28 GROWTH IN DIGITAL BUSINESSES Closely linked to the growth in jobs is the growth in digital businesses. As of 2016, Jordan has a baseline of 600 digital economy companies according to int@j estimates. In all sectors, approximately 700 new businesses are created in all sectors every month, representing new businesses, spinoffs from existing companies and/or universities, and companies coming from outside registering as new companies in Jordan. Of these companies, it is expected that 10% of these pertain to sectors relevant in the digital economy. This amounts to 840 businesses annually. From international benchmarks, it can be seen that approximately half of the companies survive. Assuming that half of these are expected to survive, which amounts to 420 digital companies created every year. In ten years, this will amount to 3,780 companies. In addition, 3,000 new digital economy companies are created under Action 5. In total, this amounts to 6,780 digital companies. For the purpose of setting a target, the range of 5,000-7,000 new digital businesses is set. Digital businesses can be companies in key sectors that venture into the digital economy as well as newly created digital companies. FUTURE SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS The healthiness of the future society and the attractiveness of an economy are increasingly being measured in additional socio-economic indicators such as livability, happiness, sustainability and resilience as well as the potential for social innovation. Actual indicators in this field are at the explorative stage and aim to capture the socio-economic value the digital economy can deliver. Relevant trackers that Jordan should be considering are inclusiveness of the digital economy with a specific emphasis on the inclusion of immigrants and refugees as well as fostering a digital economy that is nationwide rather than focused on Amman, the empowerment of women, the contribution of the digital economy to the green economy and as a very important issue the impact of the digitization to improve transparency and working processes of government and the non-for -profit sector. All of these outcome indicators attract huge international attention currently and there is significant potential to become a regional leader in demonstrating impact and solutions that work in the MENA region. International literature point to a number of socio-economic indicators that could be taken into consideration in the future to track progress. Examples of these indicators are found below. Table 6: Indicators related to the social value of the digital economy Indicator Source Impact of ICTs on access to basic services WEF Global Information Technology index ICT use & gov’t efficiency WEF Global Information Technology index eParticipation WEF Global Information Technology index Women in ICT jobs int@j Industry Statistics Yearbook Decentralized innovation capacity consider developing Impact on green economy consider developing Source: WEF Global Information Technology index 2015, int@j Industry Statistics Yearbook 2014 | REACH 2025 ACTION PLAN – ROADMAP TO EXCELLENCE