The digital economy is a concept of economic activities related to digital technology. These activities are based on classical or modern economic models, such as Web 2.0 models.
The Emergence and Evolution of the Digital Economy Concept
Don Tapscott, a Canadian business executive and strategist, introduced the concept of the digital economy in 1995. At that time, the internet was still in its infancy as a global network, with the first commercial web browser being released in October 1994. Websites only published content and did not process transactions. People accessed the internet via a dial-up connection (at speeds of 9,600 bits per second) at best.
Today's digital economy is characterized by technologies that were unknown at the time of its emergence as a concept, including fixed broadband access with speeds of tens of megabits per second, mobile broadband, smartphones and their applications, interactive websites, social networks, sharing platforms, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things. These technologies embody the potential of the networked power of the digital economy and its ability to redefine collaboration and leadership, boost human productivity, and begin to disrupt many industries and challenge the power of incumbents. This is already a reality in most developed and emerging countries, impacting their growth and development potential.
The Digital Economy and Public Policy
The digital economy is at the forefront of public policy discussions in many countries, particularly developed ones. This interest stems not only from the explosive growth of technologies, with nearly half the world's population now online and 80% of citizens in OECD countries having access to fixed and/or mobile broadband, but also because these technologies are pervading the economy, from retailing via e-commerce; to transportation, such as autonomous vehicles; to education, such as the vast number of open online courses; to health, with electronic files and personalized medicine; to social interactions and personal relationships.
National digital plans are critical to achieving the economic and social growth needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. These plans are the most important forms of strategic and political support for enabling the digital economy to reach its full potential. This is achieved by: increasing the share of ICT goods and services in total global value added and trade; redirecting venture capital and other financing instruments to support the key sectors of the digital economy (i.e., the ICT sector); and universalizing and improving broadband access; Increasing the use of information and communications technology by businesses, individuals, and governments to create services, products, and business models that stimulate economic growth and social benefits.
Women and the Digital Economy
The global market's shift from analog to digital is radically impacting the lives of women and girls. The digital economy can narrow or widen the gap between men and women, depending on the culture, information, and skills acquired. Feminists see this development as both a blessing and a curse. While many activists, thinkers, and intellectuals believe that the expansion of the digital world can be a source of new opportunities to challenge and confront patriarchy, others see the capitalist economy's narrow focus on maximizing profit as a source of oppression and new forms of gender-based exploitation.
Equal Access to Digital Skills and Promoting Economic Growth
There is a clear intersection between the right to internet access, the spread of adequate infrastructure for broadband data communications services (digital infrastructure), and the path to economic growth. Indeed, information and communications technologies (ICTs) have enabled us to create creative connections between humans, machines, and the internet by introducing new digital entrepreneurial trends, the embodiment of which is evident in the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence. These two trends allow machines to perform human-like actions such as learning, performing, understanding, and interacting with us humans and other machines in a continuous process of automation.
Challenges to Inclusion
- Many women and girls face significant barriers in the digital world. Despite overall improvements in access to information and communications technology (ICT), studies show that the digital gender gap persists regardless of country, economic development, or income level.
- Access to digital devices remains a fundamental intersectional issue: women and men, as well as girls and boys, are not equal when it comes to the technology needed to connect to the internet. Issues such as the needs of people with disabilities, access to citizenship, sexual orientation, or refugee and migrant worker status further complicate this issue. Geographical location also plays a role in access to services.
- High-quality internet and broadband data connections are concentrated in cities, affluent suburbs, and privileged areas in the Arab world. Men often find it easier to escape this information gap by migrating from rural areas to cities with good internet and broadband connectivity.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed new inequalities in the global South, but they also exist in much of the rich industrialized North.
- The rapid digital transformation of education, digital training, office work, marketing, sales, delivery, and even remote industrial production has highlighted two important patterns:
1-Access to high-quality digital infrastructure remains unequal and typically favors males.
2-Investment in digital computing, as well as internet access, remains primarily focused on men's needs.
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, there has been a historic feminist and trade union struggle against the gender gap, particularly regarding wages and career advancement. Therefore, in order to close the digital gender gap, it is essential to build on these past successes to address future challenges.
Achieving Gender Justice in the Digital Economy
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a “new normal,” transforming work from home, remote work, and flexible working into the norm, not the exception. Whether you previously worked in education, trade, retail, or even sports and other services, everything has changed, and work has shifted at lightning speed, from the office to working at home during the lockdown period via digital platforms. Amid this, feminist activists have been at the forefront of the struggle to gain a foothold within rapidly expanding digital power structures and to demand their rights in this emerging space.
The historical injustices women have faced in the traditional economy not only differ from those in the digital economy, but they remain deeply rooted and invisible online: low wages in jobs or even unpaid work if the work is informal, unacceptable working conditions, lack of access to fast and high-quality internet, and difficulties in developing their knowledge to adapt to accelerating digitization.
