Digital Regulation Platform
Extending Reach and Increasing Impact

Extending Reach and Increasing Impact

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. Information and Communications for Development 2009: Extending Reach and Increasing Impact is the second report…

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Engendering Information and Communication Technologies: Challenges and Opportunities for Gender-Equitable Development

Engendering Information and Communication Technologies: Challenges and Opportunities for Gender-Equitable Development

Information and communication technologies cover a wide range, from radio and television to telephones and the Internet. Although such technologies have delivered enormous benefits around the world, much of their potential remains untapped particularly for groups facing severe time constraints, suffering from social isolation, or lacking access to knowledge and productive resources. Women in developing countries are among the most important of these groups. Life is very different for women and men in developing countries, with women usually enjoying far fewer rights and resources. These inequalities limit women’s abilities, opportunities, and achievements. But in today’s knowledge-driven global economy, information and…

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Telecommunications and information services for the poor: toward a strategy for universal access

Telecommunications and information services for the poor: toward a strategy for universal access

The significant social and economic impact of the information and communications revolution and the threat of a widening digital divide as a key dimension of poverty, have prompted policy- makers and development institutions worldwide to take measures to ensure that all have access to communications, information, and ultimately knowledge. Extending the underlying telecommunications and information infrastructure to reach the poor is now acknowledged as one major dimension of the fight against poverty, in which the World Bank Group undoubtedly has a key role to play. Under liberalized conditions, the telecommunications market has proved remarkably effective in extending the communications network…

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