Digital Inclusion & Accountability

Digital inclusion is an important World Bank Group priority because it gives people access to jobs, data, information, knowledge, essential services, markets, and each other. Digital solutions empower individuals and businesses and improve communities’ resilience in the face of climate change.

IFC works to close the digital divide by enabling affordable connectivity, improving digital skills, and enhancing digital content and ecosystems. We strengthen internet security that reduces the risk of cyberattacks and cyberbullying. And we seek out leading-edge technologies that will break down the barriers to digital inclusion, such as eliminating biases in artificial intelligence.

3.3 Billion

People don’t use the internet despite having broadband coverage

19%

of women are less likely to use mobile internet than men (Source: GSMA)

70%

of new economic value created in the next decade will be from digital businesses ^WEF

IFC Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory Services

IFC’s Sustainable Infrastructure (SI) Advisory offers advice to IFC’s infrastructure and natural resource clients on advancing digital inclusion in local communities and among stakeholders. Services include:

Developing strategies for infrastructure and mining companies to help improve digital connectivity and skills among stakeholders, including local communities and customers.
Supporting inclusive digital access and literacy programs.
Designing digital inclusion approaches for cities to increase citizen participation in municipal decision making.
Advising governments and companies on enhancing transparency and data disclosure.

Accountability through Digital Disclosure

Transparency in the infrastructure and natural resources sector is essential for accountability and public trust, especially on ESG. Digital channels offer an unprecedented speed of information (and misinformation) sharing. These developments present new risks. They also present new opportunities for companies to strengthen their social license to operate, through digital disclosure of project information and data.

SI Advisory’s transparency and accountability services build on a 15-year track record experience in improving transparency of natural resource revenues and water use in countries such as Colombia, Mongolia, and Peru. Our digital transparency and disclosure work includes:

Advising industry and government clients on strategies for digital disclosure of ESG data.
Building the digital disclosure capacity of companies and municipalities to:

– Improve social and environmental risk management

– Promote fact-based information-sharing on how natural resource wealth can reduce poverty and create inclusive economic opportunity

– Strengthen trust bonds with stakeholders

Training civil society, community, academic, and media influencers on using open data to:

– Understand investment project impacts

– Engage in evidence-based public discourse

– Inform their advocacy actions

Convening broad stakeholder coalitions—governments, private sector, civil society, and local communities, including women, youth, and underrepresented groups—to discuss challenges and find solutions that lead to responsible and sustainable investment.

1.8 Billion

People live in poverty in natural resource rich countries

GDP lost globally due to corruption

$3-5 Trillion

Annual economic potential of open data

SI Advisory and Digitally Inclusive Cities

The world’s urban population is growing at a rapid rate. The key to a cleaner and more sustainable future lies in inclusive and equitable urban infrastructure development, underpinned by smart technologies and innovative digital solutions.

SI Advisory works with cities to increase community involvement in decisions on infrastructure developments, leveraging data and digital solutions. Such efforts can yield shared value and economic opportunities, especially for women and youth. They also give citizens a sense of connection and a stake in the project’s future success. Ultimately this can help reduce construction delays and minimize cost overruns.

Our digitally focused approach enables equitable, inclusive, and enduring improvements that address the needs of local communities—and the municipality as a whole—while enhancing quality of life. This work includes:

Developing strategies and processes to enable free, easy, and open access to the city’s data.
Designing community engagement strategies on public and private urban projects and fostering coordination among government agencies and community leaders.
Raising public awareness on how communities can access infrastructure project data and participate in the decision making associated with these projects.

80%

of global GDP is generated by cities

75%

of the world’s resources are consumed by cities

70%

of global CO2 emissions are created by cities

SI Advisory In Action

Disclosure to Development (D2D) program enhances benefit sharing

Initiated in 2018 and led by IFC, D2D leverages effective digital disclosure and data use practices to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the multi-stakeholder benefit sharing associated with natural resources investment. Funded by the BHP Foundation in collaboration with the World Bank, D2D develops, tests, and shares new strategic approaches that improve information and data disclosure.

D2D has engaged in several countries, including Colombia, Ghana, Guinea, Mongolia, Peru, and Sierra Leone.

Developing Innovative Data Strategies in Peru

In Peru, the D2D program used social media to reach community leaders in the Moquegua mining region of Moquegua.

D2D provided social media training for 243 local leaders through the Infovoces platform, certifying 30 local leaders on the use of social media for community engagement. Women were particularly active, comprising 63 percent of participants.

Two local organizations are in the process of scaling up the approach, in collaboration with local government, private sector, and the mining industry association.

Capacity Building for Local Infomediaries in Mongolia

In Mongolia and Guinea, the D2D program is helping mining companies improve their voluntary environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data disclosures to build community trust and manage risks. During the 18-month D2D Mongolia project, IFC reached over 500 local infomediaries, certified 29 trainers on data analytics, delivered multiple data stewardship workshops for interested companies, and provided technical guidelines for disclosure, including on water, revenue allocation, and local procurement. A similar project is underway in Guinea, with a focus on disclosure of livelihood restoration, employment, local content, and environmental data of interest to local communities.

OPEN DATA IN CITIES

Open data and smart city strategy for Izmir, Türkiye

Izmir now has a new and inclusive open data strategy and roadmap with policy recommendations and a framework to measure progress, thanks to the help of IFC. As part of SI Advisory’s “smart city” engagement with Izmir, and in response to a request from the city’s mayor, IFC reviewed Izmir’s data ecosystem and engaged with data users from the private sector, academia, and civil society to develop the strategy. The effort also involved building the skills and capacity of the city’s open data task force so they could implement the new strategy. Activities included a peer-to-peer knowledge exchange with the city of Manchester, England, which had embarked on a similar journey. In early 2021, following the IFC engagement, Izmir launched its open data portal.