Dominican Republic

Recent trends

In the last decade, the Dominican Republic has made efforts to enhance digital access and use for all. Internet users, active mobile broadband and fixed broadband subscriptions increased. The country is also making progress in strengthening trust in the digital ecosystem. Performance in the Global Cybersecurity Index is in line with the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) average (0.43) but below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average (0.79).

The Dominican Republic’s e-government rankings also improved, but there remains room to expand open government data policies, according to the OECD OURdata Index. In terms of promoting an inclusive digital society, the number of computers available to students increased between 2015 and 2018, surpassing the LAC average and closing the gap with the OECD. However, 40% of students have a computer in good condition, 30% have one requiring repairs, and 10% have one in poor condition.

National strategies and international co-operation for digital transformation

The Dominican Republic’s 2016-20 digital agenda (DA) is the main document governing the digital transformation of the country and is in line with Estrategia Nacional de Desarrollo 2030 (National Development Strategy 2030). It is based on five strategic axes: infrastructure and access; e-government and digital services; skills development; productive development and innovation; and enabling environment. The National Commission of the Knowledge and Information Society (CNSIC) is responsible for formulating, co-ordinating and following up on implementation of the DA. The CNSIC is made up of national entities from government, the private sector, academia and civil society. It aims to encourage the sustainable use of information and communications technology (ICT) for development based on collaboration among these groups.

Among related activities, República Digital (Digital Republic) aims to reduce the digital divide and offer better services to citizens. The project is based on four axes: education, access to ICT, productivity and employment, and digital government. The country has so far put more than 1 000 services on line, promoted robotics and science classes in 742 education services, and developed a National Cybersecurity Strategy 2018-2021 to enable trust in the digital ecosystem. To mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19), the Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel) prohibited the suspension or cancellation of telecommunications services during the state of emergency and exempts users from defaulting on late payments in the five days following the termination of the state of emergency (CAF, 2020).

The Dominican Republic is a member of the Better than Cash Alliance, a partnership of governments, companies and international organisations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payment to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Among other projects, the alliance supports the distribution of benefits on a reloadable Visa card as part of the Solidaridad programme by the Social Subsidies Administration, in partnership with Visa and local financial institutions. The country is a member of the Open Government Partnership, the joint work of governments and civil society organisations to promote accountable, responsive and inclusive governance. As part of its commitments, the Dominican Republic is currently carrying out the fourth Open Government Action Plan 2018-2020. As part of the plan, the country has introduced the concept of Social and Democratic Rule of Law to public procurement. Similarly, the country is also engaged in policy discussions at the World Summit on the Information Society and will chair the 2020 edition focusing on the use of digital technologies in the Covid-19 response and mitigation.

The Dominican Republic was part of the Latin America, Caribbean and European Union Network on Research and Innovation (2012-17). The country also collaborated with the European Union (EU) through workshops on digital co-operation aimed to align EU-LAC digital regulations and policies. Main topics were cybersecurity, telecommunications regulation, e-commerce platforms and the media. The workshops led to the definition of possible mechanisms to structure collaboration in the medium and long term. Since 2019, in line with the challenges of the information and knowledge societies, the Dominican Republic has been involved in creating a framework for personal data protection regulation, drawing on experiences from the EU legal framework.

