Other ESW Reports

226 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2209

This includes miscellaneous ESW types and pre-2003 ESW type reports that are subsequently completed and released.

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GovTech Maturity Index, 2022 Update: Trends in Public Sector Digital Transformation

(Washington, DC, 2022-12) World Bank

The 2021 GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) report and underlying dataset provide opportunities to replicate the study, identify gaps in digital transformation by comparing the differences among economies and groups of economies, and track changes over time in a transparent way. The dataset will be updated every two years to reflect developments in the GovTech domain. This 2022 GTMI update report and the accompanying dataset and new data dashboard present the progress within the last two years, highlight some of the good practices, and identify existing gaps for possible improvements in countries at the technology frontier. As with the 2020 edition, economies are grouped, not ranked, to illustrate the state of GovTech focus areas globally. This overview report presents a summary of the approach, how the 2022 GTMI dataset update is different, improvements in the GTMI dataset contents and visualization tools and GTMI group calculations, and initial findings and key messages.
Digitalizing SMEs to Boost Competitiveness

(Washington, DC, 2022-10) World Bank

While Malaysia’s digital economy had already been growing rapidly over the past decade, the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has further accelerated this trend. In particular, increased access to digital platforms has enabled businesses of all sizes to mitigate the crisis’ adverse impacts. At the same time, the depth and breadth of small and medium enterprise (SME) digitalization has remained limited, suggesting a growing risk of digital divide in the country. This report analyzes opportunities and challenges for Malaysian SMEs to better leverage digital tools and platforms to increase their productivity and competitiveness. It is structured around three complementary analytical pillars: (i) a digital business landscape diagnostic presenting the extent of digitalization and use of digital platforms among SMEs in traditional sectors, and the constraints that SMEs still face to digitalize; (ii) an institutional and policy mapping reviewing the government of Malaysia’s efforts to foster SME digitalization; and (iii) a digital market regulations assessment evaluating the adequacy of Malaysia’s digital regulatory environment, to identify shortcomings that may undermine SMEs’ capacity to access and benefit from the use of digital platforms. The analysis has been undertaken with a view to inform the implementation of the Malaysia Digital Blueprint (MyDIGITAL).
A Spiky Digital Business Landscape: What Can Developing Countries Do?

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-10) Zhu, Tingting Juni ; Grinsted, Philip ; Song, Hangyul ; Velamuri, Malathi

Digital technologies hold the promise of bridging wealth gaps through innovation-driven growth, but the “winners-take-most” dynamic of digital business models calls into question the net growth effect and the global footprint of this sector. Digital transformation is driven by a set of digital technologies that have led to a rapid and steep decline in the costs of data storage, computation, and transmission. These technologies hold promise for bridging the wealth gap between nations by allowing developing countries to catch up with generations of previous technologies. At the same time, characteristics inherent to these technologies have the potential to result in a “winner-takes-most” dynamic, by creating market entry barriers and leading to high levels of concentration and potential market dominance. For the first time, this report provides novel evidence of the characteristics of digital business and markets in 190 countries. The report defines digital businesses as digital solution providers that develop and manufacture digital technology products or digital services; a subset of these can also use platform-based and/or data-intensive network effect business models. The report draws on the World Bank’s newly assembled firm-level database of 200,000 digital businesses in 190 countries, to provide unique evidence on the current global digital business landscape.
Cabo Verde Economic Update: Cabo Verde’s Potential Digital Dividends

(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022-05) World Bank

The second Economic Update for Cabo Verde focuses on the importance of returning to fiscal sustainability in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and on the potential role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in strengthening the foundations for a sustainable and inclusive economic recovery. The first chapter discusses the current macroeconomic situation, outlook, and risks the country faces over the medium term. The second chapter provides an overview of key challenges to transform Cabo Verde into a Digital Hub. The report offers a set of actionable policy priorities for a swift return to fiscal and debt sustainability and around the national digital transformation agenda, which include enhancing the ownership of the innovation agenda, strengthening digital foundations, investing in human capital, and mobilizing Diaspora resources to create a private ICT sector.
Sectoral Approach to the Drivers of Productivity Growth in Poland: A Firm-Level Perspective on Technology Adoption and Firm Capabilities

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

The report presents the main structural characteristics of the sectors included in the Technology Adoption Survey (TAS) implemented in Poland and provides sectoral TAS results for general and sector-specific business functions, comparing Poland to a peer country, Korea. Nine sectors analyzed within TAS include agriculture, food processing, wearing apparel, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals, basic metals, wholesale and retail trade, financial services, and land transport. These form a selection of the most important economic industries in agriculture, manufacturing, and services. The same sectors were chosen in all countries where TAS was implemented because of their important contributions to the national economies as well as their diversity, which allowed us to identify the different natures of their technological needs and the barriers to technology adoption. Sectors in Poland differ in technology sophistication in both general business and sector-specific functions but, to a large extent, those differences are driven by the sectors’ structural differences, such as the number of large firms, the share of exporters, and the number foreign-owned enterprises. Firms in different sectors face different economic conditions and are exposed to a different balance of regulatory, environmental, and geopolitical risks and challenges. Understanding those sectoral differences, especially as they affect the use of sector-specific technologies, is of utmost importance, because productivity improvements historically have been driven primarily by capital-intensive investment, which often involves sector-specific technologies. In the context of sector-specific technologies, it is worth noting that the level of sophistication differs between sectors. Comparing technology trends across sectors is beyond the scope of this report, however; rather, here we closely follow the methodology described in Bridging the Technological Divide: Technology Adoption by Firms in Developing Countries.
Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Electricity Grids: Context and Good Practices for Transmission and Distribution System Operators

