked Caribbean country and was also 7th worldwide, having an estimated 13.1% of its population as digital natives. For the lowest ranked Caribbean country, Haiti, at 112 out of 180 countries, the ITU estimated that only 3.6% of its population were digital natives. Across the entire sample group approximately 7.7% of the collective population would be considered digital natives.
The digital natives estimate is a subset of the total youth population, which would reflect the extent to which a county’s youth population has been using the Internet. Figure 2 highlights the digital natives as a percentage of the youth population, that is persons between the ages 15—24 inclusive.
Figure 2: Digital natives in select Caribbean as a percentage of the youth population in 2012 (Source: ITU)
Similar to the previous results, the percentage of digital natives in Barbados, relative to the youth population, far exceeds that in the other Caribbean countries examined at 90.5%. Haiti, again, has the smallest digital native to youth population at 17.3%. However, between those upper and lower limits, the results do not mimic exactly those evident in Figure 1.
A possible reason for this might be the general size of the youth population in some countries, in comparison to their total population. For countries where the youth populations is large relative to the total population, they can in fact have a smaller percentage of digital natives among their youth population than other countries, but still appear to have a greater impact whether considered against their national population.
Closing thoughts…
In summary, the ITU’s attempt to quantify digital natives has been insightful, as it suggests the potential within countries, among its current youth population, to embrace ICT and to help shape what the Information Society could look like in each of the countries examined.
However, by its own admission, the organisation did highlight that although there is extensive literature on digital natives, little quantitative work has been done to date to develop appropriate models in this area. Hence, it is likely that into the future the methodology the ITU employed will be refined once this area begins to get more rigorous attention.
Nevertheless, as a snapshot of youth experience with the Internet, Figure 2 does highlight the extent to which persons between the ages of 15—24 in the Caribbean still have not been adequately exposed to the Internet. Excluding Barbados, which appears to be so significantly ahead, on average across the rest of the Caribbean, less than 40% of the youth population would qualify as digital natives. (With Barbados, the average jumps to 43.5%). Hence at the very least, these results could prompt closer scrutiny of matters such as:
- the extent to which students have access to computing devices and the Internet
- the cost of computing devices on the local market
- take up and access to Internet service in households
- the take up and use of mobile broadband, along with matters related to affordability
- interventions countries could consider in order to narrow the gap between those who have access to the resources that would allow them to become digital natives, and those who do not.
______________
They created Facebook, popularised Twitter …. the list goes on…. And the “mature” just keep following where they take the digital world!
But, as these statistics implicitly indicate, does the mass or concentration of these Digital Native youths really prescribe digital trends? Or is it just specific sources of them, in specific locations that have almost always set the pace?
Thanks for another interesting piece. These statistics also speak to how well the region is positioned to embrace and “capitalise” on the new technological age. It would be interesting to also see how we stack up against other countries particularly those in North America, Europe and the emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, India and China.
While we have achieved quite a bit in this area in the last few years, it stands to reason that there is still some ways to go for our countries to be fully “digital ready”. There is need for our governments to facilitate greater investments in internet and mobile technologies and in measures to bring down the cost of these services. Without such interventions, access to the internet etc. by our youth will languish at the current levels and the digital gap between our societies and the more advanced economies will widen, leaving us in a perpetual “catch-up” mode.