mediadev library

Connected Resilience: Gendered Experiences of Meaningful Connectivity through a Global Pandemic

Ingrid Brudvig, Sonia Jorge, Margaret Nyambura Ndung’u

Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (2024), 57 pp.

"Looking at patterns between those with meaningful connectivity — defined as having daily internet use with 4G-like speeds, owning a smartphone, and an unlimited access point at home, work, or a place of study — and those with just basic or no internet access at all, we saw key distinctions betw ... een women based on geography and education in our study sample which impacted their experiences of the internet. Across our six survey countries [Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda], women with a tertiary education were nearly twice as likely to be meaningfully connected compared to their peers with less education. Women living in rural areas were three times more likely to lack internet access than their urban-dwelling peers, while women living in cities were over 50% more likely to have meaningful connectivity. Meaningful connectivity enabled women around the world to learn, earn, access government and financial services, and connect with family and communities, thereby also saving essential time and money in transport costs. Women’s educational level and having meaningful connectivity are the strongest predictors of finding information online or participating in the digital economy. Women int erviewed in underserved localities — such as remote villaes in India and impoverished urban settlements in Nigeria — reported restricted digital access due to: lack of infrastructure (such as mobile towers); high cost of devices and data services; income-generating activities and unpaid care work leave little to no time available to access connectivity or digital skills educational initiatives; dependency on men in their family to use devices [...] We propose four tiers of achievable solutions — and call attention to policymakers, investors, and the ICT sector at large to fast-track meaningful connectivity and inclusive digital development for all: 1. Deep investments that use substantial resourcing to make profound changes in a specific policy area or for a specific community. Universal Service and Access Funds (USAFs) represent a key mechanism across the majority world for deep investment strategies. When well executed, they provide clear interventions with measurable changes in the lives of affected communities. 2. Grand visions that combine years of effort with substantial funding resources to revolutionize the status quo. National broadband plans and other key strategy documents — when appropriately supported and resourced through implementation stages — represent a core example of grand visions within this space. 3. Easy wins that are comparatively discreet and specific changes that can still create tangible value at their scale. Gender data — collecting it, creating it, analyzing it, and using it — is a critical component to several easy wins that have been implemented in recent years. Policymakers can start from this level of research and measurement to make clear steps in the right direction. 4. Scalable systems that represent large, programmatic change in the pre-existing ways of working. Multistakeholder approaches and gender targets can provide the foundation for long-term, ongoing processes that scale progress towards closing the gender digital divide. By using policy and regulation to create mechanisms and procedures that consider digital inclusion, policymakers can build habits and routines that gradually and consistently change the course of history." (Executive summary, pages 2-4) more

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Good Practices for Subsea Cables Policy: Investing in Digital Inclusion

Sonia Jorge, Evelyn Namara

Alexandria, VA: Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (2024), 19 pp.

"A thriving digital economy depends on all people being able to connect to the internet. Achieving global connectivity requires maintaining and growing the vast network of subsea cables that connect most around the world to the internet. This brief provides an introduction to the current policy and ... more

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Impact Assessment: Rural Household Devices Project Program of the Uganda Communications Universal Service Access Fund (UCUSAF)

Evelyn Namara, Ingrid Brudvig

Alexandria, VA; Kampala: Global Digital Inclusion Partnership; Uganda Communications Commission (2024), 46 pp.

"The impact assessment underscores the commendable achievements of the Rural Household Devices project. By December 2023, the initiative had successfully reached 54 districts and impacted 10,706 households. The outcomes are multifaceted and transformative, with a substantial number of beneficiaries ... more

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The price of the world in your pocket: A price only some can afford. 2024 Device Pricing

Sonia Jorge, Onica Makwakwa

Alexandria, VA: Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (2024), 9 pp.

"The median price for a smartphone globally is US$92.59. The lowest regional median price is in Africa, at $60.23, while the highest is $101.88 in the Americas. The median global affordability (defined as price as a percentage of average monthly income) for a smartphone is 11%. Europe has the greate ... st regional affordability, at 4.5%, while Africa has the least, at 41%. The median smartphone price among low-income countries is $36.62, rising in line between price and income groups, with the median smartphone price among high-income countries at $121.49. Feature phones offer a lower price point. The global median price for an internet-capable feature phone is $25, at 5.53% affordability. This data is not a measure of all prices in all contexts. For example, we know that second-hand markets are thriving and typically offer lower prices than buying new devices. We also know that many retailers not affiliated with a mobile network will sell unlocked devices that are able to function on multiple networks. However, given the widespread and consistent nature of operators selling phones through their website, this data assumes that the prices set by operators are not without context: they will be responsive to the competitive pressures of other retailers in the markets in which they operate. While these prices are not definitive on what the cost of a smartphone is in each country, they are certainly indicative of the range of prices that customers have in several parts of the world. [...] Across the three years of data collection, the median device price did not vary more than $15 between each period. At the same time, device affordability grew, with the highest median price – $92.59 in 2024 – corresponding to the greatest affordability at 10.99%. This is because average incomes rose globally across these four years, meaning that while the price of the device might be similar as before, it represents, on average, a smaller fraction of how much someone has to spend from their income to afford it. This trend, if it remains, will indicate continued progress towards greater affordability for all. However, the slow pace of progress means that devices will remain unaffordable for millions without responsive action from policymakers and industry." (Pages 3-5) more