Korea - World Bank Group Partnership Facility

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  Korean Technology and Knowledge Transfer to Transform Seaweed Aquabusiness in Southeast Asia and Africa

  The Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF) has approved a grant aimed at transferring Korean technology and knowledge to enhance the seaweed agribusiness in Africa and Southeast Asia. The AquaInvest Platform team, supported by the KWPF, conducted a mission in the Republic of Korea to advance partnerships with Korean knowledge institutions and expand collaboration with new partners in the seaweed industry. The mission involved extensive interactions with over 26 Korean institutions and 63 experts, leading to the expansion of the network of stakeholders, reaffirmation of Korean partners' willingness to share knowledge globally, identification of strategic partners for cooperation, recognition of interest from Korean experts in providing technical assistance, and the development of work plans to implement the KWPF grant. The mission's primary outcomes are expected to improve knowledge of seaweed farming and catalyze investments in the sector in selected Asian and African countries.
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  Developing LAC’S Capacity to Develop Virtual Laboratories for Technical & Technological Education amid COVID-19

  The grant supports scale-up and evaluation efforts to the effectiveness of the Active Training Using Virtual Reality Program (ActiVaR) to deliver practical training in the field of auto-mechanics in the State system of technical institutes in Ecuador. Through the Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation (SENESCYT), the Government of Ecuador began to roll out the ActiVaR program with technical support from the World Bank and financial support from the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility. ActiVaR supports the implementation and evaluation of using VR technologies to deliver practical training in selected Technical and Technological Programs in Ecuador.

  Tweet: Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso visit one of KWPF funded -ActiVaR’s Virtual laboratories for Auto-mechanics as part of a field visit to the Luis Arboleda Martinez Technical Institute in Manta  |  Blog: Education meets the metaverse in Eastern Caribbean national colleges |  Working Paper: Meta-Analysis Assessing the Effects of Virtual Reality Training on Student Learning and Skills Development
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  Digital Credit for Smallholder Farmers : Lessons Learned from the Field

  The ongoing digital revolution could be transformative not only for the financial inclusion of smallholder farmers but also for the food and agriculture sector more broadly, supporting the creation of more efficient, equitable, and environmentally sustainable operations. This report’s primary purpose is to inform and share relevant experiences with those who have a role in designing or operating digitally enabled services for smallholder farmers, principally financial services but with broader relevance for other rural-facing services. Documented in the report are lessons learned from an agri-credit pilot undertaken in Myanmar involving the microfinance institution BRAC Myanmar Microfinance Co., Ltd (BRAC) and a small consortium of other private sector partners. The project’s overarching objective was: i) to evaluate the ability of digitally enabled financial services to deliver appropriately designed loan products to smallholder farmers, thereby enabling them to invest in seasonal inputs to improve their productivity and ii) to assess the commercial sustainability of financial institutions to provide such loans to farmers.
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  Accelerating mutual learning through the COVID-19 pandemic

  As countries prepare for COVID-19 immunization campaigns, it is equally important to look back at the past months and examine what policy interventions worked in the health sector, what did not work and what can be done better. In this context, we at the World Bank, in partnership with the North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies at the University of Toronto and the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF), have undertaken an analysis on how to accelerate mutual learning through the pandemic. The study collected and analyzed data on COVID-19 policy responses by ten Latin America and Caribbean countries-with the goal of identifying successful policy interventions and replicate them when and where possible.

  Comparing Policy Responses to COVID-19 among Countries in the Latin American and Caribbean Region
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  Education meets the metaverse in Eastern Caribbean national colleges

  This blog and video is about the metaverse a solution to enhance digital learning. In close coordination with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission, the World Bank is supporting national colleges in the Eastern Caribbean to become education pioneers by embracing the metaverse. The KWPF grant is supporting this activity in the Caribbean region. The metaverse is described as the next chapter of the internet evolution where interactions occur in immersive 3D spaces emulating physical interactions in virtual settings. The metaverse has countless benefits and applications for business (real-time interaction for customers), medicine (doctors can interact with the patients virtually), and education (fostering interactions between students and teachers). The surge of the metaverse among higher education institutions is leading to the development of “Virtual Campuses.
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  Second Virtual ETHOS - 5 week Online Digital Skills Training and Coaching program for ICT Entrepreneurs

