icegov2012 proceedings

From Information-Poor to Information-Rich: Bridging
Regional Economic Disparities in Nigeria through e-
Governance
Sanjo Faniran
International Cooperation Department
Plot 421 Constitution Avenue,
Central Business District, Abuja, Nigeria
+2348034264007
sfaniran@npc.gov.ng
ABSTRACT
Most of the recent economic advancement experienced globally
has been driven largely by information and communication
technologies (ICTs) - from Kigali to Kuala Lumpur, Nairobi to
New Delhi - bringing significant changes in development of the
human society through technological innovation and information
dissemination. The pervasive use of digital technologies has, no
doubt, improved people’s day–to–day life in different ways and to
varying extents resulting in “economically-rich” and
“economically-poor” regions of the world, and at the same time,
“information-rich” and “information-poor” societies. This broadly
reflects the differing levels of access and utilization of
information and communication technologies, a phenomenon
referred to as the digital divide. This paper examines the coincidence
between economic disparities and ICT use, both
between and within countries. We argue that just as the adoption
of focused strategies in ICTs by developing countries is bridging
the global digital divide between countries and fast-tracking
economic development in many of today’s emerging economies,
the prioritization, adaptation and rapid diffusion of ICTs through
e-governance could also help reduce economic disparities
between sub-national entities and regions within countries. We
review case studies from India and South Africa, and compare
with Nigeria which aspires to become a top 20 economy by 2020.
By examining the results of the 2010/11 surveys on ICT access
and income-poverty distribution across the country, the paper
highlights the recent efforts by sub-national administrations in
Nigeria to advance e-government, presenting key opportunities to
bridge the growing economic disparities between regions in
Nigeria.
Categories and Subject Descriptors
J.4 [Computer Applications]: Social and Behavioral Sciences –
Economics
General Terms
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ICEGOV '12, October 22 - 25 2012, Albany, NY, United States, NY, USA
Copyright 2012 ACM 978-1-4503-1200-4/12/10…$15.00.
184
Kayode Olaniyan
National Bureau of Statistics
Plot 721 Constitution Avenue,
Central Business District, Abuja, Nigeria
+2348038499670
kolaniyan@nigerianstat.gov.ng
Management, Economics
Keywords
Digital Divide, Economic Development, Poverty, ICT Use,
Nigeria
1. INTRODUCTION: THE DIGITAL
DIVIDE AND REGIONAL ECONOMIC
DISPARITIES
A greater number of countries, and their citizens, are gaining both
knowledge of and skills at using modern ICTs, connecting to the
internet, and interacting using multiple media channels at a
rapidly increasing rate. According to the 2012 UN E-Government
Survey, the world average on the e-government index increased
by 10 percent over the last two years led by Europe and the
Americas [6]. One important point that the survey notes, however,
is that the digital divide – the differing levels of access and usage
of ICTs between the developed and the developing world -
remains a phenomenon of growing, rather than diminishing,
importance. This is despite the array of cutting-edge technologies
and evolution of social media and networking tools, which have
re-defined inter-human relationships, government and governance
in many parts of the world. According to a 2006 report, a person
living in a high-income country is over 22 times more likely to be
an Internet user than someone in a low -income country. Secure
Internet servers, a rough indicator of electronic commerce, are
over 100 times more common in high-income countries than in
low-income countries. In spite of their rapid growth in developing
nations, mobile phones are 29 times more prevalent in highincome
countries, and mainline penetration is over 21 times that
of low-income countries [5].
The usage to which many citizens put the internet, mobile phones
and other digital devices to spread information and record (and in
some cases influence) recent events, from Japan’s tsunami to the
different dimensions of the Arab Spring, demonstrate how far the
developing world has come, and how fast it is catching up with
the rest of the world. But despite the achievements towards
bridging the digital divide, and improving its positive impacts on
the society, there are still glaring regional disparities which are
both the causes and consequences of the economic well-being of
the developed world.
With a history of high levels of functional education and
widespread telephony infrastructure, Europe and the Americas as
a whole remain far ahead of the rest of the world regions [6].