"Kenya’s digital ecosystem has significant strengths not yet fully leveraged:
• Political interest in digital technology at national and county level: The Government of Kenya’s
(GoK) digital economy blueprint, ICT Masterplan, and eCitizen (government service platform for
Kenyan citizens and re
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sidents) are only a few of many digital initiatives undertaken to transform Kenya
into a thriving middle-income country by 2030. County-level programming such as County Data Desks
have demonstrated great initiative by county leadership in embracing digital tools to ensure a more
transparent and efficient process.
• Relatively strong digital infrastructure: Kenya’s expanding ICT infrastructure and GoK’s pursuit
of innovations driving connectivity (e.g., Google Loon pilots) demonstrates an investment in Kenya’s
inclusive future.
• Strong private sector engagement in digital innovation: From large mobile network operators and
multinational tech companies to startups and aspiring entrepreneurs, Kenya’s rich innovation culture is
an undervalued and underleveraged national resource." (Executive summary, page 3)
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"In 2019, the United States' trade war with China expanded to blacklist the Chinese tech titan Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. The resulting attention showed the information and communications technology (ICT) firm entwined with China's political-economic transformation. But the question remained: why
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does Huawei matter? Yun Wen uses the Huawei story as a microcosm to understand China's evolving digital economy and the global rise of the nation's corporate power. Rejecting the idea of the transnational corporation as a static institution, she explains Huawei's formation and restructuring as a historical process replete with contradictions and complex consequences. She places Huawei within the international political economic framework to capture the dynamics of power structure and social relations underlying corporate China's globalization. As she explores the contradictions of Huawei's development, she also shows the ICT firm's complicated interactions with other political-economic forces. Comprehensive and timely, The Huawei Model offers an essential analysis of China's dynamic development of digital economy and the global technology powerhouse at its core." (Publisher description)
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"First unveiled in 2015, the Digital Silk Road (DSR) component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has attracted more political and commercial attention as technology-related tensions between the US and China have risen. Whereas large-scale traditional infrastructure projects have so far bee
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n the focus of the BRI, the DSR is using technologies that will serve as the foundation of a new digital economy. It is also becoming more central to the BRI—President Xi Jinping’s signature international initiative—as Chinese technology companies improve their ability to expand globally, developing countries begin embracing digital technologies and considering moving to next-generation 5G networks, and Xi focuses increasingly on technology self-reliance and R&D in key technology sectors. The DSR is best understood as an umbrella branding effort and a narrative for Beijing to promote its global vision across a range of technology areas and projects. However, it is Chinese private companies that are the main drivers of the initiative, often using the DSR label to gain policy support to pursue overseas commercial expansion." (Page 1)
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"This volume provides a critical examination of the evolution of platform economies in India. Contributions from leading media and communications scholars present case studies that illustrate the social and economic ambitions at the heart of Digital India. Across interdisciplinary domains of busines
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s, labour, politics, and culture, this book examines how digital platforms are embedding automated systems into the social fabrics of everyday life." (Publisher description)
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"Führende Tech-Konzerne, allen voran die aus dem Silicon Valley, instrumentalisieren zunehmend das Handelsrecht für ihre Interessen, wie die von der US-Regierung im Jahre 2000 verabschiedete Digitale Agenda zeigt. Dabei geht es längst nicht mehr nur um die Reduzierung von Zöllen auf digitale Pro
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dukte wie Software oder einheitliche Standards für Telekommunikationsdienste. Patente auf Künstliche Intelligenz sowie die (Nicht)Regulierung von Datenflüssen sind inzwischen auch Bestandteil handelsrechtlicher Regelungen und Gegenstand kontroverser Debatten in der Welthandelsorganisation WTO. Für die Länder des Globalen Südens - aber nicht nur für sie - steht dabei viel auf dem Spiel, einschließlich der Gefahr eines neuen, digitalen Kolonialismus. Die Publikation untersucht, wo die Potenziale und Grenzen digitaler Lösungsansätze liegen. Sie analysiert, was sich aus vermeintlichen Vorzeigeprojekten wie dem mobilen Bezahlsystem M-Pesa oder der Verbreitung des bargeldlosen Bezahlens in Indien lernen lässt. Die Autoren untersuchen auch, ob die Digitalisierung transnationaler Lieferketten nicht nur die Transparenz erhöht, sondern auch die Wertschöpfung bei den Arbeiterinnen und Arbeitern auf den Kaffee- und Sojaplantagen oder in Fabriken. Für eine faire Gestaltung der Digitalisierung müssen vor allem folgende Fragen beachtet werden: Wie können benachteilige Bevölkerungsgruppen in den ländlichen Regionen Afrikas oder Bewohnerinnen und Bewohner von Armenvierteln in den Megacities einen besseren Zugang zu Arbeit und Grunddienstleistungen erhalten? Welcher Maßnahmen bedarf es, um für Menschen in Asien und Lateinamerika die Risiken des digitalen Wandels zu minimieren und dessen Potenziale zu erweitern? Die Studie schließt deswegen mit neun Bausteinen zum Aufbau einer fairen Digitalisierung." (Vorwort)