  The Entrepreneurial Talents' House of Opportunities and Supports (ETHOS), founded in 2015 by the World Bank and SUNY Korea, is a gender-diverse global Information and Communications, Technology (ICT) incubation program that aims to foster and empower ICT entrepreneurs in developing countries and in places challenged by fragility, conflict, and violence, by providing digital skills training. This is the third edition of the program, funded by the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF). To help the ICT start-ups strengthen their businesses in the COVID-19 era, the ETHOS program this year, a fourth-round since establishment, will be provided virtually in a 5-week program in 10-15 countries across the globe. A chance to attend an inbound tour in Korea, one of the leading countries in ICT-led development, will be given to the best performing start-ups.

  ETHOS Website |  Brochure
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  For COVID and Coverage: Financing Reforms are Critical for Better Health in Armenia

  Pre-paid and pooled funds must be allocated effectively for better quality services and improved health outcomes. Armenia knows this well. To mitigate these challenges, essential maternal and child health services were made universally accessible. The State Health Agency was established to pay providers for service delivery outputs instead of inputs, which effectively contributed to improved maternal and child health. Decades later, in 2020, Armenia has turned to similar policies in response to COVID-19. Physicians receive bonuses for additional time spent on COVID-related care, hospitals are paid daily tariffs for beds used for COVID-19 cases, and special rates for services for children and pregnant women are aimed at preventing their neglect by busy providers. The state also guarantees coverage for all COVID-related care, so that financial barriers do not facilitate spread of the disease. The Ministry of Health is championing universal health coverage reforms. These reforms, including strategic purchasing, are aimed at enabling every citizen to access essential high-quality healthcare. To facilitate the successful implementation of these reforms, the World Bank team has supported high-level policy discussions, reviewed relevant purchasing experience in other countries, and developed a report with recommendations to improve health sector allocations. This technical assistance was funded by the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility.

  Report: Strategic Purchasing for Better Health in Armenia

• Supporting Digitization of Land Administration in Laos

  Lao PDR’s has experienced rapid economic development since the early 2000s, which is largely driven by the natural resource sector. However, few benefits of this growth have reached the country’s rural areas where poverty still prevails. As one of its strategies to address this development gap, the Government of Lao PDR is focusing on improving land tenure security in the rural areas to remove barriers of future growth, while simultaneously addressing issues of social tension and exclusion. The Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF) will help facilitate project preparation and digital transformation of the land administration sector by assessing the status and providing recommendations for enhancing (i) the existing ICT infrastructure and land information system; (ii) use of digital technologies in first-time registration and delivery of subsequent land administration services; and (iii) integration of the land administration system into national e-government developments.
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  Global Smart City Partnership Program

  The Role of KWPF in supporting Smart City Partnership

  Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF) through a US$1,900,000 grant, transfers the concept of smart cities globally, facilitates learning from Korea’s experience, and helps develop selective smart city best practices as a building block for sustainable urban development. The objective is to make the best use of data, technology and available resources to improve city planning, management, and service delivery as well as to engage citizens and enhance accountability. This effort involves supporting frameworks and approaches for smart cities drawing from practical examples and by applications of specific how-to tools.

  Brief: The Role of KWPF in Facilitating Smart City Partnership between the World Bank and Korea
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  Internet of Things (IoT) for Agriculture

  How the Internet of Things helps smallholder paddy farmers use water more efficiently

  Paddy cultivation emits over 10 percent of global agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and consumes 21 percent of the total water volume used for global crop production. Water is increasingly scarce in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, which has been hit by record droughts in recent years. Solutions that help farmers like Pham Van Tuan to grow rice while drastically reducing GHG emission and water usage would be a game-changer for the Mekong Delta. Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) is one such practice where rice fields are alternately flooded and dried, and water levels kept low during the flooded stage. This irrigation practice reduces water use up to 28 percent and methane emissions up to 48 percent. The Korea World Bank Partnership Facility financed a pilot to apply Internet of Things (IoT) technology to address some of the challenges farmers face when applying Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD)

