2011 World Digital Economy - Insights into E-Government, E-Health and E-Education

Development of important e-services continues

The development of important e-services like e-health, e-education and e-government has, in some cases, changed the lives of people around the world – particularly those from the developing markets. From a broader perspective, these important social services are integral to the emerging concept of Smart Cities based on the Internet of Things (IoT). As populations continue to grow and resources become more and more stretched – solutions based on digital infrastructure are the key to a sustainable future.

Spending on health care in particular has become a key issue for all governments around the world. The disparities between health care access and service quality amongst the developed and developing nations have come under scrutiny and it is becoming more and more important to find new ways to deliver high quality health care services to all.

E-health is rapidly shaping up as one of the key killer apps on the truly high-speed broadband networks and millions of people around the world can potentially benefit from e-health applications. Early diagnosis and after-treatment patient monitoring are two areas where significant synergies may be found using applications provided to users at home.

E-government services are expected to grow considerably through to 2016 with both investments in the sector and the number of users forecast to grow. It is anticipated that markets with established e-government services will look towards a future based on cloud computing and also ensuring services are aligned. Mobile service offerings may also be integrated but the real activity taking place for mobile e-government will be in the less developed markets where mobile devices are the key communication tool.

The use of IT and telecommunications technology within educational environments is set to increase dramatically between now and 2016 as high-speed fibre-based broadband becomes widely available. Simultaneously, the capability of Internet services devoted to e-education purposes is set to increase enormously over the next decade as well.

The digital world continues to influence the growth and development of e-education, with a number of trends emerging in this sector. Cloud computing is beginning to be implemented for use at an operational level, resulting in potential infrastructure cost reductions and administration time. Mobile technology is also beginning to be utilised as an education tool, particularly by academic and healthcare organizations.

Underlying all of these e-social services is a need for adequate infrastructure that is well governed and secure. The critical importance of the internet and its infrastructure is increasing and unfortunately cybercrime is also on the rise. These factors, combined with the fact that the internet “knows no borders,” is making many people, businesses and governments very nervous about its governance. Fortunately the internet is based on international technical standards and this at least makes it possible to develop international systems regarding its technical management and technical governance. The best brains of the world are already working together in many of these areas and many national e-security systems are now in place, or are under development.

BuddeComm’s new report, World Digital Economy – E-Government, E-Health and E-Education Insights, gives the latest insights into the developments occurring in these important social sectors in terms of online access and services. It explores key issues and opportunities and provides analyses, statistics, forecasts and trends. The report includes broad statistical information and insights into the key trends impacting upon the industry including e-security, e-governance and the overall concept of smart communities. It explores some key examples and case studies and provides a unique perspective into how these e-services are unfolding differently around the world, written by BuddeComm’s Senior Analysts.

Examples of key insights:

• The groundswell of growth in e-services continues with citizens around the world continuing to utilise applications for e-government, e-health and e-education.
• While developed countries continue to uptake e-services - improved broadband connectivity in markets like Africa are also enabling new services.
• China and India are expected to have the highest growth in healthcare sending over the next ten years.
• Healthcare is a $5.7 trillion global industry – by far the world’s largest single industry. Yet it is also one of the most inefficient.
• While client-server Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are the most prevalent; web-based EMR is expected to be a key growth area through to 2015.
• E-government is expected to grow with users around the world expected to increase three fold through to 2016.
• The US is the single largest market for e-learning and combined with Europe, these two markets account for around 70% of the market.
• In the Middle East more e-services are being made available due to improved broadband access in terms of speeds, cost and availability