Tech firms urged to prepare for 194M Net users by 2020
Mon Ibrahim, DOST-ICTO deputy executive director. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
The Philippine startup community should step up and be ready for what’s coming.
Deputy Executive Director Mon Ibrahim of the Department of Science and Technology-Information Communication Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) advised the 400 participants of Geeks on a Beach (GOAB) 2014, which opened yesterday at the Movenpick Hotel in Mactan Island, Cebu.
Ibrahim cited the opportunities for local startups with about 194 million new Internet users in the Asean region by 2020.
While infrastructure is a bit challenging in the country, Ibrahim said they are doing something to ensure that technology reaches far-flung areas in the country and stir a more inclusive development.
“The spread of free Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) is a game changer for the region and in the Philippines.
We are starting a project which we will be using the unused TV frequency to provide free Wi-Fi in the rural areas,” said Ibrahim.
Another trend that is expected to result in an expanded technology consumer base in the region is the growth of a younger population in the region six years from now.
With that development, the region’s middle class is also expected to expand and reach 66 percent which means more people being able to afford and consume more technology.
“By 2020, the region’s young population is expected to reach 40 percent of the total population in the region, that is 36 percent better or higher than China.”
He added that given all these projections that is based on a study by the World Bank, the Asean region is poised to become a global leader on digital adaptation.
“By 2020, the Asean region is projected to be the ninth largest global economy with an average growth rate of five percent from 2010 to 2020.”
Ibrahim encouraged founders and investors to put in more investments to ICT companies which contributes at least three percent growth to the economy.
“When you invest in broadband, it contributes one percent growth in GDP but when you invest in ICT, it contributes three percent growth,” he said
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