  Blog: Precision agriculture for smallholder farmers in Vietnam
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  Global Cyber Security Capacity Program Phase I and II

  Strengthening national cyber security environment of selected developing countries

  The Global Cybersecurity Capacity Program, which was generously financed by the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF) between 2016 and 2019, is one of the key initiatives that the World Bank has taken in an attempt to bridge existing gaps in cyber security capacities of its client countries. Thanks to tailored national and regional technical assistance schemes, this Program has helped to strengthen cybersecurity capacities and awareness in six countries, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of North Macedonia in the Western Balkan region, Ghana in West Africa, the Kyrgyz Republic in Central Asia, and Myanmar in Southeast Asia. The objective was to benefit a selected sample of countries globally, especially those preparing or implementing investment projects with potential to integrate financing for cyber security.

  [Cybil Portal] Global Cyber-security Capacity Program |  Global Cyber-security Capacity Program. Lessons Learned and Recommendations towards strengthening the Program
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  Youth Employment in the Animation Industry in Jamaica

  Jamaica is seeking to continue the growth of its animation sector efforts are being made to forge lasting collaborative relationships with other regions. This activity aims to facilitate an exchange between Korea and Jamaica, which would allow Jamaica to learn from Korea’s extensive experience in nurturing and sustaining its successful globally-competitive animation industry, while allowing Korea to extend its brand in a tangible way, promoting trade with the Caribbean region and establishing partnerships to expedite industry growth.

  [Feature] The Birth of an Industry: Animation in Jamaica |  [Blog] Jamaica + Animation: A match made in heaven |  Feature] Danielle Parchment: Jamaican Animation ‘Ambassador’ in South Korea
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  Partnering for Skills Development in East Asia and the Pacific

  East Asia and the Pacific countries are among the fastest growing economies in the world. Growth is particularly dynamic in the industry and service sectors. As countries’ economies become increasingly more developed, East Asia and the Pacific is confronted with critical skills challenges. The Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility-funded Skills and Job Creation Program has the ultimate aim of building skills and the capacity to create jobs for ongoing development across East Asia Pacific. It supports a variety of learning events, skills exchanges, and annual forums to advocate for, and share best practices on, accelerating the creation of a critical mass of highly skilled young professionals and innovators in East Asia Pacific.

  [Website] Partnering for Skills Development in East Asia and the Pacific |  [Blog] Human Capital: The Greatest Asset of Economies on the Rise
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  Developing a Partnership between Korea and Africa for Human Resource and Skills Development in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET)

  PASET is an initiative owned and led by African countries formed in 2013 in response to the critical need to strengthen the scientific and technological capacity of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, to advance their development and economic transformation. To achieve this goal, PASET espouses collaboration between African governments, the private sector, development partners, and new partner countries from Asia (including Korea) and Latin America

  [Feature] Korea Steps Up to Boost Scientific Progress in Africa |  [Press Release] South Korean institutes join Skills development partnership |  [Video] An Introduction to PASET |  [Article] Business Korea (May 2019) |  Press Release: PASET Newsletter (December 2018)
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  World Bank - Korea cooperation on ICT and education issues

  The World Bank enjoys a productive, multi-year strategic partnership with the Republic of Korea exploring a wide range of issues related to the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in education. Under this partnership, the World Bank works closely with the Korean Education and Research Information Service (KERIS) as the key counterpart organization in Korea. Highlights of this partnership include an annual global symposium on ICT use in education (GSIE), which, over the course of its ten year history, has helped to establish Korea as a global hub for insight, knowledge sharing and networking for high level government officials, practitioners and experts around topics related to the use of new technologies in education. In addition, partnership with Korea has been instrumental to a veriety of activities under the World Bank's SABER-ICT initiative, including developing globally comparable, national ICT and education indicators, mapping ICT/education policies around the world, and supporting the World Bank Education, Technology & Innovation: SABER-ICT Technical Paper Series.

