Interim Transport, Maritime and Communications Minister Feridun Bilgin said the overall Internet economy will grow 8 percent this yearand reach 5.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while a slowdown is expected in the growth of the G20 countries.
Bilgin said almost half of the world's population will have access to the Internet next year, adding that the size of the G20 countries' Internet economy, which was estimated to be $2.3 trillion in 2010, will nearly double and reach $4.2 trillion by 2016.
Delivering a speech at the B20 Turkey Digital Economy Conference, Bilgin said the size of the G20 countries' Internet economy will correspond to 5.3 percent of their total GDP on average by 2016. The minister said the economic growth rates of the G20 countries are expected to gradually decrease, while their Internet economies are estimated to grow by around 8 percent.
Bilgin shared data compiled by the Turkish Informatics Industry Association (TÜBİSAD) and said the market size of the Turkish informatics sector reached TL 70 billion ($23.945 billion) with a surge of 12.7 percent in 2014 when compared to the previous year. Pointing to the fact that access to broadband Internet makes a significant contribution to economic growth, Bilgin said the number of broadband Internet subscribers in Turkey soared to around 47 million in August 2015 from around 6 million in 2008. Additionally, the number of mobile broadband subscribers reached 37.6 million within the same period.
Bilgin also said the e-government application, which was initiated in 2008 with 22 pilot public services, has turned into a massive electronic state service rendered by 197 institutions. Currently, there are a total of 20 million registered e-government users, the minister said. He added that the ministry continues to distribute devices that are available for the use of people with disabilities as well. Vestel CEO Turan Erdoğan said the company's most important focus is the Internet used in smart homes and other smart devices. According to Erdoğan, Vestel ceased the production of analogue goods and is producing only digital goods now, including smart televisions, washing machines and dishwashers.
Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said the number of global Internet users has surpassed 3 billion, up from 1 billion in 2005, and this figure is estimated to reach 5 billion in less than five years. "Data is as important as money in the digital economy," Hisarcıklıoğlu said, adding that the digital economy will fail to run without confidence in the use of data.
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