The project will invest in the government's national fiber optic backbone, middle-mile, and last-mile connectivity infrastructure, while ensuring the facilities are secure against cybersecurity threats and climate risks.
The World Bank Group Group senior digital development specialist Naoto Kanehira has highlighted the growing digital divide in the Philippines, underscoring the widening gap in Internet access between different income groups.
The report also noted that the digital divide in the Philippines is rapidly expanding. From 2019 to 2022, access gaps between the rich and the poor expanded by far the fastest for broadband Internet, compared to public and private services, utilities, and household goods.
World Bank – Philippines senior economist Kevin Chua said the government should address issues and challenges in online work such as digital divide, the lack of digital infrastructure, and weak social protection schemes.
As a result, face-to-face interactions and analog practices are still pervasive in the country making social distancing economically costly, according to the World Bank-led report "Philippines Digital Economy Report 2020”.
But a report from the World Bank noted that the country’s Internet connectivity – the foundation of the digital economy – is limited in rural areas, and where they are available, services are relatively expensive and of weak quality.
A recent survey conducted by the World Bank (WB) revealed that almost two-thirds of Philippine companies have turned to digital solutions for sales, marketing, and payment methods to adapt to the new normal.
The global economy is on track to shrink by 5.2 percent this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the deepest recession since World War II, the World Bank Group said on Monday, June 8.
DTI secretary Ramon M. Lopez said that if the Philippines wants to achieve its goal of barging into top 40% of the rankings, it needs to implement more electronic systems in the government.