  [Brief] Global symposium on ICT use in education |  [Website] SABER - Systems Approach for Better Education Results |  [Brief] ICT & education policies |  [Papers] World Bank Education, Technology & Innovation: SABER-ICT Technical Paper Series |  [Partner Website] KERIS
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  Combating Cybercrime: Tools and Capacity Building for Emerging Economies

  This project comprises of four principal components: i) development of a Toolkit on capacity building to combat cybercrime (in a book and web format); ii) completion of a Cybercrime Capacity Building Assessment; iii) development of a “virtual library” of best practices in the area of combatting cybercrime; and iv) in-country assessments. The project has conducted best practice research through meetings and consultations with project partners – the Council of Europe (OCTOPUS), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and Oxford University – as well as the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and European Police Office (Europol). Participation in cybercrime events and consultations with these and other relevant organizations has validated the project approach and design, and served as input into the Toolkit, validating demand by developing countries for the kind of knowledge “portal” that the Toolkit will provide, including the value of the in-country assessments provided by the Assessment Tool. The Korea Supreme Prosecutor’s Office (KSPO) contribution was instrumental. The Toolkit is a knowledge product that will be available in hard-copy and electronic format. It will act as a “portal” of best practices in the legal aspects of fighting cybercrime, with links to project partners’ materials and the “virtual library” being established. The Toolkit will include the Assessment, and will be available as a stand-alone product on the Project website. Together, the Toolkit, Assessment Tool and Virtual Library will be available as global public good.

  [Toolkit] Combating Cybercrime: Tools and Capacity Building for Emerging Economies
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  Strengthening the strategic purchasing in health care services in Belarus

  The Korea World Bank Group Partnership Facility (KWPF) is supporting pilot implementation of diagnosis-related groups (DRG) in 10 hospitals in Belarus. A recent visit by Senior officials from the Korean Ministries of Health and Finance laid the groundwork for future cooperation.

Partner Programs

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  Economic Development Cooperation Fund

  The Government of Korea established the EDCF in June 1987 with the aim of providing concessional loans to assist developing countries achieve economic development. As of December 2016, EDCF has committed US$13.2 billion to 375 projects in 53 countries. In April 2015, an MoU was signed between MoF and the WB expressing the mutual desire to collaborate through various instruments. Pursuant to this MOU, the EDCF-WB Co-financing Facility was established in August 2016 when a Co-financing Framework Agreement (CFA) was signed between Korea’s Export and Import Bank (KEXIM) and the WB, under which EDCF would provide US$ 300 million in joint or parallel co-financing to WB projects in sectors and countries considered high priority by Korea.
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  Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP)

  KSP was launched in 2004 to share Korea’s development experience with developing countries. It began with bilateral TA or consultations with developing countries and later expanded to joint consultations with international organizations. KEXIM is the implementing agency of the KSP Joint Consulting with International Organizations. MoF and the WB signed a MoU on September 21, 2011 to undertake joint consulting activities. KSP joint consultation provides in-kind resources including a team of Korean experts from Korean institutions and/or consulting firms for WB projects. There have been 19 KSP-WB Joint-Consultation activities approved to date.

• KWPF Publications
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  [Brochure] KWPF at 10 years : A catalyst for innovation in development
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  KWPF Korean Knowledge Partner Directory 2023
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  KWPF Progress Report 2019-2020
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  KWPF Progress Report 2017-18
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  KWPF Annual Report 2016
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  KWPF Progress Report FY14-FY15

• Grant Publications
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  [Report] Bridging the Technological Divide

  Technology Adoption by Firms in Developing Countries

  Bridging the Technological Divide: Technology Adoption by Firms in Developing Countries takes advantage of this shift to delve into which firms have adopted and use technologies and to what purpose. To do so, it proposes a new approach to measure and understand the adoption and use of technologies by firms. Specifically, it leverages a new data collection instrument, the Firm-level Adoption of Technology (FAT) survey, which provides a very rich characterization of the technologies used and the processes of adoption by firms in developing countries. This book helps open the “black box” of technology adoption by firms. The seventh volume in the World Bank’s Productivity Project series, it will further both research and policy that can be used to support technology adoption by firms in developing countries.

