"This report provides an overview of approaches and business models that are improving the affordability of handsets for various underserved populations in LMICs. It explores some of the nuances among these groups, considerations for meeting their different needs and variations between markets in Su
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b-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It also provides practical recommendations for stakeholders to make internet-enabled devices more affordable and an analysis of how the policy environment can contribute." (Executive summary, page 3)
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"The book refers to academic insights from economics and sociology while giving numerous empirical examples drawn from basic and applied research and business. It addresses several burning issues: how are digital processes transforming traditional business models? Does intelligent automation threate
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n our jobs? Are we reaching the end of globalisation as we know it? How can we best prepare ourselves and our children for the digitally transformed world? The book will help the reader gain a better understanding of the mechanisms behind the digital transformation, something that is essential in order to not only reap the plentiful opportunities being created by the digital economy but also to avoid its many pitfalls." (Publisher description)
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"There is a heated debate about the social-sustainability implications of infrastructure. We engage this debate by delving into China’s Digital Silk Road (DSR), an important component of China’s infrastructure-centric Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Optimists and pessimists have offered strong v
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iews about the DSR’s social-sustainability implications. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of analytical tools and in-depth studies which can be used to judge their competing arguments. In this article, we address these problems in two ways. First, we advance an original scheme for operationalizing social sustainability. Second, we use our framework to systematically analyze the DSR’s social-sustainability effects in Ethiopia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and Hungary. Our research indicates that much of the positive and negative commentary about the DSR’s social-sustainability implications is problematic. None of our cases show significant year-to-year changes in political or quality-of-life social-sustainability benchmarks. Indeed, our analysis indicates that analysts must pay close attention to the political and economic context to understand the social-sustainability patterns associated with DSR infrastructure. Finally, it suggests that the social-sustainability implications of DSR infrastructure are dependent on its scale and nature. These findings have ramifications for broader debates about the socioeconomic impact of infrastructure." (Abstract)
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"El análisis de la información disponible sobre ocho indicadores de concentración en Internet en México muestra que en casi todas ellas unas pocas empresas tienen una posición dominante en el mercado o servicio relevado: 1. Acceso a Internet fija: Con un índice CR4 de 98.7%, en México se obse
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rva un mercado oligopólico consolidado de cuatro empresas mexicanas: América Móvil, Grupo Televisa (24.8%), Megacable (15.9) y Total Play (9.6%). 2. Acceso Internet móvil: El sector de Internet móvil es un mercado consolidado en sólo tres empresas (CR3 97.5%). Dos son extranjeras: el gigante estadounidense AT&T y la empresa española Telefónica/Movistar, pero la mexicana América Móvil supera el 70% del mercado [...]" (Conclusiones, página 18)
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"El análisis de la información parece confirmar de manera contundente la existencia de concentración en Internet en Argentina, en manos de pocas empresas en cada una de sus categorías: 1. Acceso a Internet fija: El Grupo Clarín concentra casi la mitad del mercado de acceso a servicios de Intern
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et fijo (46%). Un índice CR2 contando a sus empresas y Telefónica ya mostraría un elevado nivel de concentración del 61%. El CR4 se encuentra en torno al 80% incluyendo a los grupos Telecentro y Supercanal. 2. Acceso Internet móvil: Tres empresas concentran casi el 100% del mercado de acceso a servicios móviles. Este mercado se organiza en torno de tres grandes operadores: Claro (América Móvil), Movistar (Telefónica) y Personal (Telecom, del Grupo Clarín), que se reparten en aproximadamente tres partes: 36,8% para la mexicana Claro, 33,9% para Personal/Clarín y el 29,4% para la española Movistar [...]" (Conclusiones)
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"El análisis de la información disponible para identificar si existe concentración en Internet en manos de pocas empresas en Chile muestra evidencias contundentes que pueden resumirse de la siguiente manera: 1. Acceso a Internet fija: Cuatro empresas concentran el acceso a servicios de Internet f
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ijo en 85,8% (CR4), si se suma la participación de Movistar, VTR, Claro y GTD. Pero sólo dos de estas empresas (CR2) acumulan el 64,7% de los contratos (Movistar y VTR). 2. Acceso Internet móvil: Cuatro empresas concentran el 97,3% del mercado de acceso a servicios de Internet móvil en Chile (Entel, Movistar, Claro y Wom) [...]" (Conclusiones)
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"El análisis de la información disponible sobre ocho indicadores de concentración en Internet en Colombia muestra que en casi todas ellas unas pocas empresas tienen una posición dominante en el mercado o servicio relevado: 1. Acceso a Internet fija: Las cuatro empresas de telecomunicaciones más