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"This first edition of the Digital Economy Report – previously known as the Information Economy Report - examines the scope for value creation and capture in the digital economy by developing countries. It gives special attention to opportunities for these countries to take advantage of the data-d
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riven economy as producers and innovators – but also to the constraints they face – notably with regard to digital data and digital platforms. Digital advances have already led to the creation of enormous wealth in record time, but this is highly concentrated in a small number of countries, companies and individuals. Meanwhile, digitalization has also given rise to fundamental challenges for policymakers in countries at all levels of development. The Report presents recent trends and discusses key policies for value creation and capture in the digital economy, notably with regards to entrepreneurship, data, trade, competition, taxation, intellectual property and employment." (Publisher description)
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"This publication discusses the extent to which digital technology can help tackle poverty and social inequality. Does it increase or restrict the opportunities for social and economic participation open to disadvantaged people? We analyse the history of e-commerce in the light of this question. We
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consider current developments in the world trade regime, because a new dynamic has developed in trade policy almost unnoticed. As the Digital Agenda adopted by the US government in 2000 shows, leading tech companies - principally those from Silicon Valley - are increasingly using commercial law to promote their own interests. This is no longer just about reducing tariffs on digital products such as software, or about uniform standards for telecommunications services. Patents on artificial intelligence and the (non-)regulation of data flows are now elements of commercial regulations and the subject of controversy in the World Trade Organization (WTO). For the countries of the Global South - but not only for them - there is a lot at stake, including the risk of a new, digital colonialism. This publication explores the potentials and limits of digital solutions. It analyses the lessons to be learned from supposedly model projects such as the mobile payment system M-Pesa and the spread of cashless payment in India. We also examine whether the digitalisation of transnational supply chains not only boosts transparency but also increases value creation for workers on the coffee and soya plantations or in factories. The question of how digitalisation can be organised so that it contributes to the welfare of everyone must focus on one issue in particular: how can disadvantaged population groups in the rural parts of Africa or the inhabitants of slums in the megacities obtain better access to work and basic services? What steps must be taken to minimise the risks of the digital transformation for people in Asia and Latin America and enhance its potential? The study therefore concludes with a list of nine ideas that would help make digitalisation fair. Consider them as an invitation to engage in discussion of globally just and humane digitalisation." (Preface)
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"The aim of Measuring the Digital Transformation: A Roadmap for the Future is not to “rank” countries or develop composite indicators. Instead, its objective is to provide policy makers and analysts with key indicators for each of the dimensions of the Going Digital integrated policy framework b
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ut also additional indicators providing detail and nuance, and link to relevant policy levers, to give analysts, stakeholders and policy makers deeper insights into how their economies are performing along those dimensions. The publication draws upon the wealth of data available at the OECD, as well as other international organisations and private data providers. A forward-looking measurement roadmap develops nine actions that, if prioritised and implemented, would substantially advance the capacity of countries to monitor the digital transformation and its impacts. The first four overarching actions are directed towards building the next generation of data and indicators capable of dealing with the challenges of the digital transformation: make the digital economy visible in economic statistics, understand the economic impacts of the digital transformation, measure well-being in the digital age, and design new and interdisciplinary approaches to data collection. Five further actions target specific areas identified as requiring attention: transformative technologies, data and data flows, skills in the digital era, trust in online environments, and governments’ digital strengths. The actions build on 19 roadmap pages, spread throughout the publication, that identify policy needs for measurement, discuss the challenges and propose options for international action." (Foreword)
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"Philipp Staab beleuchtet den digitalen Kapitalismus aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven, um ihn präziser auf den Begriff zu bringen. Er zeigt, wie digitale Überwachungs- und Bewertungspraktiken in immer mehr Bereiche der Wirtschaft vordringen und dabei die soziale Ungleichheit verschärfen. Das Sp