  Anatomy of Technology in the Firm |  Firm-Level Technology Adoption in Vietnam |  Firm-Level Technology Adoption in the State of Ceara in Brazil
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  A Review of the Philippine Qualifications Framework : Towards Improved Skills Recognition and Mobility

  The Philippines increasingly emphasizes lifelong learning and skills mobility for labor productivity as an integral part of the country’s growth strategy. The Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 presents a series of activities to improve labor productivity through human capital investment. Investment in this area is critical given that the country’s growth has benefited from a steady structural transformation shifting resources from low- to high-productivity of remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Aside from improvements in basic education requirements, an important milestone in the country’s skills development came with the introduction of the national qualifications system known as the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF). To ensure that the PQF remains responsive to the skills demand and needs of the international and domestic labor markets and fully achieves its mandate, the PQF Act requires regular reviews and updates of the framework. This PQF review, the first of its kind, aims to assess various aspects of the framework. The remainder of this report consists of four sections. Section 2 provides a brief country background of the Philippines to put the discussions into context. Section 3 presents findings from the PQF review concerning the PQF’s design, implementation, and utilization. Section 4 presents policy recommendations and discussions, and Section 5 concludes.
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  Digital Credit for Smallholder Farmers : Lessons Learned from the Field

  The ongoing digital revolution could be transformative not only for the financial inclusion of smallholder farmers but also for the food and agriculture sector more broadly, supporting the creation of more efficient, equitable, and environmentally sustainable operations. This report’s primary purpose is to inform and share relevant experiences with those who have a role in designing or operating digitally enabled services for smallholder farmers, principally financial services but with broader relevance for other rural-facing services. In it, we document lessons learned from an agri-credit pilot undertaken in Myanmar involving the microfinance institution BRAC Myanmar Microfinance Co., Ltd (BRAC) and a small consortium of other private sector partners. The project’s overarching objective was: i) to evaluate the ability of digitally enabled financial services to deliver appropriately designed loan products to smallholder farmers, thereby enabling them to invest in seasonal inputs to improve their productivity and ii) to assess the commercial sustainability of financial institutions to provide such loans to farmers.

• Meta-Analysis Assessing the Effects of Virtual Reality Training on Student Learning and Skills Development

  The Policy Research Working Paper presents a meta-analysis of the results of available studies that assess virtual reality training’s impact on student learning and skills development, and which rely on robust evaluation methods. The study’s primary purpose is to identify the extent to which immersive training can successfully develop students’ skills across different fields of education and the size of the effects encountered. The paper was prepared as a background paper for the Pilot Program to Test Virtual Reality Training Programs for Technological and Technical courses in Higher Education (TF0A8313), supported by the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF).

• Strategic Purchasing for Better Health in Armenia

  The Ministry of Health is championing universal health coverage reforms. These reforms, including strategic purchasing, are aimed at enabling every citizen to access essential high-quality healthcare. To facilitate the successful implementation of these reforms, the World Bank team has supported high-level policy discussions, reviewed relevant purchasing experience in other countries, and developed a report with recommendations to improve health sector allocations. This technical assistance was funded by the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility. The report, Purchasing for Better Health in Armenia, highlights the need for independent, objective, and data-driven decision-making through the State Health Agency to improve quality and coverage, with external oversight mechanisms to promote accountability.

• Scaling Eco-Industrial Park Technologies

  The objective of this grant is to help client countries ensure their sustainable industrial growth through increased adoption of innovative technologies and policy models related to eco-industrial parks (EIPs). This grant has helped put the World Bank at the center of eco-industrial park technologies at a global level and helped produce leading research and publications associated to the topic.

