World Bank unveils ambitious ICT strategy

The World Bank Group today released its ambitious new information and communication technology (ICT) strategy aimed at helping developing countries use ICT to transform delivery of basic services, drive innovations and productivity gains, and improve competitiveness, reports The Information Daily.

The strategy reflects rapid changes in the ICT sector over the past decade, including a dramatic increase in use of mobile phones and the Internet, plunging prices of computing and mobile Internet devices, and the increasing prevalence of social media.

“Information and communication technologies can help reduce poverty, boost economic growth, and improve accountability and governance,” says World Bank VP for sustainable development Rachel Kyte.

“The World Bank Group's new strategy will help our client countries take advantage of the opportunities that ICT offers across all sectors of the economy, drawing on our unique expertise in public-private partnerships in the ICT sector.”

The strategy recognises the vital role of the private sector in improving access to information infrastructure and services in developing countries,” The World Bank quotesRashad-Rudolf Kaldany, IFC VP for Global Industries, as saying.

“IFC works with the private sector as an advisor, financier, and standard setter, to help unlock the potential of ICT for development.”