Capturing Technology for Development : An Evaluation of World Bank Group Activities in Information and Communication Technologies, Volume 1. The Evaluation

Abstract

Technological innovation drives economic
 progress. Information and communication technologies (ICT)
 can be leveraged for development, but harnessing this
 potential depends on an enabling environment for their
 production, diffusion, and use. Otherwise, technology can
 widen rather than narrow existing inequalities. Over the
 past decade developing countries have seen rapid but uneven
 growth in ICT access and use. The unprecedented spread of
 mobile technologies, driven by private sector investment and
 supported by reforms to promote competition, enabled the
 growth of phone services for the underserved and poor to
 levels unseen before. But outside mobile telephony, large
 gaps exist in high-speed Internet access and broadband
 connectivity and in the diffusion and use of ICT in
 business, services, and government the areas where ICT can
 deliver the largest developmental impacts. The World Bank
 Group's strategy has sought development results in ICT
 by promoting (i) sector reform, (ii) access to information
 infrastructure, (iii) ICT skills development, and (iv) ICT
 applications. Among these areas, the Bank Group's most
 notable contributions have been in sector reforms and
 support to private investments for mobile telephony in
 difficult environments and in the poorest countries, where
 most of its activities have taken place. Countries with Bank
 Group support for policy reform and investments have
 increased competition and access faster than countries
 without such support. Going forward, the World Bank Group
 should retain a role in ICT, but with an important shift in
 priorities. First, the importance of reforms suggests a role
 for the Bank in this area related to (i) updating regulatory
 frameworks and (ii) preserving competition in the face of
 consolidation and convergence in the sector. Second, gaps in
 broadband and internet access, in the context of overall
 expansion of coverage, call for a selective role of the
 International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral
 Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) in supporting private
 investments in difficult environments.