Digital Development

Digitalization is the transformative opportunity of our time. Digital technologies and platforms are increasingly important in addressing global challenges and responding to shocks, and also create new jobs and markets, expand access to finance, and improve efficiency and transparency.

Yet the digital divide remains stark and is becoming synonymous with a development divide. Hospitals, schools, governments and businesses cannot operate effectively without digital tools.  The digital divide holds back growth and limits opportunities.

About one-third of the global population, or 2.6 billion people, remain offline in 2023. While more than 90 percent of people in high-income countries used the internet in 2022, only one in four in low-income countries use the internet. 850 million people lack any form of identification. Many don’t have the basic skills to use the internet effectively.

The benefits of digitalization must be accessible to all.  Digital foundations, especially high quality, reliable, affordable connectivity and devices; open, interoperable and safe digital public infrastructure; and digital skills, have become imperative and urgent for inclusive, resilient and sustainable development in the new digital era.

The Digital Development Global Practice works with governments in developing countries to build the foundations for digital transformation, including their transition to digital economies, governments, and societies.

Our work focuses on key pillars, including inclusive access to fast, reliable, safe, and affordable internet. Across the World Bank, we seek to stimulate demand for digital applications, digital skills, and digital platforms to support governments, business, and individuals to participate more fully in the digital economy.  

What will it take for countries to reap the benefits of digitalization, and participate fully in the global digital economy?

• Closing the global digital divide: Even as new technologies spread rapidly around the world, billions of people have still never used the internet.  
• Preparing for the jobs of tomorrow: Innovation is radically changing the nature of work: new jobs are emerging, others are evolving. To compete in the digital economy, countries will need to prioritize education and build the digital skills of their workforce while creating efficient safety nets to support those transitions.
• Developing secure, reliable digital systems: As the world is going digital, strengthening capacity in areas like cybersecurity and personal data protection has become more important than ever.
• More financing to bring everybody online:  Achieving universal access to broadband will require over US$400 billion by 2030 and neither the public nor the private sector can do this alone. Governments need to make bold reforms and the private sector can reduce costs, risks, and increase efficiency and innovation.

Last Updated: Sep 28, 2023

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 built on collaborative efforts across the World Bank and focus on key elements which, combined, form the basis for strong, inclusive, and responsible digital transformation for economies, governments, and societies. These include:

Broadband Connectivity, Access, and Use: Promoting universal access to inclusive, affordable, safe, and resilient broadband connectivity and usage through effective telecommunications policy and regulation, stimulating broadband infrastructure investment, and boosting digital literacy and access to internet-connected devices.

Digital Data Infrastructure: Maximizing the social and economic value of data by encouraging investment in data infrastructure and services, strengthening data governance, and development of integrated data management infrastructure, platforms, and analytical capabilities.

Digital Safeguards: Building and strengthening trust in usage of digital platforms and services among people, governments, and businesses by strengthening data protection, raising cyber awareness, and building capacity to protect critical infrastructure and systems from cyber threats.

Digital and Climate: Accelerating climate action with digital technologies in a way that is good for both people and the planet by greening digital infrastructure (by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening resilience) and by harnessing the power of digital technologies and data for climate action across sectors.

ICT Industry and Digital Jobs: Boosting economic growth and creating jobs by encouraging investment in ICT and ICT-enabled services industries and facilitating industry-academia partnerships to develop digital skills 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.

And while 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:

• The Working Without Borders: The Promise and Peril of Online Gig Work report finds that investing in digital infrastructure, partnering with digital platforms to provide training for workers, and experimenting with new social insurance, countries can leverage this growing part of the labor market to create more opportunities.
• The Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs report provides a comprehensive analysis of how digital technologies can enable economic transformation and boost jobs in the region. It also sheds light on how policy and regulatory reforms can widen the availability and increase usage of digital technologies.
• A case study, National Digital Identity and Government Data Sharing in Singapore, looks at how fostering digital public infrastructure can facilitate countries' digital transformation. Singapore’s national digital identity and government data sharing platform have improved efficiency of government services, enabled an inclusive digital economy, and strengthened resilience to shocks.
• A report on Colombia's digital economy identifies challenges and opportunities to increase the pace of digital transformation in the country. The report finds that despite emerging as a leading digital player in the region, ensuring universal internet access remains a pressing issue, particularly in bridging the urban-rural divide.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Last Updated: Sep 28, 2023

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 850 million 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 government to people payments 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.

Last Updated: Sep 28, 2023

The Bank helps governments mobilize resources for digital transformation, adopt emerging technologies, and develop better digital regulations and policies. A few examples:

• In the Maldives, a state-of-the-art climate data platform will enable climate-relevant data sharing and analysis, and improve data-driven planning and policymaking for adaptation and resilience in a country facing sea-level rise and coastal erosion.
• The Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) program supports the ambition to ensure that every individual, business, and government in Africa is digitally enabled by 2030. Through the initiative, the World Bank helped increase access to broadband internet in Africa from 26 percent in 2019 to 36 percent in 2022.
• Rwanda is spearheading digital access and inclusion initiatives, including supporting 250,000 households with financing to help acquire smart devices as well as training three million people in basic digital literacy, with a special focus on reaching girls and women.
• The World Bank is increasingly exploring the complementarities between digital and the energy sector. In Madagascar, access to electricity and digital is among the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the world. A project there is breaking boundaries by exploring joint provisioning models for digital and off-grid energy services in rural areas.
• In the Caribbean, a program is helping expand 3G networks to reach over 95 percent of people in Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as connect nearly 70,000 people in these countries to high-quality digital networks. This will provide access to key services and improve links to markets.
• With World Bank support, Kosovo now has one of the highest number of high-speed internet subscriptions per household in Europe, it outpaces leading EU countries according to data published by EUROSTAT (2021). The country’s rural broadband program leveraged private capital and brought a digital lifeline to remote locations where it was needed the most – schools, health centers, and homes.
• A project focused on strengthening data infrastructure to close the digital divide in Argentina aims to benefit 350,000 residents in areas without internet connections across 300 communities by providing training to boost their digital skills, with a special focus on reaching women.

Last Updated: Sep 28, 2023