Revisiting the Measurement of Digital Inclusion

As it becomes increasingly clear how central digital transformation is to development, the need for clarifying concepts and for coming up with standardized and accurate measures for digital inclusion becomes more urgent. Focusing on the internet as a foundational technology, this paper sets out a framework of core components of digital inclusion—including access/use, quality of access/use, affordability, and digital skills. The paper then surveys the ways these components are currently measured in household and firm surveys and by international organizations. Building on simple descriptive analysis of data from a wide range of sources, the paper highlights some of the often-overlooked weaknesses of current measures, and suggests possible improvements. The paper argues that (a) metrics for certain core components of digital inclusion—including quality of access/use and digital skills—are relatively underdeveloped, (b) some questions on technology use and skills may need to be adapted to developing country settings, (c) more attention should be paid to within-country inequalities in statistics reported by international organizations, (d) currently available digital inclusion indices are not very useful, and (e) there is much potential in using big data methods to measure digital inclusion.