Digital technology has transformed communications, creating unprecedented opportunities for people to exercise their right to information, voice their views and participate in democratic and development processes in multiple ways. Social media platforms have enabled marginalised groups to build solidarity networks, journalists to expose corruption and abuse of power, and human rights defenders to mobilise for change in real time. From online work to home schooling, from family communications to medical advice, access to the internet has been a game changer and a life saver during the pandemic.

Digital transformation holds great promise for development, spurring innovation that can improve the lives of people worldwide. The COVID‑19 pandemic showcased the potential of digital technologies to help manage crises and support resilience. It also raised concerns with data governance and privacy and underscored the need for integrated and agile policy. Comprehensive policy approaches are needed to address interrelated challenges such as digital security and taxation. Policy making also must be agile to accompany rapid technological change and manage the risks. This chapter highlights lessons from the OECD’s Going Digital project, which fosters integrated and principles-based policy making that ensures inclusive digital transformations, strengthens institutional and regulatory frameworks of digital governance, and promotes growth and well-being.

The same digital technologies that can improve people’s lives also can be used to restrict freedoms and, deliberately or inadvertently, widen inequalities and exclusion. The potential for harms and abuses include cyber-attacks, disinformation and hate speech on social media, digital identification systems that fail to protect personal data and exclude marginalised populations, and so-called smart cities where digital tools enable the surveillance of citizens. As the pace of digitalisation accelerates, human rights-based policies and frameworks are urgently needed to manage both the negative and positive outcomes.

To characterise and benchmark the transition from e-government to more comprehensive digital government, the OECD Digital Government Index assesses six dimensions critical for digital competence in the public sector. While OECD countries have made progress on the foundations for digital government, digital tools and data will need to be leveraged better to be transformational in the public sector. Experience of OECD and other governments participating in the index provide lessons for digital government strategies in low- and middle-income countries, including the critical need for sound governance frameworks; focusing on people and their needs; the importance of investing in reliable, reusable and interoperable systems and tools; and fostering digital co-operation on challenges that defy boundaries.

Over the past three years, Benin has made remarkable progress in digital transformation, designing national e-government frameworks, and developing e-services for citizens and businesses. This case study shows how, guided by strong political will and motivated public officials, with the support of the Estonian e-Governance Academy and partners from the private sector, Benin has set an example for many countries.

In 2019, Colombia’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MinTIC) and the United Kingdom’s Government Digital Service (GDS) agreed to exchange information and share learning on the development of digital government services. This case study describes the collaboration between the two teams on reviewing and improving Colombia’s digital citizen portal.

The digitalisation of the global economy raises significant challenges in terms of taxing corporate income and imposing and collecting value-added tax on cross-border online sales. Newly agreed international tax rules could significantly benefit developing countries, expanding their right to tax the foreign income of multinational enterprises and improving their ability to protect their tax base from tax avoidance. There is also largely untapped revenue potential from the rapid growth of e‑commerce. A significant portion of this market is international transactions. As most African countries have not yet updated their value-added tax rules to account for digital trade, this chapter highlights that they are missing out on significant tax revenues. While some developing countries have digitalised their tax systems, improving efficiency and generating increased revenue, many more need support to implement the digital transformation of their tax administrations.

Digitalisation offers new opportunities for developing countries and firms of all sizes to overcome existing trade cost disadvantages and deliver their products to a wider range of markets. This chapter highlights that the benefits of digitalisation for trade, and of trade for digitalisation, are not automatic. It stresses that ensuring that these are realised and shared more inclusively requires a regulatory environment that allows governments in developing countries to respond to new challenges raised by digitalisation. While international co-operation and technical assistance can support developing countries in addressing digital connectivity and skills gaps to maximise benefits, developing countries in regional and global discussions that will shape the rules underpinning a growing part of their economies.

Technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence are rapidly making their way into the workplace, creating winners and losers. Drawing on evidence and policy analysis by the OECD, this case study looks at the impact of automation on employment and its implications for the future of work.

Over the past decade, development actors have increasingly put their investments, and their hopes, in the potential of digital technology to expand and ensure decent work. However, some evidence shows that platforms may degrade opportunities for decent work. This chapter discusses how development co-operation providers and other investors could measure more effectively platform effects on labour markets, support projects to enhance collective rights for gig workers, and take measures to ensure that platforms use data to foster more decent work.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a harrowing reminder of the precarity of the vast informal labour market, with even more informal jobs being created in the economic recovery in developing countries. Helping workers transition to more formal working arrangements is not only good for them, but also good for development. While there is debate over whether digitally facilitated ways of working lead to greater informality in developing countries, digitalisation of government services, greater access to digital technology and co-ordinated policies can foster formal work. In particular, the use of digital tools to increase productivity, improve norms and regulations, provide incentives, and strengthen enforcement systems can contribute to the transition.

Digital technologies can provide off-grid solutions for the millions of people without electricity but progress made over the last decade in expanding electrical grids in least served areas has stalled. This chapter provides the latest data on universal access to energy and funding gaps and discusses ways forward for mobilising urgent investment in physical and digital energy infrastructure to prevent Africa from falling further behind in its digital transformation. In the short term, digital solutions can bridge the gap and offer affordable, clean energy to marginalised, isolated and impoverished communities. In the long term, co‑ordination of investments and strategies in digitalisation and energy can enable countries to faster deploy low‑carbon, demand-responsive and resilient energy systems.

The world’s appetite for digital devices has significant economic, social and ecological consequences for developing countries. It is contributing to a mining boom and shifting manufacturing. While this demand offers potential economic growth for low- and middle-income countries – the source for many of the raw materials for ICT products – mining jobs are often precarious and unsafe. ICT products in turn contribute to the world’s growing streams of hazardous e-waste, for which low- and middle-income countries are often the dumping ground. Governments with minerals in high demand for ICTs should leverage their position to maximise the economic benefits. Regulation of e‑waste recycling is also necessary to combat health and safety risks.

Digital technologies have enormous potential to help governments operate more sustainably, plan for climate emergencies and protect the environment. This case study focuses on how further collaboration and partnerships between the private sector, non-profit organisations and governments can generate and use data to design better environmental policies and help societies build resilience to the effects of climate change.