Snapshot: 2016 update of the status of ICT development in the Caribbean

A 2016 update of how well Caribbean countries performed on the latest ICT Development Index published by the International Telecommunications Union.

Yesterday, 22 November 2016, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) published its Measuring the Information Society Report 2016 in which it highlights key ICT developments worldwide and tracks pricing and affordability of ICT services.  The report also includes the results of the organisation’s review of ICT development globally, through its ICT Development Index. In this post, we highlight how well the Caribbean/CARICOM countries included in the exercise performed, and briefly compare those results with those presented and discussed last year.

Methodology

The ICT Development Index (IDI) comprises a variety of indicators that monitor and compare ICT development across the countries being assessed. According to the ITU, the IDI’s main objectives are to measure:

• the level and evolution over time of ICT developments in countries and relative to other countries;
• progress in ICT development in both developed and developing countries: the index should be global and reflect changes taking place in countries at different levels of ICT development;
• the digital divide, i.e. differences between countries with different levels of ICT development;
• the development potential of ICTs or the extent to which countries can make use of ICTs to enhance growth and development, based on available capabilities and skills.

(Source: ITU)

The IDI comprises 11 indicators organised under three pillars: ICT access; ICT use; and ICT skills, as shown in Figure 1.  The indicators and weightings have remained unchanged over the past two years.

Figure 1: IDI indicators and weightings for 2016 exercise (Source: ITU)

Using the weightings shown for the sub-indices, the resulting IDI can have a maximum score of 10. In the latest IDI exercise, 175 economies worldwide were examined, including 15 Caribbean/CARICOM countries.

The Caribbean’s IDI results

The following Caribbean countries were included in the 2016 IDI review: Antigua and Barbuda; the Bahamas, Barbados; Belize; Cuba; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; St. Vincent & the Grenadines; Suriname; and Trinidad anf Tobago. Their 2016 IDI ranking and scores are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: 2016 IDI country rankings and scores for the top 10 economies, plus select Caribbean countries (Source: ITU)

Generally, the IDI scores for all Caribbean countries improved from last year, but was not necessarily reflected in their ranking among all the countries assessed. For example, countries that slipped in the ranking though they had considerably better IDI scores were:

• The Bahamas, which scored 5.80 and was ranked 63^rd in 2015, but scored 5.98 in 2016, but slipped one place to 64^th
• Suriname, which scored 4.89 and was ranked 83^rd in 2015, but scored 5.09 in 2016, but slipped one place to 84^th, and
• Saint Lucia, which scored 4.68 and was ranked 87^th in 2015, but scored 4.85 in 2016, but slipped one place to 94^th.

Although the IDI summarises an individual country’s performance, greater insight can be obtained from the sub-indices scores, which are combined to create the final result. Figure 2 shows the sub-indices scores for the Caribbean countries.

Figure 2: IDI sub-indices scores for select Caribbean countries as of 2015 (Source: ITU)

As reflected by the overall IDI scores and rankings, Saint Kitts and Nevis, followed by  Barbados and the Bahamas, generally performed the best across all three sub-indices (access, use and skills). The most notable exception continues to be Cuba, which overall had an IDI score of 2.73 and was ranked 135th out of 175 countries, but continues to score highly under the ICT skills sub-index, 7.25, and was fourth behind Barbados (7.69), Saint Kitts and Nevis (7.55) and the Bahamas (7.43).

Across the Caribbean group, and similar to previous years, the countries continue to perform relatively well under the ICT access and skills sub-indices, which indicate that the region has a reasonably good handle on matters related to telecoms access/infrastructure and education. However, they are still challenged with regard to improving ICT readiness, based on the actual take-up (of both wired and wireless broadband subscriptions densities) and use of Internet.

In summary, and we approach the end of 2016, the IDI result suggest that as individual countries and a region, the Caribbean still has not established the requisite systems, nor have they implemented adequate initiatives, that promote better use of technology by their citizens.  It is emphasised that IDI scores not only reflect that the region is still lagging behind in relation to ICT development, it also suggests that they are still not positioning themselves for the possibilities and opportunities those technologies offer.

Image credits:  Philip Dehm (flickr)

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