Digital technologies and AI are creating new pathways to opportunity. But the benefits of technology have not been shared equally.
@A Billion aims to reach 1 billion people by 2030: 600 million using broadband internet and 400 million
Digital technologies are changing how people learn, work, do business, access services, and participate in the economy. A reliable internet connection can link a farmer to markets, a student to learning, a worker to new opportunities, or a family to essential services.
But access is only the beginning.
People and businesses also need affordable devices and data, trusted digital systems, and the skills to turn connectivity into meaningful use and opportunity. Governments need digital infrastructure to deliver better services. Businesses need the foundations to grow and create jobs. And countries need to be ready to harness AI as technology rapidly evolves.
That’s why the World Bank Group is advancing @A Billion—bringing together scalable digital solutions across four areas: access, affordability, ecosystems, and AI readiness and adaptation.
The World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence provides the evidence and framework for the AI dimension of this work—showing how developing countries can adopt, adapt, and advance AI to expand opportunity and development impact.
Together, these investments can help people and businesses connect and use digital services, build skills, raise productivity, and find better opportunities—while helping countries build the digital ecosystems they need to grow, create jobs, and prepare for the AI era.
This is about making digital technology work for people, businesses, and economies—turning digital progress into opportunity at scale.
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World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence
World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence
Unlocking digital opportunity
Unlocking digital opportunity
Turning digital foundations into opportunity at scale.
AI is advancing at a remarkable speed. But the benefits are not reaching everyone equally. By early 2025, nearly a quarter of internet users in high-income countries were already using generative AI. In low-income countries, that figure was less than one percent, and the gap is widening. This is not simply a connectivity problem. It is an ecosystem problem. Most AI tools are designed for conditions that do not exist across much of the developing world: reliable electricity, fast internet, and large proprietary datasets. But the inverse is also true: the problems that AI could solve most powerfully, in health, agriculture, education, and small business, are concentrated precisely in the emerging markets that the global AI industry is not building for.
That is where the opportunity lies. And it belongs to local entrepreneurs.
Expanding broadband access
Expanding broadband access
Bringing fast, affordable internet within reach
The World Bank Group is supporting digital transformation at scale across the globe, with a record US$6 billion digital lending portfolio across more than 60 projects in more than 100 countries. For small states, where distance, small markets, high costs, and exposure to shocks can limit opportunity, digital access is increasingly central to resilience and long-term growth.
Digital Access and Use Globally by the Numbers
2.2B
228M
< 1%
News
Reaching @A Billion: The Four Strategic Pillars
Here's how.
Access
Access: Connect people in hard-to-reach places and improve quality of connectivity
Improving policies, reducing investment risks, and mobilizing private sector investment can help bring high-speed broadband to communities that are hardest to reach.
From landing subsea cables and building cross-border connections to expanding rural networks and pairing connectivity with off-grid power, these solutions are helping connect millions of people to jobs, public services, education, and economic opportunity.
Affordability
Affordability: Make devices more affordable
Lowering device costs, expanding financing, and scaling quality refurbished phones can put smartphones within reach of more low-income households and small businesses.
From affordable entry-level devices to pay-as-you-go financing and trusted refurbished markets, these solutions are helping more people access the internet and participate in the digital economy.
Ecosystem
Ecosystem: Expand digitally enabled public and private services across sectors
Modern digital systems can make public services easier to access, strengthen local technology industries, and equip people with the skills to participate in the digital economy.
From digital ID and payments to AI-enabled public services, local tech businesses, and job-ready digital skills, these solutions are helping countries build more efficient services and create new opportunities for people and businesses.
AI Readiness and Adaptation
AI Readiness and Adaptation: Adopt, adapt and advance AI solutions, and leverage small AI
Deploying locally relevant small AI tools enables resource-constrained communities to benefit immediately from artificial intelligence in farming, healthcare, and crisis response. Simultaneously, investments in fit-for-purpose compute infrastructure and data governance build the foundations for long-term, trusted AI development.
Practical, locally relevant AI can deliver benefits now, even where computing power, data, and specialized skills are limited.
From flexible AI tools for farming and healthcare to portable computing and stronger data systems, these solutions help countries put AI to work today while building the infrastructure needed for trusted, locally driven AI in the future.
@A Billion: Reaching One Billion People through Digital Access and Services by 2030
Success Stories across Digital and AI
Building Data Infrastructure for AI Readiness
We help countries build the data centers, cloud services, and policies they need to unlock AI, bridging critical gaps in digital infrastructure and enabling more secure, competitive economies.
Digital Infrastructure Driving Jobs and Economic Growth
Over 2 billion people remain offline, shut out of the digital economy. We’re connecting underserved communities to affordable, high-speed internet and driving job creation through smarter infrastructure investment.
Global Digital Public Infrastructure: From Foundations to Scale
Without a digital ID, a payment system, or a way to share data securely, billions remain locked out of essential services. The World Bank Group's Global DPI Program is helping countries build the digital foundations that drive inclusion and economic opportunity.
Trust by Design: Securing Digital Development
Over 2 billion people remain offline, shut out of the digital economy. We’re connecting underserved communities to affordable, high-speed internet and driving job creation through smarter infrastructure investment.
Digital and AI in Action
Digital Tides: Transforming Communities in the Pacific
Partner Countries
Driving national water security ambitions
Small AI Transforms Farming in India
Financing Partners
Mobilizing Capital for Scalable Impact
Across Albania, Students Learn Digital Skills for Tomorrow’s Jobs
Enabling Partners
Strengthening Systems and Institutions
Our ambition now is to turn those into solutions that improve people’s lives—and scale them to reach one billion people."
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