Thursday, April 11, 2013

Pakistan Falls in Global ICT Ranking

ICT Ranking WEF Pakistan Falls in Global ICT RankingDespite efforts in the past decade to improve information and communications technologies (ICT) infrastructure in developing economies, there remains a new digital divide in how countries harness ICT to deliver competitiveness and well-being, according to the 12th edition of The Global Information Technology Report, released today by the World Economic Forum.
Published under the theme, Growth and Jobs in a Hyperconnected World, the Report suggests that national policies in some developing economies are failing to translate ICT investment into tangible benefits in terms of competitiveness, development and employment. This is in addition to the profound digital divide that already exists between advanced and developing economies in access to digital infrastructure and content.
Pakistan continues to lag behind in the rankings. Pakistan’s global ranking in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) got downgraded from 102nd in 2012 to 105th in 2013, according to the report.
Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan, a partner institute of Global Competitiveness & Benchmarking Network of the World Economic Forum said, “As the other countries are improving rapidly, Pakistan has shown a little change, this a matter of concern. Pakistan is 37 ranks behind India. The big challenge for the next government in Pakistan would be to put more emphasize on ICT environment and regulatory framework. The role of ICT for a sustained economic growth and job creation is crucial to improve Pakistan’s competitiveness. ICT has revolutionized the way businesses are done and the country has not being able to capitalize on this”.
Some of the areas where Pakistan lost its ICT competitiveness are; govt’s procurement of advance technologies, which ranked 109 this year as compared to 91 in 2012. Although Pakistan has improved the fixed broadband Internet tariff substantially by making Pakistan the 68th most competitive broadband provider in the world, individuals using Internet, which depicts affordability of Internet for citizens is shrinking. Pakistan lost 22 points in 2013 and ranks at 120 on individuals using Internet. The report highlights that the gains in broadband affordability are being achieved by cannibalizing the individual Internet users.
Pakistan achieved significant gains in the last decades, when it embraced the mobile technologies and led the region by providing human resources capital and technical knowhow to the global pool of mobile communication providers. However this gain has been greatly diminished due to lack of advancements and inconsistency in decision making to adopt new technologies at the right time. The Importance of ICTs to govt’s vision has deteriorated from 92 to 117 in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Making ICT as one of the least priority areas for the govt. in Pakistan.
On the economic impact pillar, Pakistan failed to show progress on creating impact of ICTs on new organizational models by losing 10 points. Keeping businesses in mostly traditional areas and connecting Pakistan with the global knowledge economies.
Similarly, government’s failure to create social impact through ICT also showcases it’s poor understanding of innovation ecosystem and value creation for the citizens in the digital age. The government failed to create value through ICT use and improving efficiency, where Pakistan lost an alarming 16 points (121 among 144 countries). Not being able to improve any regulations on venture capital availability has also created a bottleneck for an innovation economy in the country. This signifies Pakistan’s lack of correlation between innovation and competiveness with finance, thus further isolating Pakistan from moving towards a knowledge-based economy.
Pakistan also lost 15 points on the E-participation index, where government engages citizens through online services and grievance mechanism, thus resulting in stronger red-tapism slower economic progress. 
On the overall political and regulatory environment, the efficiency of legal system in challenging regulations has also deteriorated, where Pakistan is ranked 97 as compared to 79 in 2013 and 2012 respectively. Intellectual property protection has also been neglected and Pakistan lost 13 points by securing 103 on the network readiness index.
Some of the areas where Pakistan has shown improvements are on the business and innovation environment pillar, where the business sector has ensured the availability of latest technologies for ICT competitiveness by improving 10 points and securing 83 rank among 144 countries.
The Report’s Networked Readiness Index (NRI), which measures the capacity of 144 economies to leverage ICT for growth and well-being, finds Finland (1st), Singapore (2nd) and Sweden (3rd) take the top three places. The Netherlands (4th), Norway (5th), Switzerland (6th), the United Kingdom (7th), Denmark (8th), the United States (9th), and Taiwan, China (10th) complete the top 10.
The NRI uses a combination of data from publicly available sources and the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the Forum in collaboration with partner institutes. This Survey of more than 15,000 executives provides insight into areas critical for networked readiness.
World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report can be downloaded by clicking this link.

Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey

Rozee Research recently did a survey to find out from the educated community of Pakistan as to how, if applicable, YouTube ban has affected them.
Rozee.PK’s survey tried to dig out into which sub-sector, students vs. employed has been affected by the YouTube ban and in what ways. Are people happy with ban? do they perceive it as justified? Who do they blame, (Google, Government etc. ) and why? Has the business been affected (less revenue generation from ads), what alternatives have been in use, and whether this ban has really resulted in something beneficial for the people of Pakistan and of course the economy at large.
More than 3000 people responded to this survey from across Pakistan and here are the results that were exclusively shared with ProPakistani for the readers:

Highlights:

  • 30 percent respondents came to know of ban through digital media channels
  • 88 percent respondents used to access and use YouTube before ban, who don’t use YouTube anymore
  • 68 percent people think that they are unable to watch videos of their choice anymore
  • 30 percent people have shifted to alternate video service
  • Before ban, majority of users used to watch instructional and self-help videos (75%), while half of respondents said that they used to watch Islamic Lectures (52%) while 69% said that they used to watch movie trailers and songs
  • After the ban, 40 percent respondents have unfavourable opinion about Google, before ban this ratio was mere 6 percent
  • 62 percent respondents said that Google is being unreasonable for not removing the anti-Islam videos which irked the ban
  • 48 percent respondents believe that Google is the real culprit for getting YouTube banned
  • 29 percent believed that Government of Pakistan hasn’t lodged a formal request to YouTube
  • 27 percent think that neither Google nor Government of Pakistan is interesting in opening YouTube
  • 46 percent respondents were unhappy about the ban, 43 percent were okay with the ban

Why YouTube is Banned?

Surprisingly 95% of the respondents who took the survey knew the answer to that one. The rest either didn’t know (3%) or thought it’s because of bandwidth issues (0.6%) or pornographic content on YouTube (0.7%).
clip image002 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey

Power of Media

The power of media in making those 95% aware of the video’s presence can be seen in the fact that a whopping 45% of them found about it via National News (TV/Print/Radio/Online). 30% of them found about it via their online social media connections; 14% found it themselves on YouTube; and 11% learnt about it via grapevine.
clip image004 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey

Decline in Viewership

Before the ban on YouTube a whopping 88% of the respondents used it. Of these, 54% used to browse videos on YouTube daily.
clip image007 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
clip image009 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
After the ban on YouTube, the viewership has declined to 12% who are still able to access YouTube via a proxy. In addition to this, 42% respondents admitted not browsing videos at all because of the ban on YouTube.
clip image011 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
15% student respondents admitted still being able to use and access YouTube, comparatively more than the unemployed (13%) and employed respondents (11%).
clip image013 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
Another interesting trend is seen in the fact that the use and access to YouTube diminishes as the respondents’ age increases. Where 16% of the respondents below 20 admit still using YouTube, for those above the age of 45, the rate falls to 8%.
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In the Aftermath of the Ban

69% of the respondents, who used YouTube before the ban, said because of the ban they have been unable to view videos of their choice. For others it has resulted in monetary losses: for individuals who used to it promote their business (9%), advertisers (6%) and has disrupted their other Google Services causing problems in business operations (14%). However, 30% of the respondents reported they have been able to cover up their losses by switching to alternatives.
clip image017 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
Majority of respondents, who used YouTube primarily before it was banned, said they watched instructional and self-help videos (75%), Islamic Lectures (52%), and movie trailers and songs (69%).
clip image019 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
The preference for males and females for using YouTube differs slightly with females showing comparatively more preference to watching Dramas than their male counterparts. However, surprising to note where 54% of the men who used YouTube use it for religious purposes, while only 38% females have been using it for this purpose.clip image021 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
clip image023 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
Instructional, learning and self help videos tops as a reason for using YouTube for both men and women. One aspiring artist from Lahore voices her distress over the ban, “I’m a poor artist who cannot afford fancy productions and Media releases. All I had to promote my cause and my music is now taken away from me…. And there are many like myself who are trying to spread positivity, peace, love and healing. Also as a corporate trainer, I used a lot of useful videos on YouTube in my work, now I cannot. Other sites don’t offer half as much useful information and insights and instructional videos.”

