The View | As global digital divide grows, China shows how to achieve more with less
- Low- and middle-income nations are reaping poorer rewards from their tech investments – but China is bucking the trend
- China’s success can be a reference for policymakers to realign investment in innovation and digital transformation with impact
Equally of concern is that in spite of increasing investment and innovative activity last year, against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of these efforts varies widely across sectors and countries.
Furthermore, this seems to have widened the competitiveness gap between economies at different stages of development. Given the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment, such a disconnect is cause for concern.
Yet the levels of investment in innovation and this technological shift are uneven and reflect gaps between economies at different developmental stages.
Those at higher levels, such as the United States, Germany and Japan, seem back on track towards higher stages of innovation and digital readiness. But in many middle-income economies there is a widening rift between, on the one hand, investment in innovation and its impact, and on the other hand, a lower adoption rate of technology.