	Digital indicators - Dominican Republic1
Enhancing access	Dominican Republic		LAC2		OECD3
	2008	2018	2008	2018	2008	2018
Fixed broadband subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants)4	2.5	7.5	4.1	13.9	22.7	32.9
Active mobile-broadband subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants)4	0.44	60.8	0.53	73.5	19.4	103.6
	2015	2018	2015	2018	2015	2018
Proportion of population covered by at least 3G network5	98.8	99.2	86.1	94.6	98.2	98.8
	2008	2017	2008	2017	2008	2007
Fixed broadband speed (in Mbit/s)4	0.40	2.0	0.58	5.1	2.2	27.7
Strengthening their effective use	Dominican Republic		LAC		OECD
	2008	2018	2008	2018	2008	2018
E-Government Development Index (EGDI)6	0.49	0.57	0.52	0.65	0.72	0.82
Share of Internet users (% of population)4	20.8	74.8	25.3	67.7	65.0	84.3
	2015	2019	2015	2019	2015	2019
UNCTAD B2C E-Commerce Index7	39.9	60.4	46.4	51.5	73.9	85.0
	2017		2017		2017
Share of individuals engaging in online shopping8	13.2		14.8		N/A
Enabling digital innovation	Dominican Republic		LAC		OECD
	2008	2017	2008	2017	2008	2017
High-technology exports (% of manufactured exports)9	3.7	8.6	9.3	9.6	15.6	15.3
Share of ICT service imports, as % of total trade in services7	2.70	2.70	3.1	3.9	4.6	6.7
	2012	2016	2012	2016	2012	2016
ICT patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (per million people)10	0.14	0.05	0.14	0.34	30.9	38.2
	2006	2016	2006	2016	2006	2016
R&D expenditures, as % of GDP11	N/A	N/A	0.35	0.42	1.7	1.9
	2019		2019		2019
OECD OURdata Index12	0.46		0.43		0.61
Ensuring quality jobs for all	Dominican Republic		LAC		OECD
	2006-15		2006-15		2006-15
Contributions to changes in total employment, by digital intensity of sectors, 2006-1613	N/A		6.9		4.8
	2017		2018		2018
Share of informal employment to total employment14	57.2		54.9		N/A
	2003	2017	2003	2017	2003	2017
Tertiary gross enrolment rate (%)9	34.1	59.9	35.3	60.5	59.9	74.3
	2016		2016		2016
Tertiary graduates by field (%) - Education11	19.6		16.0		9.8
Tertiary graduates by field (%) - Health11	16.5		13.8		14.5
Tertiary graduates by field (%) - Engineering11	8.7		12.5		14.6
Promoting an inclusive digital society	Dominican Republic		LAC		OECD
	2015	2016	2015	2016	2015	2016
E-waste generated, kilograms per inhabitant15	5.6	5.8	6.9	7.2	17.7	17.7
	2015	2018	2015	2018	2015	2018
Number of students per computer16	3.2	1.4	2.4	1.6	1.8	1.1
	2018		2018		2018
Percentage of women scoring at Level 2 or 3 in problem solving in technology-rich environments17	N/A		7.7		27.7
Strengthening trust	Dominican Republic		LAC		OECD
	2020		2020		2020
CAF GovTech Index18	3.7		4.4		N/A
	2016	2018	2016	2018	2016	2018
Global Cybersecurity Index (ITU)19	0.12	0.43	0.36	0.43	0.56	0.79
	2018	2019	2018	2019	2018	2019
E-commerce safety (%)20	N/A	56.1	72.0	63.1	61.7	58.3
Trust in online privacy (%)20	N/A	56.0	52.8	54.9	41.7	45.6
Fostering market openness	Dominican Republic		LAC		OECD
	2015	2019	2015	2019	2015	2019
OECD Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index13	N/A	N/A	0.24	0.24	0.13	0.15
	2018		2018		2018
OECD FDI RRI13	N/A		0.07		0.06
Sources, footnotes and technical details can be found at the end of the country notes.
← 1. The table as best as possible follows the seven key areas identified in the OECD Going Digital project: 1) enhancing access to digital technologies; 2) strengthening their effective use; 3) enabling digital innovation; 4) ensuring quality jobs for all; 5) promoting an inclusive digital society; 6) strengthening trust; and 7) fostering market openness (OECD, 2019a). Indicators are chosen depending on data availability for LAC countries. Potential bias exists from the way components have been aggregated on index indicators.
← 2. LAC average is a simple average. Composition of countries depends on availability of country data. Each average includes as many LAC countries as possible.
← 3. OECD average is a simple average that includes all OECD member countries as of May 2020.
← 4. Data from ITU (2020), World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database 2020 (database). Fixed broadband speed in Mbit/s refers to the advertised maximum theoretical download speed guaranteed to users associated with a fixed broadband Internet monthly subscription.
← 5. Data from UN Statistics Division, UN Global SDG Database (database). Data for 2015 and 2018 or latest available year.
← 6. Data from UN E-government Knowledgebase (2019), Data Center (database). The E-Government Development Index is a composite indicator that consists of three indexes (Online Service Index, Telecommunication Infrastructure Index and Human Capital Index), which are equally weighted. It ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 being the most developed.
← 7. Data from UNCTAD (2020), UNCTADSTAT (database). The UNCTAD B2C E-commerce Index measures an economy’s preparedness to support online shopping. It ranges from 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest support.
← 8. Own calculations based on data from Latinobarómetro (2019), Libros de Códigos por País/Año (database). Data for 2017. Data from public opinion surveys using randomly selected, nationally representative samples.
← 9. Data from World Bank (2020a), World Bank DataBank (database).
← 10. Data from World Bank (2020b), TCdata360. Data for 2012 and 2016 or latest available year.
← 11. Data from UNESCO (2019), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (database). R&D Expenditures, as % of GDP data from 2006 and 2016 or latest available year.
← 12. Data from OECD (2020a), OECD.Stat (database); and OECD (2020b). The OECD OURdata Index assesses governments’ efforts to implement open data in three critical areas: openness, usefulness and re-usability of government data. It ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 being the highest score.
← 13. Data from OECD (2020a), OECD.Stat (database). The OECD Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index identifies, catalogues and quantifies barriers that affect trade in digitally enabled services across 46 countries. It ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 being the most restrictive. The Foreign Direct Investment Regulatory Restrictiveness Index (FDI RRI) measures four types of statutory restrictions on foreign direct investment: 1) foreign equity restrictions; 2) screening and prior approval requirements; 3) rules for key personnel; and 4) other restrictions on the operation of foreign enterprises. The FDI RRI is a composite index, which ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 being the most restrictive.
← 14. Data from ILOSTAT, data from 2018 or latest available year.
← 15. Data from the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership.
← 16. OECD calculations based on OECD (2020c), Programme for International Student Assessment (database). Data for 2015 and 2018.
← 17. Data from the OECD (2019d), Survey of Adult Skills (2018). Percentages for problem solving in technology-rich environments are computed so that the sum of percentages for the following mutually exhaustive categories equals 100%: opted out of the computer-based assessment; no computer experience; failed ICT core test; below Level 1, at Level 1, at Level 2 and at Level 3.
← 18. Data from CAF (2020), The GovTech Index 2020: Unlocking the Potential of GovTech Ecosystems in Latin America, Spain and Portugal. The GovTech Index 2020 measures the maturity of the GovTech ecosystem. It is based on 28 indicators across 7 dimensions, which on aggregate form 3 equally weighted pillars: start-up industry, government policies and procurement systems.
← 19. The Global Cybersecurity Index measures countries’ commitment to cybersecurity at a global level. It has five pillars: 1) legal measures; 2) technical measures; 3) organisational measures; 4) capacity building; and 5) co-operation. It ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 being the highest level of cybersecurity.
← 20. Data from The Economist Intelligence Unit (2019), EIU Inclusive Internet Index (database). Indicators present perceived e-commerce safety and trust in online privacy among randomly sampled individuals in selected countries. It ranges from 0% to 100%, with 100% indicating absolute confidence in e-commerce safety and trust in online privacy.

References

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