Digital development
The challenge
To date, digital technologies have contributed only incremental benefits in economic, social and political development, and a step-change will be required if they are to deliver the transformational ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Given the growing embedding of the technology in all development sectors and processes, digital technology is moving from being a tool to achieve development outcomes to being the platform through which development processes are mediated.
Digital development can provide new routes out of poverty. But unless digital alternatives are developed, we risk foregoing the development benefits of new technology; entrenching new digitally-enabled systems of inequality; and enabling digital harms that damage rights and promote injustice.
How we are addressing it
GDI has the specialist research of the Centre for Digital Development and teaching of the Human and Digital Development group.
The constancy of technological change creates knowledge gaps and a broad digital development research agenda for GDI at all stages of the innovation cycle:
- Infrastructure: supporting systemic policy and strategic actions that develop inclusive digital ecosystems (human, technical, institutional infrastructure)
- Innovation: supporting new digital technologies that promote the achievement of the SDGs
- Implementation: identifying and promoting good practices in design and operationalisation of digital technology
- Impact: tracking the emerging development implications of digital technologies at micro-, meso- and macro levels
Research projects
China’s digital expansion in the Global South
China has emerged as a global digital superpower, with digital exports and activities reaching out around the world.
Fairwork in the gig economy in the Global South
Fairwork is improving pay and conditions in the gig economy, particularly in the Global South.
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The Centre for Digital Development
The centre examines the role of information and communication technologies in socio-economic development.
Using digital datasets to identify positive deviants in development
A multi-country programme to identify and propagate outperformance in delivery of development goals.
Scale-up of a primary care intervention for cardiovascular risk management in Indonesia
Building on the potential of mobile technology in the hands of community health volunteers.
Development Implications of Digital Economies (DIODE)
This strategic networks researches the digital economy and its role in developing countries.
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Resilience Assessment Benchmarking and Impact Toolkit (RABIT)
Defining resilience, applying resilience metrics, and using those metrics to shape action.
Digital Transformation for Development (DX4D)
'Digital transformation' has become something of a buzz term within international development. But what does it mean, and how should it best be implemented?
Our teaching agenda
- Digital Development MSc
- Management and Information Systems: Change and Development MSc
- Management and Information Systems: Change and Development MSc (Distance Learning)
- Research Methods with International Development MSc
- Development Policy and Management PhD
People and publications
Click on the names below to read their latest publications or read the latest publications from the Global Development Institute and from the Digital Development working paper series.
- Dr Shamel Azmeh - Senior Lecturer, Technology, Labour and Production
- Dr Katarzyna Cieslik - Lecturer, Global Development
- Dr Natalie Cunningham - Lecturer, Leadership for Development
- Dr Richard Duncombe - Senior Lecturer, Information Systems and Development
- Dr Christopher Foster – Lecturer, Industry 4.0
- Dr Ping Gao - Senior Lecturer, Information Systems
- Prof Richard Heeks - Professor, Digital Development
- Dr Gianluca Iazzolino - Lecturer, Digital Development
- Dr Negar Monazam Tabrizi - Lecturer, Information Systems and Digital Development
- Dr Rose Pritchard - Presidential Fellow, Socio-Environmental Systems
- Dr Smith Ouma - Leverhulme Early Career Fellow
- Dr Jaco Renken - Senior Lecturer, Information and Communication Technology for Development
- Dr Gindo Tampubolon - Senior Lecturer, Poverty, Inequality and Growth
- Godfred Amankwaa - From policies to practicalities? Digitisation of urban water services in Ghana
- Anuradha Ganapathy - Beyond inclusion to inequality reduction: evidence from three digital interventions in India
- Azim Harun - The impact of digitalisation of public services towards older people in Malaysia
- Epiphania Kimaro - ICT4D champion support as a seedbed of ICT4D leadership
- Hairui Liu - Rural e-commerce in China
- Julin Liu - Value co-creation in smart tourism systems
- Minjung Park - Digital platforms and urban informality
- Yingqian Wang - Digital transformation and employee wellbeing in China
- Taiyuan Zeng - Value co-creation in platform ecosystems
- Yue Zhai - Governance and stakeholders of smart cities: the case of “X Smart City” projects in China
- Weiyi Zhang - Government services, digital transformation, digital divides and disability in China
- Mengfei Zhou - Managing innovation ecosystems to co-create value in a service-dominant platform: multiple case studies in Chinese universities
- Yi Zhou - Evolution of digital social innovation: a case study of smart elderly care in China