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ezifische am digitalen Kapitalismus, so Staab, ist die Herausbildung »proprietärer Märkte«: Kam es früher darauf an, Dinge herzustellen und mit Gewinn zu verkaufen, geht es im Zeitalter der Unknappheit um das Eigentum an den Märkten selbst." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Dass die Digitalisierung die Wirtschaft grundlegend verändert, steht mittlerweile außer Frage. Die technischen Innovationen haben neue Geschäftsfelder eröffnet, neue Formen von Wertschöpfung ermöglicht und Grenzziehungen zwischen Produzenten und Konsumenten ins Wanken gebracht. Aber wie genau
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verändert sich die Rolle von Menschen und Unternehmen in der digitalen Ökonomie? Wie tiefgreifend ändern sich die Arbeits-, aber auch die Lebenswelten in einer Zeit, in der sich auch das Privatleben zunehmend zu ökonomisieren scheint und einer stetigen Optimierung bedarf? Und welche Rolle spielen Big Data und Algorithmen, die auch mit dem Anspruch eingesetzt werden, vieles einfacher, besser und konsumentenfreundlicher zu machen? Timo Daum unterzieht den digitalen Kapitalismus einer eingehenden Analyse und greift dabei auch auf die Terminologien von Marx zurück, dessen zentrale Thesen aus „Das Kapital“ er zu einem Ausgangspunkt seiner Überlegungen macht. Er zeigt, dass sich der Kapitalismus durch Anpassungen an die neuen Möglichkeiten stetig neu justiert - dabei aber auch von Marktlogiken bestimmt bleibt, die schon lange existieren." (Buchrücken)
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"Digital technologies have spread rapidly in much of the world. Digital dividends—the broader development benefits from using these technologies—have lagged behind. In many instances digital technologies have boosted growth, expanded opportunities, and improved service delivery. Yet their aggreg
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ate impact has fallen short and is unevenly distributed. For digital technologies to benefit everyone everywhere requires closing the remaining digital divide, especially in internet access. But greater digital adoption will not be enough. To get the most out of the digital revolution, countries also need to work on the “analog complements”—by strengthening regulations that ensure competition among businesses, by adapting workers’ skills to the demands of the new economy, and by ensuring that institutions are accountable." (Overview, page 2)
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"Las brechas de acceso a Internet al interior de los países y en relación con las naciones más desarrolladas se han reducido significativamente, en particular en lo que se refi ere a las tecnologías móviles. Este proceso ha sido resultado, en gran parte, de la disminución de las tarifas de acc
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eso, el aumento de la cobertura de las redes y el menor costo de los equipos terminales. Todavía queda mucho camino que recorrer para lograr la universalización del acceso por lo que no deben descuidarse las políticas y acciones en esta materia. La masificación de las TIC ha permitido también el desarrollo y transformación del ecosistema digital en el que nuevas industrias crecen de forma muy acelerada, reconfi gurando las cadenas de valor y fusionando cadenas previamente separadas. Este estudio tiene como objetivo presentar elementos que muestren la importancia y características de estas nuevas industrias y cómo en la región se estaría repitiendo un modelo de desarrollo basado en la provisión de «insumos», en este caso la conectividad, participando solo marginalmente en la producción de servicios de mayor valor agregado, tales como contenidos, aplicaciones y servicios digitales." (Prefacio de CEPAL)
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"This report assesses how countries can maximise the potential of the digital economy as a driver for innovation and inclusive growth, and discusses the evolutions in the digital economy that policy makers need to consider as well as the emerging challenges they need to address as a part of national
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digital strategies. Chapters include an overview of the current status and outlook of the digital economy; the main trends in the ICT sector, and developments in communication and regulation policy; and overviews of ICT demand and adoption, plus the effects of the digital economy on growth and development. This volume also includes a chapter on developments related to trust in the digital economy and on the emerging Internet of things." (Publisher description)
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"El Gobierno de Nicaragua ha identificado las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (TIC) como un pilar clave de su estrategia para mejorar la gestión pública y aumentar la competitividad; sin embargo, se encuentra en desventaja comparativa en materia de inversión, activos y resultados
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respecto a otros países de la región y del mundo. Este documento de discusión presenta un argumento sobre el rol de las TIC en la agenda del desarrollo, describe un diagnóstico del estado actual de la penetración y uso de las TIC en Nicaragua, e identifica los principales retos y desafíos. El documento aborda el tema en un contexto comparativo regional y global, para facilitar la evaluación de la situación del país. A la vista de los datos y análisis presentados, se mencionan opciones de política que podría explorar el gobierno de Nicaragua para enfrentar los desafíos identificados en aspectos institucionales, regulatorios, de despliegue de infraestructuras y de generación de la demanda, mediante el desarrollo de servicios y aplicaciones que respondan a las necesidades y prioridades de individuos, empresas y el gobierno. El documento concluye con una serie de recomendaciones de política específicas que facilitarían la inserción del país en la economía digital." (Resumen)
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