World Bank Launches Its First Digital Strategy to Get Billions Online

World Bank Launches Its First Digital Strategy to Get Billions Online

SEOUL — The World Bank Group launched its first-ever digital strategy on Tuesday, pledging to help developing countries expand affordable internet access, improve public services, and create jobs for a generation facing a massive employment gap.

The strategy brings together the Bank's public and private sector arms around four priorities: expanding connectivity, making devices and data cheaper, building digital skills and services, and helping countries prepare for artificial intelligence. Bank President Ajay Banga said the goal was to help countries benefit from what he called "small AI — AI for the people."

The numbers behind the push are stark. Over the next 10 to 15 years, about 1.2 billion young people in developing countries will reach working age, but their economies are projected to create only around 420 million jobs. Meanwhile, more than 2 billion people were still offline in 2025, and only 23 percent of people in low-income countries used the internet, compared with 94 percent in high-income countries.

"Digital technology can help countries create jobs and make scarce resources go further," Banga said at the launch in Seoul.

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