33 It is clear that Jordan faces a number of declining indicators, such as declining revenue in the ICT sector, a skills mismatch and lack of collaboration among companies and sectors. If nothing is done to revitalize the tech sector and move the country as a whole towards a digital economy, the declining figures are expected to continue and the cost of inaction will be paramount to Jordan, resulting in a lack of relevance in global value chains. KEY FOCUS AREAS THAT DRIVE INITIATIVES LEADING TO TRANSFORMATION To bridge the cost of inaction – or “valley of death” – a number of focus areas have been identified that drive transformation change and are the pillars of the digital economy. These focus areas have been based on two assessments: They are drivers of the digital economy addressed in comparative transformational national strategies, and they are key drivers and indicators used in recognized digital economy benchmarks, such as by the OECD’s Measuring the digital economy 59 , the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness index 60 , the World Economic Forum’s information and communication technology benchmark61 and ITU’s ICT development index62 . The six key focus areas that will drive the initiatives and actions are as follows: Smart Specialization and demand-driven innovation Tech Start-ups and Entrepreneurs Public Sector Innovation Enabling Business Environment ICT Skills, Capacity and Talent Smart Infrastructure The key focus areas are elaborated more below. In addition, in placing Jordan on the path towards excellence, a number of high-level actions have been identified. These high-level actions are linked to the aforementioned focus areas. Each high-level action will inform a number of concrete actions, with clear owners and targets attached to them. SMART SPECIALIZATION 63 AND DEMAND-DRIVEN INNOVATION focuses on unlocking the potential for digitization in areas where Jordan has – or has the potential to develop – a competitive advantage. It can also be in areas/sectors of global importance, where Jordan can be relevant in global value chains. The increased digitization of the global economy provides an opportunity for Jordan to focus on further developing digitally enabled solutions to fit the demands from key sectors. TECH START-UPS AND ENTREPRENEURS sets out to build on the strength of the tech startup environment in Jordan, and to give the companies the best possibilities for scaling and growing. The startup 59 http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/science-and-technology/measuring-the-digital-economy_9789264221796-en#page1 60 http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2015-2016/ 61 http://reports.weforum.org/global-information-technology-report-2015/ 62 http://www.itu.int/net4/ITU-D/idi/2015/ 63 We are aware that our use of this term conflicts with how for instance the European Commission uses it. | REACH 2025 ACTION PLAN – ROADMAP TO EXCELLENCE