Digital Asia: Visions, Transformations, and Engagements

Asia has the largest Internet population in the world in absolute numbers, and it is also at the forefront of digital developments in many fields, including governance, entertainment, and e-commerce. The region however contains a diverse digital landscape that reflects its different political and socio-economic realities. The average percentage of the population that has access to the Internet in Asia is only 41.9 per cent but as high as 91.1 per cent in Japan. Although only 51,7 per cent of the Chinese population has access, at 710 million users China is however the world’s largest Internet nation. In terms of social media use Indonesia occupies a special place as three out of four Indonesians using the Internet also use Facebook, which makes Indonesia (with 78 million Facebook users) the fourth biggest Facebook nation. Myanmar had less than 1 per cent Internet penetration in 2009 but the growth has been spectacular since then, and in 2016 19.3 per cent had access to the Internet.

The presentations examined the socio-political contexts and uses of the Internet in a selected number of Asian countries such as China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Myanmar. The speakers addressed both the everyday uses of new communication technologies as well as citizens new opportunities to discuss public affairs and become involved in civic and political mobilization.