Section 2 | FOUNDATIONAL FACTORS institutions with high-volume data demand, such as schools and hospitals, as well as banks and some SMEs. It remains to be seen whether this is politically feasible in today’s environment. In 2013, one IT professional stated publicly his conviction that the government was controlling download speeds for political reasons rather than technical limitations: “The speed can be fixed,” Aung Bar Lay said. “You only need to have good connections with the government. I have heard people talking about giving extra amount of money under the table just for them to have better internet connections.” He went on to say, “If the government really wants to improve the speed of the internet, it can. It is using fiber-optics so it must be reliable and fast.”115 Among the negative consequences of international sanctions and isolation was a lack of support for innovation, including tech hubs and business incubators, which are relative IREX INSIGHT newcomers in Yangon.116 From digital artists and app developers to online security experts, The ICT industry talent pool in the talent pool in Myanmar cannot currently meet demand.117 Innovation is critically Myanmar is neither large enough important to closing digital divides as it increases the availability of locally relevant products, services, and online content. Locally sourced innovation is particularly important in Myanmar to meet fundamental needs, such as developing Unicode-compliant fonts for additional minority languages, and for increased transparency of ongoing reform processes nor diverse enough to meet current demand for user-focused products and services. and efficiency of essential public services. To the extent that innovation is coupled with diversity, such as including women and linguistic minorities on development teams, it may also address specific aspects of the gender digital divide, such as higher rates of illiteracy among ethnic-minority women. Figure 7: Digital Skills Pyramid ADVANCED SKILLS coding, database management, application development INTERMEDIARY SKILLS social media, online searches, office productivity software, etc. BASIC SKILLS voice calls, texting, offline games Adapted from Van Welsum and Lanvin 2012 Finally, one of the most salient aspects of the technology ecosystem today is the digital skills pyramid. Although mobile ownership numbers have skyrocketed since 2011 and data usage is increasing, advanced skills are concentrated among a very small elite. Recent Jefry Tupas, “Is Burma’s ‘Disconnectivity’ Deliberate?” Prachatai, March 9, 2013. Project Hub and USAID, Mapping Yangon’s Emerging Startup Ecosystem (Washington, DC: USAID, 2015). Myanmar Centre For Responsible Business, Institute For Human Rights And Business (Ihrb), And Danish Institute For Human Rights (Dihr). Myanmar Ict Sector-Wide Impact Assessment, September 2015.; Steve Gilmore, “Constructing Myanmar’s Virtual Worlds,” Myanmar Times, September 2, 2016. 115 116 117 Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 38