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28 WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2016
Box O.8 The four digital enablers (continued)
behavior in ways that are consistent with development, providing
a platform for information and dissemination during
natural disasters and emergencies, and encouraging political
mobilization and social change. Some analysts think that
social media played a critical role in recent events such as
the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, and thereby were
instrumental in spreading democratic ideas, although many
remain skeptical of their actual impact. There is still much to
learn about the role social media can play in development.
While a source for innovative ideas, social media also remain
conduits for gossip, slander, misinformation, harassment,
bullying, and crime. One important lesson is that the impact
of social media on development seems to be highly specific
to context. Variation in access to technology, education, and
broader sociopolitical context matters. For instance, there is
evidence that people in more autocratic countries are less
likely to forward information (for example, by re-tweeting it).
Digital identity. Being able to prove who you are may seem
trivial, but it can be transformational for those excluded
from jobs and services. Simple electronic identification systems,
often using biometric characteristics, have become
an effective platform for secure bank transactions, voting,
accessing social services, paying utility bills, and much
more. Many countries, from Moldova to Nigeria and Oman,
have introduced digital IDs. India is on track to register its
entire population using its Aadhaar digital ID. In Estonia and
other countries, thousands of different types of public and
private transactions are verified with a unique electronic ID
system, including legally binding contracts and voting in
national elections.
Data revolution. In harnessing data for development, attention
focuses on two overlapping innovations: “big data” and
open data. Big data are voluminous or fast, and they come
from myriad sources—from satellites to sensors and from
clouds to crowds. Big data analytics is being deployed to
improve traffic planning, estimate macro aggregates (also
referred to as “nowcasting”), track the spread of epidemics,
and improve credit scoring and job matching. Open data are
those that are freely and easily accessible, machine-readable,
and explicitly unrestricted in use. Governments are,
or could be, the most important source of open data.
Exuberant estimates of the current and potential economic
value of big data and open data range from hundreds of billions
to trillions of dollars per year. Yet sustained, impactful,
scaled-up examples of big data and open data in developing
countries are still relatively rare. Most big data are in private
hands—large telecom and internet companies—which are
reluctant to share it for fear of jeopardizing customer privacy
or corporate competitiveness. Public agencies, too, are
reluctant to share data, even when they have large public
benefits. For example, of countries surveyed by the Open
Data Barometer, one-third of the high-income countries
and 85 percent of developing countries had made little or
no progress in opening map data. Reasons include lack of
technical skills, inadequate resources, and unwillingness to
expose data to scrutiny.
Figure O.20 A policy framework for improving connectivity
First mile
Supply side
Middle mile
New technologies
Competition policies
Universalizing
connectivity
Demand side
Last mile
Invisible mile
Censorship and content filtering
Cybersecurity
Online privacy
Internet governance
Public-private
partnership
Effective regulation
Awareness and investment
Global cooperation
Multistakeholder approach
Open-access ecosystem for innovation,
tech hubs, and maker spaces
Source: WDR 2016 team.