Environment
The European Court of Auditors has announced that Bulgaria and Croatia are the only two EU countries likely to achieve EU’s recycling targets on e-waste.
Development
The World Bank approved a loan estimated at US$11 million in order to advance connectivity and digital economy activities in Togo.
Report finds that South Africa performs the highest in terms of the tech ecosystem in Africa with more than 700 start-ups and funding estimated at US$241 million.
Mobile operator Orange is expected to invest US$24.8 million in network coverage in Guinea Bissau.
According to the 2020 Digital Quality of Life Index, Nigerian citizens are required to work almost an entire standard working week (approximately 33h42min) in order to cover the monthly costs of the cheapest internet subscription. Working for a bit less than half the time, Kenyans follow suit with 14h21min. The Philippines perform the poorest on internet affordability in Asia given that an average Filipino needs to work 7h19min to connect to the internet. On the other hand, an hourly wage pays for a month of internet access in the USA. The survey found that broadband fees are cheapest in Canada where seven minutes of work clear the cost.
In addition to affordability, the Index takes into consideration other aspects, namely, internet quality, e-infrastructure, e-security, and e-government. Best e-government services and internet quality are found in Singapore, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the UK boast best e-infrastructure and e-security. Despite ranking in the top ten, Canada (3rd) and France (4th) face the challenge of poor internet stability. Israel (8th), for its part, has a mediocre quality of internet.
E-governance
70 deals in 41 countries worldwide on cloud infrastructure and e-government services have been identified between Huawei and governments or state-owned enterprises.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched its first e-governance project in Lebanon to improve the availability of child-related data, and ultimately ensure better municipal services.
Food security
Microsoft and Africa Practice forecast that the agritech industry in Africa is expected to grow to US$1 trillion by 2030.
The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) will develop the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Guidelines for the Utilization of Digital Technologies for the ASEAN food and agricultural sector.
Gender
A Plan International study explores the role of digital technologies in addressing forced child marriage.
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) found that nearly three-quarters (75%) of female journalists have been victims of harassment online.
Health
Study finds that 65% of hospitals in the Asia-Pacific region are increasing spending on digital-health solutions such as remote consultations and robot-assisted surgery.
Recent research conducted by Statista found that healthcare apps are mostly used in China and India where 65% and 63% of individuals respectively resort to telemedicine devices. In European countries, like the UK (39%), Spain (38%), and Germany (35%), there is a lot more reticence to make use of digital health gadgets, including smartwatches, nutrition, and heart-rate monitoring apps. Despite being a high-tech country, the use of such devices is lowest in Japan.
The Swedish company Webrock and South Africa’s Healthforce partner on the development of a digital primary-care platform in South Africa.
Humanitarian action
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) launched an online education platform with the aim to facilitate access to education for more than 540,000 refugee students across the Middle East.
Migration
Three million refugees in Pakistan are unable to access COVID-19 vaccines as a result of limited access to digital IDs.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) launched an online subsidised mortgage programme for internally displaced people.
Water management
The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland will create a digital platform for the management of global water resources.