KEY ISSUES FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE G20

20
10
0
M2M cards, per 100 inhabitants (left-hand scale)
USA: 49.3 million cards
M2M cards, million (right-hand scale)
Million
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Note: For Korea, provided data does not include some devices (personal navigation devices etc.) as they are based on different
technologies rather than SIM cards.
Sources: OECD for OECD G20 economies; ITU for other G20 economies.
Individuals and businesses, including SMEs, need reliable and widespread access to digital networks and
services to benefit from digital opportunities and boost growth and well-being. This is also important for
ensuring that the global digital divide does not grow wider, and would help people in low- and middle-income
countries, those in rural areas and other disadvantaged groups, to benefit from the education, employment
and health opportunities that are enabled by the Internet. This section illustrates some measures of ICT
adoption, with others included in Chapter 1 on access and use of digital technologies.
Access to the Internet has improved significantly in the past decade, with all G20 economies seeing significant gains,
albeit some from a low base. Access is almost universal in Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia, and is very high in much
of the G20, with those countries lagging behind also having lower levels of broadband penetration (Figure 5).