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importantes acumulan un 82% del mercado de acceso a Internet fija en Colombia. Los operadores son Claro (América Móvil), UNE Tigo (Millicom y EPM), Movistar (Telefónica) y ETB. 2. Acceso Internet móvil: Los cuatro primeros operadores acumulan el 96% del total (CR4). Estas empresas son Claro (América Móvil), Movistar (Telefónica), UNE Tigo (Millicom y EPM) y Avantel [...]" (Conclusiones)
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"This white paper discusses how digital technologies are building COVID resilience, shaping and accelerating the recovery, and diffusing within Asia Pacific region (APAC) in ways that are likely to persist in a post-COVID world. Section 1 presents the role of digital technologies in the Sustainable
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Development Goals (SDGs), examines the digital divide during COVID-19, and how APAC economies have been affected by the crisis. Section 2 presents six cases of resilience, providing examples of how digital technologies can help solve immediate, pressing problems. Hien, a business owner in Vietnam, demonstrates how MSMEs can go digital when entrepreneurs have the appropriate training. Miss Thanchanok Kamwinit, a teacher in Thailand, describes her work educating a new generation of digital citizens about online risks. Irfani recalls her journey to becoming a data scientist in Jakarta, where digital skills are in high demand. Sokneang, a co-founder and CEO of a fair trade startup in Cambodia, describes how digital platforms have been used in the agri-food sector during the pandemic. Gulshan, a Google Research Scientist, performs clinical trials in India to apply AI-based technologies in healthcare. Finally, Teh, a Malaysian citizen, volunteers in a vaccination center thanks to a digital platform that facilitates his civic engagement. Section 3 describes how digital technologies can drive the near future - the “new normal,” including the future of work as impacted by automation, and the need to transition to a low carbon economy. Section 4 discusses lessons and guidelines for a policy response." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"El análisis de la información disponible sobre ocho indicadores de concentración en Internet en Perú muestra que en casi todas ellas unas pocas empresas tienen una posición dominante en el mercado o servicio relevado." (Conclusiones, página 17)
"China is wiring the world, and, in doing so, rewriting the global order. As things stand, the rest of the world still has a choice. But the battle for tomorrow will require America and its allies to take daring risks in uncertain political terrain. Unchecked, China will reshape global flows of data
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to reflect its own interests - and the lives of countless individuals enmeshed in its systems. Taking readers on a global tour of these emerging battlefields, Jonathan E. Hillman reveals what China's digital footprint looks like on the ground, and explores the dangers of a world in which all routers lead to Beijing." (Publisher description)
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"The Chinese digital technology giants, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT), dominate over their competitors in China across platforms that include e-commerce, digital entertainment, e-finance and artificial intelligence (AI). To understand BAT’s corporate power and their strategic role working with
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the government – in this case, their involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – this paper unveils the capabilities of these three oligopolies and discusses their international expansion in relation to the BRI. The BRI is being constructed on two layers, the physical and digital infrastructure, and the BAT are contributing to the latter. This paper examines the interrelations between BAT and the state through case studies, observing the tensions and potential contradictions arising from the reliance of the Chinese state on the BAT to build digital infrastructure, while the BAT seek to minimize direct state regulation for their datadriven business models." (Abstract)
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"Chapter 13 analyses various causal relations through which Ethiopian and Chinese actors interact in the context of the Digital Silk Road initiative. What is playing out in Africa is part of a larger contest between the West and China for dominance over technology and global influence. From a Chines
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e perspective, the Digital Silk Road is an attempt to narrow the gap between underdeveloped and developed countries through capacity building. From a Western perspective (Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, etc.), Chinese investments in the Digital Silk Road provide unethical support to authoritarian leaders. The chapter moves beyond this simple dichotomy of good and bad Chinese investments in the digitalization of Africa, instead identifying the actors involved and investigating their motives and levels of influence." (Abstract)
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"The role of information technology in today’s society has made digital infrastructure a critical aspect of geopolitics. Although the private sector has traditionally led such developments, there is increasing evidence that countries are now slowly getting involved. This paper argues that as part
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of its Digital Silk Road (DSR) initiative, the People’s Republic of China (“China”) is incentivizing private actors, such as Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei, to build digital infrastructure abroad, so as to generate security externalities for China. This is evidenced by our case study involving Huawei’s involvement in Nigeria in the realm of digital infrastructure development, the formulation of digital strategies, and associated standards." (Abstract)
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