ICTPROFILEOFTHEASIAPACIFICREGION

Covering46memberstatesfromIrantothePacificIslands,theAsiaPacific(AP)regionoccupies
approximately22%ofthegloballandareawithdisparatelandscapesandclimates,andcorrespondingly,
awidediversityofsocieties,cultures,valueandbeliefsystems,religions,languages,andeconomies.
Theregionaccountsfor57%oftheworldpopulationat4.07Bn,withChina,India,Indonesia,Pakistan,
Bangladesh,andJapanbelongingtothetop10highlypopulatedcountriesintheworld1.

AsshownbytheICTDevelopmentIndex(IDI)determinedbytheInternational
TelecommunicationUnion(ITU),theregiondisplaysthelargestdisparitiesintermsofICTdevelopment,
withtheIDIrangingfrom1.73to8.57,with10asthehighestpossiblerating.Thehighendofthe
spectrumincludeshighlynetworkedcountriesincludeSouthKorea,Australia,Japan,Singapore,and
NewZealand;whileontheotherendliesBangladesh,Myanmar,andPakistan.Asaresult,ithasbyfar
thehighestrange(6.84)[and]thehighestcoefficientofvariation(51.83),whichunderlinesthatthereis
animportantdivideintermsofICTdevelopmentbetweenthehighestandlowestrankedcountries.The
starkdifferencesinICTdevelopmentreflecttheregionsdiversityintermsofdevelopmentandincome
levels.2

Figure1:IDIrangesandaverages,byregion(2012)
Source:ITU

TheWorldPopulationandtheTopTenCountrieswiththeHighestPopulation.InternetWorldStats:Usageand
PopulationStatistics.URL:http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats8.htmAccessed:June2014.
MeasuringtheInformationSociety:2013.InternationalTelecommunicationUnion(ITU).http://www.itu.int/en/ITU
D/Statistics/Documents/publications/mis2013/MIS2013_without_Annex_4.pdfAccessed:June2014.

Figure2showshowtheregionfareswithregardstovariousICTindicatorsagainstaveragesfor
theworld,developingcountries,anddevelopedcountries.Asthefigureindicates,intermsofICT
development,theregionfallsbelowworldaverages.Asexpected,ICTindicatorsfortheregionresemble
theaveragesfordevelopingcountries,consideringthat43ofits46countriesfallunderthiscategory3.It
shouldbenotedthattheregionhashighermobilecellularphonepenetrationthancomputerbased
accessandInternetpenetration.
Developed

Developing

World

AsiaPacific
74.8

19.8
25.5
22.4

%MobileBroadbandSubscriptions

27.2

%FixedBroadbandSubscriptions

6.1
9.8
7.6
76.8

%InternetUsers

30.7
38.8
31.9
77.7

%HouseholdswithInternet

28
41.3
32.7
128

%Mobilecellularsubscriptions

89
96
89

Figure2:ICTStatusoftheAsiaPacificRegion
Source:ITU

BasedontheNetIndexdataprovidedbyOoklaSpeedtest4(Figures3and4),anumberof
countriesintheregionneedtoputinalotofeffortinimprovingtheirwiredandmobilebroadband
speedstoaccesstheonlineopportunitiesthatothercountriesarebenefittingfrom.Lookingatthedata
onwiredbroadbandrates,ononeendarecountrieslikeUzbekistan,Pakistan,Philippines,LaoPDR,and
PapuaNewGuineawithdownloadspeedsrangingfrom2.71to3.83mbps,toilingbehindneighbours
likeSingaporeandRepublicofKoreathathavedownloadspeedsof67.77and53.18,respectively.The
pictureisnotthatdifferentformobilebroadbandrateswheremostofthecountrieswhosedataare
availablehavedownloadspeedsrangingfrom0.37to3.84mbps,severelylaggingbehindspeeds
availableinmoredevelopedcountrieslikeRepublicofKorea(21.63mbps),Australia(20.10mbps),PR
China(18.42mbps),andSingapore(15.13mpbs).

Countryclassificationsbydevelopmentstatus,basedontheUNM49(astandardforareacodesusedbytheUnited
Nationsforstatisticalpurposes,developedandmaintainedbytheUnitedNationsStatisticsDivision).
http://www.itu.int/ITUD/ict/definitions/regions/Accessed:March2014.

NetIndexbyOoklahttp://www.netindex.com/download/allcountries/Accessed:24June2014.

