UAE Business: Bridging the digital gap in the Mena region: PwC – Gulf Digital News

UAE Business: Bridging the digital gap in the Mena region: PwC – Gulf Digital News

As the Mena region shifts towards investing in digitally inclusive communities through leveraging digital technologies and improving their governments’ services, a digital gap has occurred, calling for greater digital inclusion, a report said.

This comes as per PwC Middle East’s latest report “Bridging the digital gap: The state of digital inclusion in the Mena region”.

The report looks into the Mena region’s digital discrepancies given its cultural and financial diversity, resulting in a digital gap and the impact of achieving digital inclusion. This includes unlocking the region’s full potential, reducing inequalities and enhancing the region’s participation in the international economy.

According to a Roland Berger study that compares 80 countries across the globe to trace the rate of digital inclusion, the Mena region was found behind North America and Europe in scores for digital inclusion, slightly behind the global average. This study assessed digital inclusion based on four metrics: accessibility to digital equipment, affordability of digital access, ability to understand digital tools and processes, and willingness to adopt a digital life.

Hence, digital inclusion is believed to have numerous socio-economic benefits. According to a new World Bank report, the adoption of digital technologies across countries in the Mena region would boost economic growth, increase