Mexico. The persistence of the digital divide in our country is a pending issue in the regulatory and public policy agenda in Mexico.
Despite the acceleration and intensification in the access and use of connectivity brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, such that a quarter of the population remains to be connected, there are still marked differences between socioeconomic levels, age groups, rural/urban environment, and especially between states.
In this regard, The Social Intelligence Unit (The SIU, www.the-siu.net) for several years, quantifies and identifies the advances, gaps and lags in Mexico through using the methodology of the ICT Development Index (IDT) developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). From this, the IDT-Mex (bit.ly/3JeSP48) metric is obtained with values at the federal and state level, which is composed of three sub-indices (access, use and capacities) with indicators from the National Survey on Availability and Use of ICT (ENDUTIH) of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
IDT-Mex: Slowdown in growth. This metric registers values between 0 and 10, which imply full disconnection (without access, use or technological skills) and complete ICT development (the opposite case), respectively. In its most recent measurement at the national level it reaches a level of 5.97, just over halfway to find itself in the desired scenario of universal connectivity.
In its evolution in recent years, a multiplication of almost twice in the IDT-Mex stands out. However, its growth has been slowing, going from 40% between 2016 and 2018, 22% between 2018 and 2020 and 10% between 2020 and 2022. This reveals a slowdown in the expansion and development of connectivity in our country.
Two Mexicos in ICT Development. From applying this conception coined in the seventies, states that suffer from a kind of 'digital disability' and those in full conditions of access and use of connectivity are outlined.
Mainly, the northern and central states (e.g. CDMX, Nuevo León and Baja California) register the highest or medium-high levels in the IDT-Mex, while those to the south (e.g. Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero) the lowest indices, derived from their structural lag.
In absolute terms, 15 states are below the national average (5.97), the most dramatic cases are Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero with levels below 5 points. This result is even more contrasting when comparing the average of the IDT-Mex between the states that are in the highest and lowest category between 2016 and 2022, such that a digital lag of up to four years is identified for them to reach similar indicators.
Although Mexico registers increasing levels in the access and use of connectivity, these have slowed their growth rate, especially in those states that are in greater digital lag.
This circumstance points to the need to focus connectivity programs towards a social coverage objective, with precise actions to expand the availability, use and digital skills in regions lacking and lagging behind in these areas. The ways to achieve this strategy would be to stimulate investments in infrastructure, create effective competition in the telecommunications sector, as well as have a specific policy of access and universal development of ICT in Mexico.
Analysis written by Ernesto Piedras of The Competitive Intelligence Unit, CIU.
