Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Over the past few decades, there has been a rapid growth in ICT services around the world. Global ICT spending was approximately US$4.9 trillion in 2020 and is expected to rise to US$5.8 trillion by 2023.

The Institute for Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research (IPMI) assessed the contribution from the development of information and communication infrastructure to the real incomes of the population in Uzbekistan. For this, econometric models were used based on statistical data of the State Committee on Statistics of the Republic of Uzbekistan by regions (12 regions, the Republic of Karakalpakstan and the city of Tashkent) for the period from 2015 to 2020 (84 observations).

Based on the results of the analysis, the following results were obtained:

An increase in the length of fiber-optic communication lines by 100 km contributes to the growth of real incomes of the population by 1.43%.

Increase in Internet users by 1 p.p. will lead to an increase in real incomes of the population by 0.9%.

The ICT sector affects the economic growth and income of the population through several channels: the impact on the education system, including through the introduction of online lessons and courses, the growth of financial institutions, the reduction of unemployment due to new professions and jobs, including in online space.

The spread of coronavirus and the introduction of quarantine restrictions in the countries of the world contributed to an increase in the interest of the population in receiving distance education. Thus, in the context of the pandemic, there was a threefold increase in the number of new registrations, as a result of which this figure reached 71 million in 2020 and 92 million in 2021.

The use of digital financial services (DFS) allows to reduce costs, increase the speed, security and transparency of transactions, as well as increase accessibility for the country’s population. To date, more than 850 million digital accounts have been registered in 90 countries around the world, through which transactions worth US$1.3 billion are made daily. 

In Uzbekistan, in the coming years, it is planned to attract about US$2.5 billion for the development of digital infrastructure. It is planned to launch three large new data centers in cities such as Tashkent, Bukhara and Qoqand, as well as further expansion of the fixed telecommunications network and modernization of the mobile communication network. As a result, households will have access to the Internet at a speed of at least 10 Mbps in each settlement.