(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

Cyberattacks against industrial control systems (ICS) are on the rise. Roughly one-third of ICS were targeted by malicious activity in the first half of 2021, with hackers often tied to nation-states and organized crime. Electric utilities around the world have been undergoing a transformative digitalization process, promoting efficiency but also exposing the sector to cyberattacks that can have serious negative effects on other critical infrastructure (transport, water supply, etc.). Given the increased connectivity and digitalization of power networks, and the convergence of operational technology (OT) with information technology (IT), cybersecurity and proactive cyber risk management in the electricity sector have become a necessity.
Preliminary Findings Report on Gender-Inclusive Approaches in Private Participation in Infrastructure

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank Group

The report is a unique investigation into how private investors perceive gender inequality and its importance for their investments. It examines perceptions of private investors and lenders related to gender equality and inclusion of women and girls in infrastructure services and facilities in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). As disclosure of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) information and sustainability reporting becomes more common in the private sector, understanding why and how gender inequalities matter within the sphere of social sustainability and inclusion is becoming increasingly important. The analysis below is based on original semi-structured interviews conducted with investors and lenders in the private sector that routinely invest in or finance infrastructure projects in EMDEs. It aims to understand: (i) how the investor community perceives the intersection between infrastructure and social sustainability and inclusion, particularly with respect to the inclusion of women and girls; (ii) what social issues investors and lenders feel are important; (iii) what actions they take in including women and girls in infrastructure projects and the challenges they face in doing so.
Interoperability: Towards a Data-Driven Public Sector

(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

Interoperability frameworks are a key enabler for GovTech, the World Bank’s whole-of-government approach to public sector modernization, as they reduce system boundaries between government agencies by setting standards and guidelines across government systems to allow for seamless exchange of information and communication between systems. But governments may face several challenges when setting up and implementing interoperability frameworks, related to a mix of technical, semantic, legal, organizational, and cultural factors. This How-to Note provides advice on what interoperability in the public sector is, why it is needed and how it can be implemented with various examples and a whole-of-government approach to interoperability taking into account both digital and nondigital aspects is of the essence.
Driving Revolutionary Ideas into Practice: Infrastructure for Climate Change, Poverty Reduction 2.0, Human Development on Mobile Government, Disrupted

(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

In the business of making policies, decisions are based on experience and guided by political concerns. However, in the business of delivering policies, the machinery of government is often taxed by delays and inefficiencies, and constrained by insufficient resources, management tools, and just-in-time information. The result is that governments operate well below the efficiency frontier. For most of our history, research has been disconnected from policy and has moved slowly to build knowledge relevant to designing policies. The authors introduce some of the principles that govern this young institution in the chapters that follow, each designed to exemplify the value of doing better research for doing better development. In these chapters, they present four overarching ideas that they have worked into development practice. Overall, Development Impact Evaluation (DIME’s) approach is to inform the path of development through a capacities-based and iterative process of evidence-informed adaptive policy change. To do so, DIME has developed and implemented a model of co-production with agencies on the ground that transfers capacity and know-how to partners, enables them to make mid-course corrections and motivates the scale-up of more successful policy instruments to achieve policy outcomes and optimize development impact. Finally, DIME invests in public goods to improve the quality and reproducibility of development research around the world.
Bulgaria - Efficiency Analysis of STI Programs

(Washington, DC, 2021-10-31) World Bank

Transitioning to a more knowledge- and technology-based economy will be critical if Bulgaria is to achieve convergence with its European peers in terms of economic productivity and living standards. The coming year presents an important opportunity for Bulgaria to improve its support for science, technology, and innovation (STI). This report assesses the efficiency of selected Bulgarian STI support programs, tracks progress on outcomes, and reports on beneficiaries’ perceptions of program quality. This report is the third and final major component of the World Bank’s Bulgaria public expenditure review for STI (PER STI) project. This efficiency analysis addresses an identified gap in Bulgaria’s STI system: the monitoring and evaluation (M and E) of STI support programs. This report aims to address those gaps by identifying benchmarks for assessing the results of STI support programs in Bulgaria and providing a methodology and tools for carrying out such evaluations in the future. The report is structured in nine sections. Section one presents the methodology, section two provides a comparison of key results across the six programs included in the analysis, sections three through eight provide program-specific analysis and findings, and section nine provides recommendations.