DiSTO Kuwait
Country context
- Kuwait ranks 56thin the world for human development (UNDP)
- According to the World Economic Forum, Kuwait ranks 1st worldwide for mobile coverage, 2nd in cell and broadband subscriptions and 14th for home computers
- Mobile penetration rates are estimated as high as 240% and internet land coverage is 100%, according to the Central Authority for Information Technology
- Despite its high levels of digital penetration, and one of the world’s highest per capita Gross National Incomes (GNI) (World Bank), the 2019 World Economic Forumranks Kuwait as only the 54thmost competitive country
- With an expatriate population of approximately 70% (Central Statistics Bureau) and high levels of income inequality, the DiSTO Kuwait project will explore relationships between these extreme offline conditions and the population’s online outcomes
Research overview
The DiSTO Kuwait project comprises the adaptation, validation and implementation of DiSTO’s methodology and framework to the Kuwaiti context, including the development of an Arabic version of its key scales. DiSTO Kuwait's long-term ambition is to collect national-level data using these modified tools to inform local academic and policy discussions. The project also aims to contribute to broader inter-country comparisons by providing data from Kuwait to larger evaluations of global media conditions and social changes.
The project has been developed within two studies: (1) exploratory research which tested preliminary questions and (2) the full study, informed by the findings obtained through the exploratory exercise.
