ndonesia has made significant progress in information and communication technologies (ICT) development, with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) considering it among the 10 most dynamic countries in 2016, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said Friday.
Despite jumping three places in the ITU’s Development Index, Indonesia still ranked 111 among 176 countries, and trails behind most of its Southeast Asian neighbors (except Cambodia, Timor Leste and Myanmar).
The index measures the use of internet, access and infrastructure and the skill of the people in using the technology.
Internet penetration in Indonesia has reached 40 percent of the population, mostly through the use of mobile and smartphones rather than desktops in offices and at home.
Indonesia scored 4.34 in 2016 in the index, up from 3.85 a year earlier, according to a report by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
The index is a composite that combines three major elements, of which skill scored highest with an index of 5.54, followed by access and infrastructure with 4.88 and utilization with 3.19. Although skill scored the highest, it saw the slowest growth among the three elements.
The index also showed the wide digital gap within Indonesia, with Jakarta scoring 7.17 in the index, followed by Yogyakarta, East Kalimantan, Riau and Bali. At the bottom of the list are Papua (2.13), East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), West Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and North Maluku. (sha/bbn)
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