Men still have more Internet access than women globally but low and lower middle income countries narrowed the gender gap in 2018, the study noted
San Francisco: India ranked 47th in the overall "Inclusive Internet Index 2019" score while Sweden topped the chart, followed by Singapore and the US, a Facebook-led study has revealed.
ADVERTISEMENT
Men still have more Internet access than women globally but low and lower middle income countries narrowed the gender gap in 2018, the study noted.
According to the Inclusive Internet Index (3i) prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for Facebook, there are demonstrable benefits from comprehensive female e-inclusion policies, digital skills programmes and targets for women and girls to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The UK, Namibia and Ireland, followed by Austria, Chile and South Africa, are among the top performers of the year, all with female digital skills training plans.
"Inclusion for women and those with disabilities has improved, with low income and lower middle income countries driving progress," Robert Pepper, Head of Global Connectivity Policy and Planning at Facebook, said in a blog post on Tuesday.
"However, affordability is declining relative to monthly income in many countries, disproportionately affecting women and people in low income countries, all of whom are more reliant on mobile as their primary means of accessing the Internet," Pepper mentioned.
While the percentage of households connected to the Internet globally increased, on average from 53.1 per cent to 54.8 per cent, the rate of growth in Internet connections slowed to 2.9 per cent in 2019 from 7.7 per cent in 2018.
"In some countries, fixed-line Internet access is too expensive or inaccessible, that's why mobile services are critical.
"While lower middle income countries had a significant 66 per cent improvement in 4G coverage, low income countries saw a moderate 22 per cent improvement," informed the report.
The Index this year was expanded to include 100 countries, representing 94 per cent of the world's population and 96 per cent of global GDP.
Web accessibility standards also improved globally, led by low and lower middle income countries.
There are still about 3.8 billion people around the world without fast and reliable Internet access.
"Although the overall gap between those with access to the Internet and those without narrowed, the lowest income countries fell behind because they improved at a slower rate than other countries and much slower than last year.
"Internet connections in low income countries increased by only 0.8 per cent compared to 65.1 per cent last year," the findings showed.
More than half (52.2 per cent) of respondents said they are not confident about their online privacy.
"Yet the majority of respondents (74.4 per cent) think the Internet has been the most effective tool for finding jobs," the report said.
The 'Inclusive Internet' score was based on the scores of availability, affordability, relevance and readiness categories.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
