The Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA), a flagship initiative of the Digital Strategy, identifies opportunities and risks in a country’s digital ecosystem to help the development, design, and implementation of USAID’s strategies, projects, and activities. It informs USAID Missions and other key decision-makers about how to better understand, work with, and support a country’s digital ecosystem. 

The Panama Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) report presents the findings and recommendations of the Panama DECA. It outlines the key aspects of Panama’s digital ecosystem and provides 13 recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guided by five USAID and U.S. Department of State priorities, which include i) critical infrastructure improvements; ii) digital government and local governance; iii) digital rights; and iv) cybersecurity, the DECA process included desk research, consultations with joint U.S. Department of State and USAID technical offices, and 81 key informant interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private and public sectors. 

Key findings include:

• Urban, populated areas are serviced by reliable 3G and 4G connectivity, but many remain unconnected, particularly in rural areas and where Indigenous communities live.
• Panama joins other countries with data protection laws, but implementation raises questions of how well the rights of the population are safeguarded both online and offline.
• The national cost of data meets international benchmarks, but based on other economic disparities, affordability may be more of a challenge in rural and Indigenous communities.
• The business environment does not adequately enable the growth and scaling of tech startups.
• Panama has upgraded its digital governance framework, but resource constraints and poor interoperability hinder further advancement.

USAID’s Digital Strategy charts an Agency-wide approach to development in a rapidly evolving digital age. Building on decades of USAID leadership in digital development, the Strategy outlines USAID’s deliberate and holistic commitment to improve development and humanitarian assistance outcomes through the use of digital technology and to strengthen open, inclusive, and secure digital ecosystems.