2023-05-15 11:20:30
According to the latest World Bank report on “the diagnosis of Tunisia’s digital economy”, the maturity of the Tunisian digital economy is positioned between emerging and moderate. Much remains to be done to strengthen this economy and develop it further.
By dint of being hackneyed, the concept of the digital economy lends itself to confusion today. In public debates, the digital world has become a real nebula where we confuse digitization, digital transition, platform economy, artificial intelligence… And the height of the paradox, this confusion increases as we insidiously move away from the whirlwind digital.
However, each of these sectors today constitutes a sector in its own right, with high added value and a provider of quality jobs. According to the OECD, the digital economy concerns any economic activity dependent on digital means (technologies, infrastructures, services and data) or significantly improved thanks to the use of such means. Today, it is an important lever for economic growth, innovation and social inclusion. According to World Bank estimates, the contribution of the digital economy to global GDP will reach 25% in 2026, following being 15.5% in 2016.
The emergence of new technologies has irreversibly changed working and organizational methods within companies. They have even favored the appearance of new professions which are springing up like mushrooms with the rapid and incessant technological development. This craving for digital is not without consequences on the job market.
According to the World Economic Forum’s latest report on the future of jobs, a document that aims to analyze the impact of macro-trends as well as the adoption of technologies on labor markets around the world, progress Technology will have to shape the demand for jobs and skills over the next few years. It is expected that a quarter of the jobs in the world will be affected by the new trends. By 2027, almost 69 million jobs will be created while 83 million will be eliminated, resulting in a decrease of 14 million jobs, or 2% of current jobs. Among the most in-demand occupations, the report cites: AI and machine learning specialists, sustainability specialists, business intelligence analysts and information security specialists. The document also emphasizes the new skills demanded in the labor market which are geared towards creativity. Thus, it is estimated that 44% of a worker’s skills will need to be updated, with top priority given to analytical and creative thinking.
A slight decline?
Everything leads to believe that the digital revolution is in full swing. And Tunisia must not surrender in this digital race. Statistics on the ICT sector show some decline in recent years. Indeed, according to open data from the World Bank, exports of ICT services have followed an overall downward trend since 2013, going from 409.5 million dollars to 297.05 million in 2021.
These figures may refer to the low maturity of the Tunisian digital economy which is halfway between emerging and moderate. This is what emerges from the World Bank’s 2020 report on “the diagnosis of Tunisia’s digital economy”. The document shows that the maturity of the Tunisian digital economy is positioned between emerging and moderate, with an average score of 2.4 on a scale of 1 to 5 and that the maturity of the facilitators of the development of the Tunisian digital economy is insufficient. .
Indeed, despite the progress made in the field of ICT and the digital economy, particularly in terms of regulation and infrastructure, the pace of execution of digital projects might be improved in order to unlock the potential of the digital economy. in Tunisia.
The document highlights, in this sense, the still emerging maturity of the digital foundations of the digital economy. The difficulties to be ironed out are diverse and affect several aspects, in particular the shortage of skills, the delay in the field of digital payment and the weak impact of innovative digital entrepreneurship and R&D which are still in their infancy despite the introduction of Digital Tunisia and “Start up Act” programs.
Thus, to pave the way for public policies promoting the digital economy, the report recommends, in short, optimizing the governance of the digital transition, developing and retaining digital skills, accelerating the implementation of digital financial services, promote the development of digital platforms and promote R&D investments.
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