8.36

Global

18.59

9.45

AverageAP

12.61
53.83

Singapore
45.34

RepublicofKorea
China

11.26

Thailand

11.17

53.18

22.21
21.34

Japan

20.53
8.5

NewZealand

67.77

27.75

19.84
13.63
15.67

Kazakhstan
3.24

Australia

14.92

VietNam

12.83
14.43

Mongolia

12.01
14.13
8.17

Tajikistan
3.75

Turkey

11.88
11.72

10.02
10.74

Kyrgyzstan
5.36

Vanuatu

8.37

6.75
8.04

Bhutan
3.21

Maldives

6.31

Nepal

4.79
6.02

Malaysia

4.45
5.87
2.91

Fiji

5.74

4.61
5.67

BruneiDarussalam

6.49
5.62

Cambodia
Myanmar

4.68
5.37

India

3.33
5.13
5.62
5.08

Bangladesh

2.52
4.55

Indonesia
Iran,IslamicRepublicof

2.56
4.11

PapuaNewGuinea

3.79
3.83
5.01
3.68

LaoPeople'sDemocraticRepublic
Philippines

1.43
3.35

Pakistan

1.56
2.98

Uzbekistan

2.42
2.71

10

20
Upload

30

40

50

60

Download

Figure3:WiredBroadbandRates(mbps)intheAsiaPacificRegion
Source:NetIndexbyOokla
Note:limitedtoavailabledataonly;showsrollingmeanspeedsinmbps,realtimetest;dataasof24June2014

70

Mupload

Mdownload

2.94

Global

8.02
8.53

AverageAP

11.96
9.66

RepublicofKorea

21.63
8.32

Australia

20.10
3.88

China

18.42
7.63

Singapore

15.13
4.79

Japan

9.04
1.53

Turkey

6.75
3.25

BruneiDarussalam

6.70

Kazakhstan

2.13

Thailand

2.06

5.34
4.76
1.65

Philippines

3.84
1.43

Malaysia
Cambodia

3.83
1.06
3.34
1.31

Maldives

3.11

India

0.78

LaoPeople'sDemocraticRepublic

0.90

2.35
2.18

Indonesia

0.60

Bangladesh

0.68

Uzbekistan

0.63

VietNam

0.59

Pakistan

2.12
1.83
1.62
1.54
0.68
1.53

Myanmar

0.44
0.46

Iran,IslamicRepublicof

0.22
0.37

Figure4:MobileBroadbandRates(mbps)intheAsiaPacificRegion
Source:NetIndexbyOokla
Note:limitedtoavailabledataonly;showsrollingmeanspeedsinmbps,realtimetest;dataasof24June2014

BasedontheIDIsubindexICTskillusedbyITU,theregionhasalongwaytogointermsof
bridgingtheICTskillsdivideamongitspeople,withthesubindexrangingfrom3.27forPakistanto9.96
inSouthKorea(Figure5).Furthermore,ITUestimatesthatdespitethepresenceofanICTskilled
citizenryinAPcountries,InternetuseremainslowespeciallyforthosecountrieswithlowIDIs.Thiscan
beattributedtotherealitythatmostoftheAPcountriesarenewentrantstotheworldofICTandthe
Internet,incontrasttothoseinthedevelopedsideoftheworld(i.e.EuropeandNorthernAmerica)that
arehighlynetworkedandhavetheresourcestoinvestonrequiredinfrastructure.Furthermore,ithas
beenobservedthatdigitalgapspersistwithintheregion,acrossgeography,generations,socio
economicstatus,andgender.
ICTSkills

InternetUse

IDI

Bangladesh
SouthKorea
HongKong(China)
Australia

10

Burma
Pakistan

SolomonIslands

8
7

Japan

Laos

6
5

Singapore

India

4
3

Macau(China)

Cambodia

2
1

NewZealand

Bhutan

Kazakhstan

SriLanka

Brunei

Uzbekistan

Malaysia

Tonga

Maldives

Philippines

China[8]
Mongolia
Vietnam

Indonesia
Iran

Thailand

Figure5:ICTSkillsvs.InternetUseinAsiaPacific
NoteontheIDIsubindexesused:

ICTskillsusedadultliteracyrate,grosssecondaryenrolmentratio,andgrosstertiaryenrolment
ratio,intheabsenceofmoretargetedindicatorslikeICTliteracy

internetusemeasurestheuptakeofICTsandtheintensityofusage(3indicatorsused:%of
Internetusers,%offixedbroadbandsubscriptions,and%ofwirelessbroadbandsubscriptions)

