ON THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR AND CHALLENGES TO GREATER DIGITALISATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
What impact did Covid-19 have on Myanmar’s efforts to expand ICT access to a greater proportion of the population?
SHANE THU AUNG: Strategies to expand ICT services continued in many ways despite the pandemic, partly thanks to the fact that telecoms services were classified as essential. Nonetheless, the sector did face some challenges. These included a lack of uniformity in terms of movement restrictions between zones, which are managed by different administrative authorities, resulting in limited site access in some cases and a slowdown in business operations in others. On top of this, the ICT industry experienced the domino effect of a downturn in some industries. Overall, however, the sector was relatively well positioned to continue operations during the pandemic.