AEF 2016: D.Abayev urges importance of digital gap elimination

ASTANA. KAZINFORM The scale of the goals on elimination of digital gap can be compared to the goals on poverty reduction. Minister of Information and Communications Dauren Abayev has said it today while taking the floor at the session on "Elimination of Digital Gap between Countries and People" held within the Astana Economic Forum.

“We live in the epoch of information technologies when all the spheres of our life depend on modern communication means. Education, employment, culture, finance, public policy, advertisement, trade – all of these processes are hugely impacted by the internet in the 21^st century. In a post-industrial period, digital inequality leads to social and economic inequality. Therefore, it's no exaggeration to say that elimination of digital gap among people is the goal that can be associated with the goals on reduction of poverty,” said he.

According to Abayev, digital divide in Kazakhstan society has generation- and territory-based aspect. Being an active social unit, young people quickly master new technologies. That is why the majority of internet users in Kazakhstan are the people under 40.
The second aspect of digital inequality in Kazakhstan is explained by the location of people. Thus, as D. Abayev noted, rural areas are less provided with access to the internet than urban settlements."Taking into account that rural residents comprise slightly less than a half of the country's population, the scale of the problem seems very serious," he emphasized.

Alongside, the Minister noted that Kazakhstan achieved a lot in elimination of digital gap due to its informatization policy. Thus, 72% of the country’s population has been provided with an access to the internet to date. Digital literacy level of Kazakhstani people is estimated at 74%

“Whatever we do, our work will be ineffective if we do not raise people’s digital literacy level,” added he.