The Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO) has launched its inaugural Digital Economy Navigator (DEN) that enables countries including DCO Member State Bahrain to better navigate the paths to digital economy maturity. DEN was unveiled at the SDG Digital 2024, held during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, from September 10 to 27.

 

Drawing upon officially disseminated statistics, secondary data, and unique proprietary data from a DCO large survey, DEN is a unifying framework that addresses digital economy maturity across 50 countries, including the DCO Member States. 

 

The framework provides a platform for nations, stakeholders, and decision-makers to harmonise efforts in advancing the global digital economy, enabling accessibility, sustainability, and shared prosperity across borders.  

 

Common understanding

The Navigator evaluates the extent to which the factors contribute to economic prosperity, sustainability, and enhanced quality of life for people. This provides a common understanding for different stakeholder groups to work together in developing digital economy strategies to bridge gaps and allows for progress to be tracked over time.

 

Deemah AlYahya, Secretary-General of the DCO, said: “DEN aims to enhance accessibility, sustainability, and economic prosperity, ensuring that countries are not just keeping pace but leading in the digital era. As the first global framework to comprehensively address digital economy maturity from a user-centric perspective, DEN plays a pivotal role in advancing DCO’s mission of supporting evidence-based policies and impactful outcomes in the digital economy. 

 

By providing reliable and detailed data, insights into current trends and emerging technologies, and strategic foresight into future challenges, DEN equips countries to achieve higher levels of prosperity, inclusion, and sustainability. We at the DCO are committed to empowering stakeholders with the knowledge they need to navigate and thrive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.”

 

Relevance for policymakers

DEN holds relevance for policymakers, business executives, and other experts in aspects of the digital economy. Decision-makers are equipped with the research, data and analysis necessary to cultivate a more inclusive digital economy and society, enhance digital innovation, spur job creation, accelerate GDP growth, amplify sustainability through digital technologies and enhance overall wellbeing.

 

Uniquely among global tools, DEN assesses the digital economy through the lens of three intersecting dimensions: Digital Enablers, Digital Business, and Digital Society. 

 

Within the three dimensions, 10 pillars synthesise and summarise key aspects of countries’ digital economy and use of digital technology application from 102 indicators gathered from respected secondary data sources, as well as primary data from a novel survey of more than 27,000 people across the 50 countries.

 

DEN introduces a comprehensive maturity classification system with five categories based on pillars’ scores from 0 to 100, that can be used by stakeholders to better target and focus initiatives to drive digital advancement and innovation in their quest for sustainable and inclusive growth of their digital economy.

 

Mena advanced in digital work and training

DEN report shows that Mena is advanced in digital for work and training, with efforts to reduce gender gaps in digital access to opportunities and promoting positive impact of the gig economy. The region is also advanced in digital for health and education.

 

Audiences can access DEN report, infographic, methodology, and data in Excel format by visiting DEN online platform at den.dco.org. The report provides an in-depth analysis of digital economy maturity from multiple perspectives. Additionally, users have the option to download the report for offline access.

 

DEN will continue to evolve over time to capture the rapidly changing nature of the digital economy. While DEN’s overall objective will remain in future editions, technologies and applications will evolve and be measured by how they contribute to the digital economy.--TradeArabia News Service