Summary of "ICT Skills in Small Island Developing States: ICT Capacity Building, Economic Opportunities, and Brain Drain"

Authors

Dennis Redeker and Ingmar Sturm

Introduction

• Focus: Analyzing the role of ICT skills and capacity building in Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and their influence on economic opportunities and migration trends.
• Context: Increased Internet access and its potential to create new employment and reverse out-migration trends in SIDS.

Key Themes

1. ICT Skills and Economic Opportunities:

   • Hypothesis: Higher ICT skills may lead to greater economic opportunities in SIDS, similar to trends in developed countries.
   • Research Objective: Examine the link between individual ICT skills, participation in capacity-building activities, and perceived economic opportunities.

2. Brain Drain and ICT Skills:

   • Concern: Higher ICT skills might encourage migration to seek better-paid employment abroad, contributing to brain drain.
   • Research Questions: How do ICT skills and capacity-building activities affect perceptions of job and salary prospects and the intention to migrate?

Methodology

• Survey: Conducted in five Pacific SIDS (Fiji, Micronesia, Palau, Samoa, Tonga) targeting 16-35-year-olds.
• Analysis: Explored relationships between ICT skills, capacity-building participation, and economic opportunities/migration intentions.

Findings

1. ICT Skills and Economic Opportunities:

   • Mixed evidence on the impact of ICT skills on perceived job availability and salary sufficiency.
   • In some cases, higher ICT skills and training were associated with perceptions of insufficient salaries.

2. Migration Intentions:

   • Contrasting results in different SIDS: In Palau, higher ICT skills correlated with less likelihood of emigration, while in Tonga, the opposite was observed.

3. Digital Divide:

   • Gender and urban-rural divides in ICT skills, with lower skills reported by women and rural inhabitants in most surveyed SIDS.

Policy Implications

• Necessity for tailored ICT capacity-building strategies in SIDS, considering gender and geographical divides.
• Potential for ICT skills to shape economic opportunities and migration trends, but further research and strategic planning required.

Conclusion

• Highlighting the complex interplay between ICT skills, economic opportunities, and migration in SIDS, the study underscores the need for targeted policy interventions to maximize the benefits of ICT capacity building.