Information and Communications for Development
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This biennial report takes an in-depth look at how information and communication technology (ICT), and particularly broadband and mobile, are impacting economic growth in developing countries. The data section includes at-a-glance tables for 150 economies of the latest available data on ICT sector performance. Performance measures for access, affordability and applications in government and business are also introduced. This sectoral flagship undergoes extensive internal and external review and is one of the key outputs of the infoDev, a partnership of international development agencies, coordinated and served by an expert Secretariat housed at the World Bank, one of its key donors and founders.
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Publication
Information and Communications for Development 2018: Data-Driven Development
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018-10-15)The Information and Communications for Development report takes an in-depth look at how information and communication technologies (ICT) are impacting economic growth in developing countries. This new report, the fourth in the series, examines the topic of data-driven development, or how better information makes for better policies. The objective is to assist developing country firms and governments to unlock the value of the data they hold for better service delivery and decision making, and to empower individuals to take more control of their personal data. The chapters of the report explore different themes associated with the supply of data, the technology underlying it, and the demand for it. The concluding chapter considers government policies for data, including data protection and privacy. -
Publication
2012 Information and Communications for Development : Maximizing Mobile
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2012-08-15)With some 6 billion mobile subscriptions in use worldwide, around three-quarters of the world's inhabitants now have access to a mobile phone. Mobiles are arguably the most ubiquitous modern technology: in some developing countries, more people have access to a mobile phone than to a bank account, electricity, or even clean water. Mobile communications now offer major opportunities to advance human development from providing basic access to education or health information to making cash payments to stimulating citizen involvement in democratic processes. The developing world is 'more mobile' than the developed world. In the developed world, mobile communications have added value to legacy communication systems and have supplemented and expanded existing information flows. However, the developing world is following a different, 'mobile first' development trajectory. Many mobile innovations such as multi-SIM card phones, low-value recharges, and mobile payments have originated in poorer countries and are spreading from there. New mobile applications that are designed locally and rooted in the realities of the developing world will be much better suited to addressing development challenges than applications transplanted from elsewhere. In particular, locally developed applications can address developing-country concerns such as digital literacy and affordability. This 2012 edition of the World Bank's information and communications for development report analyzes the growth and evolution of mobile telephony, and the rise of data-based services delivered to handheld devices, including apps. The report explores the consequences for development of the emerging 'app economy.' It summarizes current thinking and seeks to inform the debate on the use of mobile phones for development. This report looks at key ecosystem-based applications in agriculture, health, financial services, employment, and government, with chapters devoted to each. -
Publication
2009 Information and Communications for Development : Extending Reach and Increasing Impact
(World Bank, 2009)The information and communication technology (ICT) is transforming interactions between people, governments, and firms worldwide. In developing countries, farmers receive updated crop prices and public health officials monitor medical inventories by text messages. Women are empowered to make decisions and access new opportunities through online information. Entrepreneurs obtain business licenses in a fraction of the standard time by applying for them through municipal government web sites. And in an increasingly integrated global economy, ICT enables people to access and share knowledge and services around the world. The first report, Information and Communications for Development (IC4D) 2006: global trends and policies, analyzed lessons on developing access to ICT, examined the roles of the public and private sectors in this process, and identified the benefits and challenges of adopting and expanding ICT use in businesses. This second report, IC4D 2009: extending reach and increasing impact, takes a close look at mobile and broadband connectivity. It analyzes the development impact of high-speed Internet access in developing countries and provides policy options for rolling out broadband networks and addressing the opportunities and challenges of convergence between telecommunications, media, and computing. The report also presents a framework of e-government applications and discusses various country experiences with the institutional and policy arrangements for e-government and for the development of the local information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITES) industries. The common thread running through these topics is the development impact of ICT. Finally, the report presents summary tables on ICT sector indicators in 150 economies and introduces new performance measures in terms of access, affordability, and ICT adoption in government and business. -
Publication
2006 Information and Communications for Development : Global Trends and Policies
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)The book offers a realistic assessment of experiences, trends, and outlook on the Information, Communications Technology (ICT) sector, with a focus on actual results and justified expectations. It attempts to track and analyze global ICT development trends, and to provide empirical evidence of the benefits that ICT is providing in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction. Indicators for the Millennium development Goals (MDG) targets, among others, have been incorporated into the ICT At-a-Glance tables compiled for this report. It contributes to the creation of a basis for more systematic monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the progress and impact of ICT, and provides as well as useful insights on ICT for development in general. Besides consolidating all these M&E efforts and sharing of the findings with the development community, the report also includes analytical work that applies these data to a range of topics: investment trends, principles and practical solutions to extending ICT services, the role of ICT in doing business, trends in national e-strategies, and approaches to tracking ICT globally. Part I of the report assesses topics essential to developing ICT. It contains chapters on investment (chapter 2), access (chapter 3), diffusion and use (chapter 4), country policies and strategies (chapter 5), and targets, monitoring, and evaluation (chapter 6). Each chapter provides a theoretical and qualitative framework supported by quantitative evidence. Where limited data impede comprehensive economic analysis, a case study approach is used. Part II presents the new Bank ICT At-a-Glance tables for 144 economies, which show the most recent national data on key indicators of ICT development, including access, quality, affordability, efficiency, sustainability, and applications. -
Publication
ICT for Development : Contributing to the Millennium Development Goals - Lessons Learned from Seventeen infoDev Projects
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003-11)The aim of this paper is to create a publicly available resource that provides concise descriptions of selected infoDev ICT-for-development projects, and their impact on poverty. The paper first presents case studies of a cross-section of projects funded by the infoDev Core Program, followed by an in-depth analysis of the impact, and limits of those projects. The main criterion for selecting projects for case study analysis was to be as representative as possible of the various environments (political, economic, social, geographic) in which infoDev has been operating since its inception. An attempt was also made to provide a balanced sample relative to the success rate of the projects. Rather than selecting the "best projects," the authors, in consultation with the task managers of the projects, gave priority to those initiatives likely to offer the best lessons and knowledge about how to use ICT for development purposes. infoDev case studies show that the presence of a project champion enhances the success of a project (FOOD, Manobi, Voxiva, Fantsuam). The cases also demonstrate that technical and organization capacity can be built over the life of a project.