Digital ID is part of the social contract between government and citizens: World Bank, Verizon executives

World Bank Group President Ajay Banga and Verizon President Hans Vestberg have stressed the need to bridge the huge digital divide, which remains one of the biggest obstacles to digital inclusion worldwide.

The two officials shared their ideas on a panel at the opening ceremony of the Global Digital Summit, organised by the World Bank, which took place from 4 to 7 March in Washington under the theme "Accelerating Digital for Development". They stressed that digital identity is fundamental to the digital transformation journey and must be owned by governments as part of the social contract with citizens.

The summit, based on the three pillars "Connect, Innovate and Transform", aimed to discuss progress in the global digital transformation effort and to examine and propose possible solutions to some of the obstacles, such as privacy and security risks, posed by generative AI.

The event brought together representatives from governments, the private sector, partner organisations and thought leaders from different walks of life.

In the panel, Banga and Vestberg agree that connectivity is one of the key drivers of digital transformation, but poor internet coverage remains a stumbling block, especially in Africa, where some 600 million people are reportedly without electricity.

"This is absolutely unacceptable and it is a human rights issue. I consider it as important as the right to breathe. So we have to give them access to electricity. But at the same time we have to remember that 1/3 of the people in the world do not have access to the internet. And we are talking about more than two billion people. This gets worse when you talk about gender and age," Banga says of the connectivity problem.

They also note that with the right policies and investments, countries can make a significant contribution to the digital transformation and accelerate their socio-economic development.

"The reality is that we need to get these 600 million people connected to the grid. The Bank is committed to reaching 100 million by 2030. We are working to extend this target to another 100 million. We can do that with renewable energy. We have tried it in Rwanda and Tanzania and we know it can work."

Banga says that there is also a part of the world's population that has electricity but no access to the internet, while another group of people in the world has access to the internet but does not use and exploit it to its full potential to the extent that it can support. "So you have to work with different target groups in different tones," he says.

Governments must put digital first
Banga reiterates the commitment of the World Bank and its partners to support digital transformation, but believes that both governments and the private sector must seize the opportunity by taking aspects such as digital identity into account and making them part of the social contract with their citizens.

"I believe that if governments embrace digital technologies, they will create transparency, clean governance and citizen engagement," says the World Bank chief.

Banga stressed the need for digital identity in the digital transformation: "Private companies should not own it. It is a social contract between a citizen and his country, where he has identity, currency and security. They should have a digital identity, and that digital identity should guarantee the privacy of that citizen."

Banga says the bank has made digital one of its five verticals because it enables all the others, and the pace of change in digital is astonishing. He said digital allows tasks to be completed faster.

"I believe that the digital evolution that is happening now with AI will require less time [to complete tasks] and the bank needs to focus on that. I think of digital as a breakthrough technology that removes the arbitrage of the incumbent and enables new ways to reach populations without the traditional challenge of the cost of healthcare, education and everything else to reach them."

Vestberg says: "I have often said that digital inclusion is extremely important. I think the infrastructure of the 21st century is mobility, beyond the cloud. I think it should not matter where you are born, where you come from or who you are. You should be part of our society, and to be part of our society you actually have to be digitally involved."

"My work at Verizon and also globally has been to try to find ways to remove [digital inclusion] barriers, because barriers are very different and in different ways."

Verizon's CEO mentions some of these barriers: "One barrier is the availability of technology. One is access to technology. One is the lack of access to technology. About 400 million people are off the telecoms network. Affordability is one of the biggest barriers. Getting a device or a service contract is sometimes a huge challenge. Availability is another problem. This means applications that really support society, whether through digital education, digital health or financial inclusion, and also being part of the social opportunities provided by government."

Vestberg argues that a concerted effort is needed to meet these challenges, as no government, NGO or private company can do everything alone. "I've actually been getting a lot of people together and thinking about how we can get more people to network. I invited Ajay Banga to work with me, and eventually I set up the EDISON Alliance with one goal - to connect a billion people in five years. Today, we have got 784 million people networked in less than two and a half years," he says.

"We are close to reaching one billion people. It's a working community. Verizon is doing its part. We've dedicated $3 billion to digital inclusion in the US, but ultimately everyone can do something, but we need to come together as a community." Governments need to be much more proactive, they need to use infrastructure to bring all citizens into the system."

Earlier this year, the EDISON Alliance published a new impact report highlighting how nearly 800 million people's lives have been positively transformed by digital transformation.

Low-income countries need support for digitalisation efforts
Ahead of the Washington DC summit, World Bank Senior Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg acknowledged the huge benefits of digital transformation in a blog post, but deplored the current inequality in connectivity between low- and high-income countries.

Trotsenburg calls for support to developing countries to help them make the most of the opportunities offered by digitalisation, while ensuring that the risks and challenges associated with it are adequately mitigated.

Despite the digital divide, he stresses the inevitable nature of digitalisation, stating that "the new digital era, accessible to all, offers the opportunity to shape a more inclusive, flexible and sustainable world for future generations".

He also urges stakeholders to prepare themselves to better manage the risks of digitalisation and increase investment in areas such as connectivity, which is one of the key drivers of digitalisation.

Digital sector boosts economic growth
The World Bank also recently published its new "Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023" last month.

The report, which looks at the progress of digitalisation and trends in technology markets, highlights the need to support countries that are lagging behind in their digital transformation. It highlights key policy opportunities, challenges and debates related to digitalisation.

According to the report, the digital divide continues to widen and exacerbate poverty despite global digital transformation efforts, the digital sector is driving growth and job creation, and the growth of data and analytical capabilities is driving digitalisation efforts.

Digital ID Part of Social Contract Between Govt, Citizens: World Bank, Verizon Chiefs - Activist Post

The event made the case that some areas of the digital transformation should be off limits to private enterprise.