InresponsetothesedisparitiesinICTdevelopment,37memberstatesoftheAsiaPacificregion
endorsedtheLeadersVisionforAsiaPacific2020SmartlyDIGITAL(DigitalInclusiveGreenInnovative
TransformativeAffordableLiving)duringtheConnectAsiaPacific2013,conductedbythe
InternationalTelecommunicationsUnion(ITU)lastNovember2013.Thevisionemphasizedthecritical
roleofinformationandcommunicationstechnology(ICT)inprovidingcitizensequalopportunitiesto
access,use,create,andshareinformationandknowledgetoempowerindividuals,communities,

industries,andcountriestoachieveinclusiveandsustainabledevelopment.5Thevisionenumeratesthe
variousbenefitsinusingICTintheareasofgovernance,industry,education,inclusion,empowerment,
disastermanagement,andsustainabledevelopment.Tobringaboutthesepotentialbenefits,thevision
recognizestheneedforwidespreaddigitalliteracythatbuildsrelevanthumanandinstitutionalcapacity
inmaximizingtheopportunitiesthatICToffers.Further,innovativemultistakeholderpartnershipsare
beingencouragedtoinvestonacceleratingthegrowthoftheICTsectorintheregiontoextendthe
benefitsofICTstoALL.6ByendorsingthisLeadersVision,memberstateshaveexpressedtheirintent
topursueICTdevelopmentsandrelatedinitiatives,includingprovisionofaccessthroughinfrastructure
deployment,raisingawarenessandbuildingcapabilityamongitscitizensintheeffectiveuseofthese
technologies,anddevelopingcreativeapplicationsandlocalizedcontent.

UseofICTamongAPYouth

TheuseofICThasexpandedtremendouslyathomeandinschoolandchildrenareincreasingly
introducedtoICTataveryyoungage.Infact,ITUobservedthatyoungpeopleallovertheworldare
themostactiveusersofICTs.Basedonestimates,18%oftheAPpopulation(732M)isyouthaged15
24yearsoldbutcomprise30%ofthetotalinternetusersintheregion.Thismeansthat53%ofAPyouth
usetheInternet(385M),ofwhich55%or203MaredigitalnativesbyITU.Basedonthesustained
increaseinInternetuseamongyouth,thisfigureisexpectedtomorethandoubleinthenextfiveyears.

ITUfurtherestimatesthattheintensityofInternetuptakeistwiceasmuchamongyouth
comparedtothegeneralpopulation.Furthermore,thesedigitalnativesareseenastheearlyadopters
ofICTuse,particularlyintheuseoftheInternet.Inviewoftheseobservations,ITUemphasizesthe
needtoconsideraskeydriverstoICTuptake,use,andimpactintheirrespectivecountries.
Proponentsunderscoretheneedforfurtherresearchtoanalysehowdigitalnativesthink,workanddo
thingsdifferentlyandwhetherthisshouldhaveanimpactonthewaydigitalnativesaretaughtor
employed.7

InarelatedstudybytheCenterforStrategicandInternationalStudies(CSIS)andthe
InternationalYouthFoundation(IYF),theimportanceofICTinyouthwellbeingwasincludedasoneof
thedomainsmeasuredIntheGlobalYouthWellbeingIndex.Fiveofthe40indicatorsusedwereICT
related,includingaccesstoelectricity,householdswithradios,ICTfordevelopmentscore,digital
natives,andyouthsdependenceontheinternet.8

Nine(9)countriesfromtheAPregionwereincludedinthe30countrystudy.Comprising80%of
theregionsyouthpopulation,these9countrieshadyouthwellbeingICTsubindexscoresrangingfrom
0.25to0.90,outofapossible1(Figure6),withmostofthemscoring0.50orless.Thisindicatesthatin
relationtoICTprovisionandaccess,majorityoftheregionsyoutharenotgenerallyexperiencinghigh
qualityoflifeorconditionsthatwillenablethemtothriveandprosper.

5
6
7

LeadersVision,ConnectAsiaPacific2013,ITU.http://www.itu.int/en/ITUD/Conferences/connect/Asia
Pacific/Documents/CAPS_Leaders_Vision_FINAL.pdfRetrieved:February2014
ditto
MeasuringtheInformationSociety:2013.ITU.http://www.itu.int/en/ITU
D/Statistics/Documents/publications/mis2013/MIS2013_without_Annex_4.pdf
GlobalYouthWellbeingIndex.CSISIYF,April2014.http://techchange.org/2014/06/18/ictglobalyouthwellbeing
indexcsisiyf/Fullreportathttp://www.youthindex.org/reports/globalyouthwellbeingindex.pdf


India

0.25

Philippines

0.37

Indonesia

0.37

Vietnam

0.41

Thailand

0.50

China

0.55

Australia

0.90

Japan

0.91

SouthKorea

0.94

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

Figure6:YouthWellbeingIndex(ICT)
Source:CSISIYF.
Note:only9countriesfromAPregionsurveyed

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00