With economic slowdowns occurring, building digital trust has the potential to unleash trillions of dollars in economic growth, according a recent industry study.
A report titled, ‘The Digital Trust Index: the value of digital trust’, published by Callsign and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) revealed that a five percent increase in digital trust results in an average increase in GDP per capita of $3,000.
The new report has found that a ‘digital trust gap’ is also emerging around the world. While non-Western markets have a positive trust gap indicating consumer attitudes to digital trust exceed societal trust levels, western markets have a negative trust gap.
With more consumers online, this is a critical differentiator for emerging markets as economies slow down. The potential to unleash GDP per capita growth from the digital economy may see emerging economies gain advantage in this new online era.
In the Middle East and Africa 56.3 percent of respondents say that online and digital services can be trusted. However, in terms of the factors that negatively impact digital trust, 21.1 percent of MEA consumers said their experience with online fraud led to their distrust in online services.
The report also noted other factors negatively impacting trust in online services include experience of data breaches, cited by 12.8 percent of MEA respondents. Further, 15 percent of MEA consumers believe that there is a lack of transparency in online and digital services, and 16.1 percent voiced concern that they do not always know how to use online and digital services safely leading to mistrust.
“The results of this research should be a call to action for businesses and governments to work together to build a secure, ethical digital identity framework so that citizens can live digitally, safely, and to boost economic growth at this critical time,” said Saeed Ahmad, MD Callsign, MENA.
By 2025, the digital economy is expected to reach $20.8 trillion. However, the cost of online crime is also predicted to soar, reaching $10.5 trillion. In line with this, 54 percent of consumers expect governments to create a more secure digital world. To achieve this, three quarters (77 percent) of respondents reported support for the creation of a digital identity system overseen by an independent body. Furthermore, 47 percent of those surveyed expect a digital identity system to be part of their everyday lives the next 12 months.
Therefore, if business and governments want to harness the power of digital trust, they must tackle the foundational element, digital identity, the report noted.
“The foundation of digital trust is our digital identities,” said Ahmad. “We need to know who we are interacting with online to be able to trust in brands, transactions and people. Consumers in MEA want a secure digital world and governments want to continue to grow the digital economy in the region, they need to work with businesses to reap the benefits of the GDP per capita that building digital trust could bring. Our research demonstrates we have a trillion-dollar opportunity and given the global economic challenges today, we can’t afford to ignore it anymore.”
