World Development Report 2016 – Digital Dividends (Jan 2016)

14th January 2016

World Development Report 2016 – Digital Dividends (Jan 2016)

More people around the world have access to mobile phones today than to electricity or water. Does this mean the digital revolution has truly dawned?

The answer to that question is no, not yet, says the World Bank’s 2016 World Development Report on the internet, “Digital Dividends.”

The spread of digital technologies over the last two decades has been rapid and generated a lot of excitement about the possibilities of the digital age. But the hoped-for benefits — greater productivity, more opportunity for the poor and middle class, more accountable governments and companies — have not spread as far and wide as anticipated, says the report.