The development of information and communications technology (ICT) is becoming increasingly important, not only for the transformation to a networked society, but also for economic development.

For every 1 000 new connections, 80 new jobs were created, and for every 10% increase in mobile and broadband penetration, gross domestic product increased one percentage point, said Ericsson chief technology officer Ulf Ewaldsson.

Ericsson’s latest report, ‘Networked Society City Index Part III’, also revealed that new business registration rose 3.8% for every percentage point increase in broadband penetration.

According to Ericsson, the number of global mobile broadband subscriptions reached 1.5-billion during 2012. This was expected to rise to five-billion by 2017.

The Internet, along with mobility, cloud computing services, broadband, big data and social media – in both emerging and developed countries – was transforming many aspects of the global marketplace, including consumer behaviour and new business models.

The index, which examined the ICT maturity of 25 cities, including Johannesburg, which ranked 20, noted that ICT development enabled an increase in the number of opportunities for entrepreneurs, while improving market access and enabling entrepreneurs to reach a larger geographical market.

It also reduced new business start-up costs and transactional costs, through, besides others, transparency of market prices, easier and more cost-effective means of obtaining critical resources and the reduced need to be located in close proximity to customers and suppliers.