The World Bank provides an extensive range of services and solutions to make sure client countries can harness the power of digital development.
Our activities in the sector are based on an ecosystem approach for digital transformation built on collaborative efforts across the World Bank Group and focusing on key elements which, combined, form the basis for strong, inclusive and responsible digital transformation for economies, governments, and societies. Areas of focus include:
- Digital Data Infrastructure and Platforms: Maximizing the social and economic value of data by encouraging private investment in data infrastructure and services, strengthening data governance, and developing of integrated public sector data management infrastructure, platforms, and analytics capabilities.
- Broadband Connectivity and Access: Promoting universal access to fast, affordable, and resilient connectivity through effective telecommunications policy and regulation, stimulating broadband infrastructure investment, and boosting digital literacy and access to internet-connected devices to promote use.
- Digital for Climate: Reducing the environmental footprint and strengthening the climate resilience of digital infrastructure and systems, and using digital technologies, business models and data to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and support climate resilience and across other sectors.
- Digital Trust and Safeguards: Building trust in usage of digital platforms and services among people, governments, and businesses by strengthening data privacy protections, raising cyber awareness and building capacity to protect critical infrastructure and systems from threats.
- ICT Industry Development: Boosting economic growth and creating jobs by encouraging investment in domestic and export-oriented digital/technology and related services industries and facilitating partnerships to develop skills trainings and job placement programs tailored to market demand.
Building the foundations of the digital economy requires capacity in multiple other fields, including finance, private sector development, education, labor, and social protection, among others. As a result, the digital agenda mobilizes a wide variety of experts throughout the World Bank, IFC, and MIGA.
While multidisciplinary collaboration is essential to the success of digital development itself, it also creates opportunities to integrate cutting-edge digital solutions across sectors — whether it be using geospatial analysis to improve disaster risk management, deploying sensors to monitor crops remotely, or using big data from mobile devices to design better public transport networks.
But even though technology has opened a wealth of new possibilities for global development, it does not come without risks. Cybersecurity and data protection have become a growing concern. We work closely with client countries to help them implement the infrastructure, tools, and regulations that are necessary to address these challenges. We are also focusing on making sure that digital opportunities are inclusive while also managing risks of exclusion.
Digital development components are increasingly included in projects across diverse sectors including transport, education, health, agriculture, and public sector management.
World Bank interventions in the digital sector are informed by in-depth research and analysis. Recent publications include:
- World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives explores the potential of the changing data landscape to improve the lives of the poor, while also acknowledging the challenges new approaches to data can mean for individuals, businesses, and societies.
- South Asia's Digital Opportunity looks at the opportunities related to digitalizing the economies, societies and governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- Using Geospatial Analysis to Overhaul Connectivity Policies explores the policies and interventions needed to expand mobile internet coverage and adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Aligning Data Governance with the Social Contract for Data to Promote Value, Trust, and Equity provides an overview of the different elements of a data governance framework.
- Government Migration to Cloud Ecosystems shares how cloud services can offer governments cost savings, capacity to rapidly scale, advanced cybersecurity features, and access to powerful analytical tools for processing big data.
- A Digital Stack for Transforming Service Delivery: ID, Payments, and Data Sharing presents examples of how countries are reforming institutions, regulations, and processes and building technology and infrastructure to facilitate trust and exchange information, payments, and other resources.
- Digital Economy Country Diagnostics provide a snapshot of the state of the digital economy in various World Bank client countries for each of the pillars of the Digital Economy for Africa initiative (digital infrastructure, digital public platforms, digital financial services, digital businesses and digital skills), supporting the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy.
In addition to direct financial assistance and analytical work, the World Bank leverages its convening power to pool knowledge and resources from a vast array of public agencies, experts, innovators, private companies, and investors.
The Digital Development Partnership (DDP), administered by the World Bank’s Digital Development Global Practice, brings public and private sector partners together to advance digital solutions and accelerate green, resilient, and inclusive digitalization in developing countries. As a reflection of the growing demand to support client countries on the cybersecurity agenda, the associated cybersecurity trust fund, as part of the broader DDP umbrella program, was launched in 2021.
The World Bank Group’s Identification for Development Initiative (ID4D) initiative helps countries build inclusive and trusted identification and civil registration systems to enable all people – including the estimated one billion without any official identification – to exercise their rights and access services. ID4D works across three pillars of country and regional action (providing technical assistance and leveraging World Bank financing), thought leadership (producing knowledge and data on the coverage and quality of systems around the world), and global convening and platforms (supporting global public goods and norms).
Leveraging the same, synergetic, cross-sectoral practice platform of ID4D, the World Bank Group hosts the Government-to-Person payments (G2Px) initiative. This effort focuses on digitizing cash transfers from governments as a means of contributing to the long-term development goals of individual agency, financial inclusion, and women’s economic empowerment. The initiative comes at a crucial time when governments around the world are scaling up social assistance and finding ways to better target and directly transfer funds to individuals.
The Korea Digital Development Program (KoDi) builds on the experience and best practices of the Republic of Korea, as well as other advanced digital countries, to develop national data ecosystems, spur green digital innovation, and create sizeable economic and social development opportunities in low- and middle-income countries.
In Africa, the World Bank Group is supporting the African Union’s efforts toward the digital transformation of the continent through the Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) in support of the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy 2020-2030. It sets an ambitious and bold vision to digitally connect every individual, business and government in Africa by 2030 and seeks to propel the continent forward and ensure that African countries reap the full benefits of the digital economy.
In the Middle East and North Africa, the MENATECH initiative aims to support countries in accelerating their digital transformation, with a priority focus given to widespread affordable and good quality access to broadband as well as to financial services.
The Digital Economy for Latin America and Caribbean (DE4LAC) supports national authorities in the region in identifying reform and investment prospects to accelerate the transition to an inclusive digital economy. This initiative helps identifying challenges and opportunities to promote widespread access to digital technologies and accelerate digital transformation.
In South Asia, the Digital Economy for South Asia (DE4SA) initiative assesses the development of the digital economy in each country. It identifies policy options to promote digital inclusion, build trust ecosystems, and strengthen institutional capacity to maximize benefits of the digital economy while mitigating the risks. The initiative has informed policy dialogue, technical assistance, and project financing with governments across the region.
And together with the Development Economics team, we are co-leading the Mobility Analytics Task Force, which aims at generating analytics on mobility that were used to inform mitigation policies for preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus and can be applied to support work in health, poverty and social protection. The Task Force uses data from Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), smartphone applications and data aggregators. We are leveraging our close relationships with telecom operators worldwide in order to facilitate access to their data, which can be used to support more effective development policies and projects.
Last Updated: Oct 06, 2022