OECD members seek joint strategy to develop digital economy

Representatives from over 30 countries are meeting on June 21-23 in the Mexican town of Cancun, for the 2016 Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy.

Under the theme of "Innovation, growth and social welfare," the meeting was organized by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The secretary-general of the OECD, Jose Angel Gurria, opened the event on Tuesday morning by saying that "the digital economy can be a source of well-being and inclusion but this requires citizens to collaborate closely with companies and governments."

The Cancun meeting seeks to diversify and improve joint policies to develop the digital economy worldwide, by incentivizing investments in telecommunications infrastructure, broadband technology, and the development of the software industry.

Government officials, industry executives and civil society representatives from OECD countries gathered at the forum to seek a common strategy to fight corruption, ease bureaucracy and improve services online.

Gurria said that Mexico is facing a "digital gap", with only 42 percent of its population having access to the Internet, as compared to the OECD's average of 82 percent.

"The digital economy is not the future, it is the present, which is why this digital gap must be closed," he explained.

During a round table entitled "Digital government and entrepreneurial competitiveness", Gurria said that, "for Mexico, with such a large digital gap, it is difficult to understate the importance of a digital government strategy."

Lucy Neville-Rolfe, the UK's Minister for Intellectual Property, added that as the digital economy progresses in her country and in others, "we must start to remove barriers."

"We must adopt technologies, which favor the transformation of priority sectors, such as agriculture, healthcare and tourism," said Neville-Rolfe.

The digital economy is made up of various sectors, including telecommunications infrastructure, software, hardware, services, and online networks for social and economic activities. Enditem