Pandemic highlights the need to bridge the digital divide, experts say

Pandemic highlights the need to bridge the digital divide, experts say

The Covid-19 pandemic has further highlighted the need to bridge the digital divide, as 3.7 billion people now live without basic internet connectivity, experts say.

The health crisis has exposed the structural weaknesses in the global digital inclusion agenda, bringing to the fore increasing inequalities between and within the countries, according to experts at an online panel discussion at the World Economic Forum's Global Technology Governance Summit.

“In the past months, we have witnessed the essential role that access to good connectivity and digital services play during a crisis situation,” Bocar Ba, chief executive of the South Asia, Middle East and North Africa (Samena)