“Inclusive Internet Index 2021” Released

What is the News? Inclusive Internet Index 2021 has been released.

About Inclusive Internet Index, 2021

• Facebook Commissions the Inclusive Internet Index, 2021, and The Economist Intelligence Unit will develop the index.
• Purpose: It seeks to measure the extent of accessibility and affordability of the Internet. Also, the internet should be able to enable positive social and economic outcomes at the individual and group levels.
• Countries Covered: The index assesses the performance of 120 countries representing 98% of global GDP and 96% of the global population.
• Categories: The Index score is based on the scores of 4 categories;
  1. Availability: It examines the quality and breadth of available infrastructure required for access and levels of Internet usage.
  2. Affordability: It examines the cost of access relative to income and the level of competition in the Internet marketplace.
  3. Relevance: It also examines the existence and extent of local language content and relevant content.
  4.  Readiness: Furthermore, it examines the capacity to access the Internet. It includes skills (literacy), cultural acceptance, and supporting policy. Literacy measures the level of education and preparedness to use the Internet

Key Findings Related to India:

• India’s Rank: 49th out of 120 countries in the Index.
• India is set to reach one billion internet users by 2025. There were over 687.6 million internet users in India in 2020.

Other Findings:

• Topped by: Sweden ranks 1st in the index, followed by the US and Spain.
• The majority of countries (77 out of 120) saw improvements in internet inclusion overall, in part because of increased availability.
• People in low and lower-middle-income countries relied more on online education during the pandemic in comparison to wealthier countries.

Source: EIU

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