  An International Framework for Eco-Industrial Parks, Version 2.0 |  Circular Economy in Industrial Parks : Technologies for Competitiveness |  A Practitioner's Handbook for Eco-Industrial Parks : Implementing the International EIP Framework
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  Scaling Up Disruptive Agricultural Technologies in Africa

  Sub-Saharan Africa’s agri-food system is critical for the region’s economic growth, poverty reduction, food security and nutrition, and employment. Agriculture contributes about 15 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) growth in SSA. However, the agri-food system is characterized by several challenges that are impeding its ability to achieve a higher growth trajectory and to generate greater agri-food outcomes. Disruptive technologies have the potential to help address many of these challenges. Disruptive technologies in agriculture consist of digital and technical innovations that enable farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs to leapfrog current methods to increase their productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness, thereby facilitating access to markets, improving nutritional outcomes, and enhancing resilience to climate change. Recognizing the potential of DATs to accelerate the efficiency, equity, and sustainability of agri-food systems, African governments are seeking to understand the nature of these technologies, their impact, and their constraints. This study—including a pilot intervention in Kenya—aims to further the state of knowledge about the emerging trend of DATs in Africa, with a focus on supply-side dynamics. The study is the first in a series of analytical studies and operations on disruptive agricultural technology in Sub-Saharan Africa that will contribute to regional integration through knowledge sharing and collective policies and investments to transform agriculture. If governments and development partners come together to drive this agenda in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is potential to create multiplier effects through trade, market access, and a regional innovation ecosystem.
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  Support for Digital Switchover in Developing Countries

  Opportunities, Challenges and Recommendations for Enabling Digital Dividend – Project Final Report

  Transition from analog to digital TV broadcasting, or digital switchover (DSO), enables dig¬ital broadcasting with better image and sound quality, and ensures more resilient reception in adverse weather conditions, using a much smaller portion of radio spectrum resources. Completing the DSO process therefore frees up a sizeable portion of the radio spectrum: this is referred to as the digital dividend (DD), and it is one of a country's most important resources. It can provide an opportunity for governments to generate substantive revenue through spectrum auctions targeting mobile operators. Increased access for mobile operators also results in increased national connectivity at lower prices, while the revenue generated from spectrum auctions can be leveraged into technological investments, developing a “virtuous cycle” that can help accelerate and establish a country's digital economy. Within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of access to information in the form of televised national free-to-air emergency briefings and distance learning have been recognized. In addition, the freed-up digital dividend also potentially opens up substantive resources for responding to the pandemic, including opening up emergency communication frequencies, providing additional surge bandwidth to support work-from-home technologies, increasing media consumption, and utilizing other resources for innovative online alternatives during social distancing restrictions. This report presents the global status of digital terrestrial TV (DTT) broadcasting and identifies both common and country-specific bottlenecks for DSO delays. Based on analysis of the bottlenecks, the report provides actionable recommendations on how to resolve these delays as part of the World Bank Group's Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA) activity, ‘Support for Digital Switchover in Developing Countries.'
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  Cambodia’s Future Jobs : Linking to the Economy of Tomorrow (Vol. 2)

  September 5, 2019

  Jobs are an important part of Cambodia’s story of development success. There are eight million jobs in Cambodia, and eighty percent of Cambodian adults above the age of fifteen are working in contrast to 62.5 percent of adults in East Asia Pacific region. Cambodia will need to enact substantive reforms to secure more, better, and more inclusive jobs in the long term. Fundamentally, Cambodia needs to upgrade and integrate the two sides of its economy namely the exports sector, which includes foreign- owned (FDI) firms, and the domestic sector made up of household enterprises (HHEs) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Meanwhile, Cambodian workers need to increase their skills and ability to pursue the job opportunities that will materialize as these sectors increase their competitiveness.

