Section 1 | GLOBAL CONTEXT 1.2 Myanmar’s Evolving Information Society After fifty years of international isolation, Myanmar is undergoing a technological revolution concurrent with systemic political and economic change. Concrete steps toward decentralization and demilitarization of governance have been taken, generating hope for improved standards of living and resolution of ongoing armed conflicts. In the past five years, public administration at the local (village tract/ward) level successfully transitioned from a system of military appointments to elections (2012), while the national level saw a peaceful handoff from the military elite to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League of Democracy (NLD), following the 2015 parliamentary elections. These political changes are occurring alongside liberalization of growth sectors like telecommunications. Massive investments in infrastructure—the Norwegian “In the twenty-first century, basic ICT skills are a must— and this is particularly important for girls and people in rural areas so they can communicate their needs and situation to people in urban areas.” —Interview with CSO representative telecommunications company Telenor alone has invested $1.5 billion as of January 201751 —and regulatory changes (such as decreased taxes on SIM cards) have seen certain types of ICT access become both common and nearly affordable. KEY ICT-SECTOR ISSUES Within this evolving political economy, the pace of uptake of ICTs since 2011 has been unprecedented, particularly mobile devices: 83 percent of households reported mobile ownership in a nationally representative survey conducted in 2016—a 46-percent jump since the preceding year.52 This increase included many women: whereas only 33 percent of women reported owning a mobile phone in 2015, one survey reported the proportion had increased to 52 percent by 201653—bringing Myanmar nearly up to the 54 percent average for the East Asia and Pacific region.54 It is important to note that at the individual level, men are 28 percent more likely to own their own phone.55 There is a high penetration rate of smartphones (78 percent of all mobile owners), but mobile data remains expensive (only 49 percent of handset owners use data services) and is underused, especially by women and rural users.56 As access has increased, private ICT skills-training institutes in urban centers have emerged to meet growing demand. Telenor Myanmar, “Telenor Network Carried a Record 7.2 Billion Text Messages in 2016,” press release, January 6, 2017. 52 Galpaya et al., Mobile Phones, Internet, Information and Knowledge. 53 Ibid. 54 GSMA and LIRNEasia, Mobile Phones, Internet and Gender in Myanmar. 55 Galpaya et al., Mobile Phones, Internet, Information and Knowledge. 56 Ibid. See also GSMA and LIRNEasia, Mobile Phones, Internet and Gender in Myanmar. 51 Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 21