Seychelles is 48th

Seychelles is ranked 48th out of 149 countries on the “Composite ICT Development Index.”

The result is published in a report entitled “From the Digital Divide to Digital Opportunities,” which measure the progress of ICT development between and within economies.

The report is issued by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The report says Seychelles’ level of ICT uptake has an index value of 141.7 and is above the average value of 116.4. This figure places the country ahead of all African nations included in the survey.

Over the period 1995 to 2003, the use of ICT grew significantly with the info-use index increasing from 37.7 to 126.6.

The islands’ index value increased from 3.5 in 1995 to 84.3 in 2003, according to the publication.
“Seychelles’ level of info use can be attributed to the liberalisation of the sector and changes that have taken place in the regulatory framework,” says the department of Information of Technology and Communication (DITC).

The DITC added, “Government policies have also encouraged more customers to increase their ICT usage and investment in the ICT sector through the reduction of tariffs.”

Over the last eight years, the number of telecommunication providers locally has grown fivefold. Amongst them they have a fixed telephone network connecting over 65% of households and a cable network reaching most parts of the main island. More than 67% of the population has a mobile phone (from 2,549 mobile subscribers in 1997 to 54,368 to date), and the mobile services are accessible to over 98% of the population.

However, critics say the potentials of ICTs to develop more democratic, transparent and participative processes of governance from the local to national level, for example in private radio stations, are yet to be translated here.

Editor’s note:

The Info-use refers to the uptake and usage of ICT and their intensity of use by businesses, organizations and households.

The Info-density refers to the stock of ICT capital and ICT labour and skills including ICT infrastructure/network, machinery, equipment all of which are indicative of a country’s productive capacity.