The Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), a global multilateral organization committed to enabling digital prosperity for all by accelerating the inclusive growth of the digital economy, has launched its first-ever Digital Economy Navigator (DEN), powering Nations to better navigate paths to digital economy maturity, find opportunities for growth, benchmark progress, and narrow the digital economy maturity gap.
According to Industry sources, the DEN was launched at the SDG Digital 2024 summit during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, September 10-27.
Industry sources further added that drawing on officially released statistics, secondary data, and proprietary data from a large DCO survey, the DEN is a unifying framework that addresses digital economy maturity across 50 countries, including the DCO Member States. The framework offers a platform for nations, stakeholders, and decision-makers to coordinate their efforts to advance the global digital economy, enabling accessibility, sustainability, and shared prosperity across borders.
Deemah AlYahya, Secretary-General of the DCO, stated: “The Digital Economy Navigator aims to enhance accessibility, sustainability and economic prosperity, ensuring that countries not only move in step, but lead in the digital era. As the first global framework to comprehensively address digital economy maturity from a user-centric perspective, the DEN plays a critical role in advancing the Digital Cooperation Organisation’s mission to support evidence-based policies and impactful outcomes in the digital economy. By providing reliable and detailed data, insights into current trends and emerging technologies, and strategic foresight into future challenges, the DEN prepares countries to achieve greater levels of prosperity, inclusion and sustainability. At the DCO, we are committed to equipping stakeholders with the knowledge they need to navigate and thrive in an ever-evolving digital landscape.”
Industry sources further added that the Navigator assesses the extent to which factors contribute to economic prosperity, sustainability, and improved quality of life. This offers a common understanding for different stakeholder groups to work together to develop digital economy strategies that bridge gaps and enable progress to be tracked over time.
The DEN provides a diverse picture of maturity across regions. North America, for example, leads in digital innovation, followed by “Europe and Central Asia” and “East Asia and the Pacific.” South Asia leads in digital work and training, followed by the Middle East and North Africa. The “Sub-Saharan Africa” and “Latin America and the Caribbean” regions are in the lead in digital education and health services. This particular pillar “Digital for education and health” demonstrates substantial overall maturity, with moderate variability in scores indicating a trend towards global convergence.
Industry sources further confirmed that The DEN is of great relevance to policymakers, business executives, and other experts in aspects of the digital economy. Decision makers have the research, data, and analysis necessary to cultivate a more inclusive digital economy and society, foster digital innovation, stimulate job creation, accelerate GDP growth, amplify sustainability through digital technologies, and improve general well-being.
Unique among global tools, the DEN assesses the digital economy through the lens of three intersecting dimensions: Digital Enablers, Digital Business, and Digital Society. Within these three dimensions, 10 pillars synthesize and summarize key aspects of countries’ digital economy and use of digital technology applications based on 102 indicators collected from respected secondary data sources as well as primary data from a novel survey of over 27,000 respondents across all 50 countries.
