Dr. Simeon Djankov:

It is very important.

We have calculations across a broad set of countries, including in the EU, of how much it costs. It does not cost much. Technology has developed enough that broadband is available at inexpensive rates. Without broadband, it is difficult to prepare kids for the future of work and to prepare businesses to operate in the global economy. In that regard, Europe in general has much to learn from other regions.

I recently visited Vietnam, which is still much poorer than many European countries. In our report, however, it stands out as being on a par with most of Europe in terms of human capital at high school and primary levels. We were initially surprised by this. How could Vietnam with a per capitaincome of approximately one tenth that found in European countries afford this? Its system is truly something to consider, though. Every school has broadband. Where there is no standard electricity supply, solar panels are used to bring electricity to schools and, through that, broadband. Every week, every teacher in the country receives a set of scripted lessons. This is done for reasons of access but also equality. Every teacher has to use the script as the minimum at least, so every student in the country is taught it. The approximately 200,000 primary schools and 70,000 secondary schools receive the lesson each week. As a result, students' scores in Vietnam are similar regardless of whether they are in poor villages or rich cities like Hanoi. To give the committee an idea of how this system works, the bottom 10% of high school students in Vietnam score better than the top 10% in the US. Europe in general and Ireland in particular could learn quite a bit from Vietnam's experience.

Broadband can be used for more than just education. It can also be used in the field of health, as is done in a number of countries to the great benefit of, in particular, populations that live in rural and less well-off areas.