Analyzing the role of information and telecommunication technology in human development: panel data analysis

Economic growth in modern-day world get attention primarily through innovation and higher productivity, which places technology and knowledge at the core of the issue on economic policy. In this regard, information and communication technology (ICT) has a unique place for offering the potential to improve efficiency, promote the sharing of knowledge, and improve innovation leading to an overall change in social and human development processes around the globe. This study examines the role of ICT and economic growth on human development. A family of econometric series robust to cross-sectional dependence is applied for a panel of five selected South Asian countries over 1990-2016. The ICT in the study were measured through mobile phone and internet penetration. The results of Driscoll-Kraay standard errors algorithm suggest that mobile phone usage promotes human development, whereas internet usage does not seem to do so. Apart from it, its economic growth does contribute to the promotion of human development. Policy implications are required in the direction for internet usage to produce its role in human development.