Disappointed with Google?

Whereas 69% of respondents had a favorable view of Google before the YouTube blocking, this number dropped to only 29%.  39% now view Google unfavorably and of these 20% held the view that Google was antagonistic towards Muslims.
clip image025 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
clip image026 thumb Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Surveyclip image028 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
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For males, the opinion about YouTube after the ban has drastically switched; with 6.6% considering it unfavorable before the ban, but after the ban a whopping 40% have an unfavorable opinion about Google and their YouTube services.
clip image032 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
clip image034 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey

How Just Is Google?

Only 15% feel that Google’s action decision to not remove the video is justified. However a massive 64% of the respondents were of the opinion that Google has been unreasonable with its decision to not remove the video from YouTube.
clip image036 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
The perception doesn’t falter for employed, student or unemployed respondents as each feel Google is being unreasonable by not removing the video. Employed respondents (63%), however, comparatively feel more hurt by Google’s adamant nature.
clip image038 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey

Google vs. the Government of Pakistan

48% Pakistanis feel that Google isn’t allowing the removal of the video from YouTube which is why the decision to unban YouTube in Pakistan is still pending. Others are of the view that it is the Government of Pakistan that hasn’t lodged a formal request to YouTube for the removal of the video. Users of YouTube in the past have exposed prominent members from Pakistan government and political parties in compromising videos and 27% feel that it could be a possible explanation as to why there has been a delay in YouTube being banned from Pakistan. Some of them (27%) also felt that it could be both Google and Government of Pakistan’s lack of interest in the matter which has caused a delay in decision regarding the ban on YouTube.
clip image040 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey

Why Is Google Being Uncompromising?

A majority (27%) believe Google does not care about Pakistan to be bothered with the efforts for unblocking. Others (20%) are of the view that Google is being hypocritical because it had blocked the video in India, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia but not Pakistan. Rest of the respondents (12%) feel that reason why Google has not blocked the video is because it is against Islam and Muslims and Google is upholding interests of the US State Department and CIA (14%).
However, a meager 9% feel that the video does not violate YouTube’s Term of Use, and hence makes Google justified in their actions.
clip image042 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey

Ban or Not to Ban: That is the Question

A majority of the respondents (46%) are unhappy with the ban declaring their disappointment at how the ban isn’t for the better. 44%, however, felt that the ban is justified.
Of those who oppose the ban, held Google (35%) and Sam Bacile, the creator of the video (34%) primarily responsible for the ban on YouTube. Others’ view was divided between the Government of Pakistan (16%), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (8%), and Rahman Malik (3%).
clip image045 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
clip image047 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
Female respondents are less welcoming of the ban as their male counterparts with 52% of them opposing the ban. Male respondents feel most torn in their decision to evaluate the ban on YouTube with almost equal number (45%) opposing and appreciating the ban.clip image049 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
clip image051 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
Respondents working status break down shows a similar perception for the three classes: employed (46%), student (42%) and unemployed (47%); with the majority feeling the ban isn’t for the better.
clip image053 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey

Conclusion:

In a nutshell, the ban has been unwelcoming by the Pakistani internet community at large. However, Google and its YouTube services have severely taken the hit with the ban in place with their unyielding decision to not remove the controversial content. Majority feels they have acted in an extremely hypocritical way and their antagonism for Pakistani Muslim community is very much obvious through their resolute on keeping the video on their site in Pakistan only.

Methodology

More than 3000 respondents took the online survey from across 165 cities in Pakistan; with majority of respondents being males and belonging to the age group 26-30.
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clip image057 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
clip image059 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey
62% of the respondents were employed with 15% student respondents taking part in the survey.
Majority of respondents hailed from Lahore (25.56%), Karachi (23.92%), Islamabad (14.71%), Rawalpindi (5.25%) and Peshawar (3.92%).
clip image061 Majority of Pakistanis Are Unhappy About YouTube Ban, They Blame Google For it: Survey