  Video: The Future of Jobs in Cambodia |  Infographics: Cambodia's Future Jobs: Linking to the Economy of Tomorrow
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  The World Bank Group (WBG) Partnership Fund for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG fund) Annual Report 2019

  Promoting best practices and knowledge sharing for the implementation of the SDGs under the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

  The SDG fund responds to the growing demand for strategic initiatives that drive the achievement of SDGs on the means of implementation. To date, the Government of Sweden and the Government of Korea are committed partners of the SDG fund. To date, the SDG fund has received and reviewed nearly 100 high-caliber proposals. The first round, finalized in October 2018, allocated funding to three activities selected from a pool of approximately 16 strategic proposals put forward by WBG Directors. The second round, finalized in March 2019, allocated funding to 12 activities, based on an open call issued across the WBG seeking investment opportunities for strengthening SDG achievement. The two reviewing rounds generated a range of innovative and ambitious projects. The SDG fund has also supported strategic initiatives to further strengthen the fund’s objectives. This report covers a nine-month period, from October 2018 to June 2019, with disbursements starting in January 2019.
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  Global Cyber-security Capacity Program: Lessons Learned and Recommendations towards strengthening the Program

  This publication outlines key milestones and learning of the Global Cybersecurity Capacity Program (2016-2019), implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ghana, Kyrgyz Republic, Myanmar, and North Macedonia, through the partnerships with the Global Cybersecurity Center for Development (GCCD) of Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) of University of Oxford. The Program, financed by the Korea World Bank Group Partnership Facility (KWPF), supported national cybersecurity assessments, capacity building, and technical assistances in the countries with existing and (or) planned investment projects with potential to integrate financing for cybersecurity. The publication aims to distill key lessons and provide high-level recommendations for similar programs at the World Bank Group and beyond. It may be of particular interest to development practitioners and policymakers from developed and emerging economies
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  PASET 5-year Progress Report

  May 2019

  A report detailing progress in the first five years of Africa’s Partnership in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (ASET).
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  ICT in Agriculture

  Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions

  ICT in Agriculture, Updated Edition is the revised version of the popular ICT in Agriculture e-Sourcebook, first launched in 2011 and designed to support practitioners, decision makers, and development partners who work at the intersection of ICT and agriculture. Our hope is that this updated Sourcebook will be a practical guide to understanding current trends, implementing appropriate interventions, and evaluating the impact of ICT interventions in agricultural programs.
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  Combatting Cybercrime

  Tools and Capacity Building for Emerging Economies

  The Toolkit is a knowledge product available in hard-copy and electronic format. It is a “portal” of best practices in the legal aspects of fighting cybercrime, with links to project partners’ materials and a “virtual library”.
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  Building and Sustaining National Educational Technology Agencies : Lessons, Models and Case Studies from Around the World

  National educational technology agencies (‘ICT/education agencies’, and their functional equivalents) play important roles in the implementation and oversight of large scale initiatives related to the use of information and communication technologies in education in many countries. That said, little is known at a global level about the way these organizations operate, how they are structured, and how they typically evolve over time. By documenting emerging lessons from the histories of various national educational technology agencies and their functional equivalents, which are typically responsible for similar roles but which can differ radically in form by country and over time, it is hoped that this publication can help inform perspectives of decision makers considering how to create and support such an institution, the forms it might take, what roles it might take on, and how these forms and roles might be expected to evolve over time. Case studies from Korea (KERIS), Malaysia (Smart Schools), England (Becta), Chile (Enlaces), Armenia (NaCET), Uruguay (Plan Ceibal); Indonesia (PUSTEKKOM), Costa Rica (Omar Dengo Foundation), Thailand (Schoolnet Thailand), Australia (EdNA) and the Philippines are included, as well as a discussion of general lessons from international experiences, and pointers to other notable institutions around the world.

• Financing TVET in the East Asia and Pacific Region : Current Status, Challenges and Opportunities

  “Palmer, Robert. 2017. Financing TVET in the East Asia and Pacific Region : Current Status, Challenges and Opportunities. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank.

• National Qualification Framework and Competency Standards : Skills Promotion and Job Creation in East Asia and Pacific

  “Bateman, Andrea; Liang, Xiaoyan. 2016. National Qualification Framework and Competency Standards : Skills Promotion and Job Creation in East Asia and Pacific. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank