The World Bank has published its World Development Report 2016: Digital dividends.

Digital dividends are defined as the benefits arising from using digital technologies, it is to say, the economic growth, job creation and the provision of financial and non-financial services:

The report analyses the impact of the internet, mobile telephony and other related technologies on world development, warning that although they have spread very rapidly, the same cannot be said of digital dividends.

The document views universal access to the internet as a global priority, providing that there are other factors that need to be promoted, such as: (i) a regulatory framework that encourages the market while protecting consumers; (ii) technical skills that enable workers, business owners and public sector employees to leverage new technologies; and (iii) responsible institutions that use the internet to empower their citizens. These factors are defined as “analogue complements”.

The report concludes that universal connectivity remains a huge challenge and that the development of analogue complements is crucial to guaranteeing greater digital dividends: faster growth, more employment and better services.