FY24, spanning July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, marked the first year of implementation of the second DDP strategy cycle, DDP 2.0. The Partnership’s nascent portfolio consisted, as of June 30, 2024, of 27 operational, knowledge, and convening grants (the DDP grant portfolio). Activities supported by the FY24 DDP grant portfolio, along with lending operations approved in FY24 and informed by DDP grants, benefited 38 countries. DDP funded a total of 37 reports, including flagship publications, diagnostics, policy notes, and research papers, which were disseminated through 34 events. Activities supported by DDP grants engaged a total of 240 stakeholders, and 21 trainings and workshops were delivered to key counterparts. A total of 2,100 individuals participated in training events, workshops and dissemination events. Deliverables funded by DDP grants informed 10 policies, regulations, laws and strategies as well as 12 key WBG strategy documents. DDP client-facing grants were instrumental in supporting policy and regulatory reforms that created or expanded telecommunications markets by improving competition, enhancing regulatory practices, and addressing market failures causing high prices and otherwise limiting access to mobile and fixed broadband. In FY24, DDP grants supported the adoption of eight reforms. Cumulatively, DDP-supported deliverables informed a total of seven lending operations approved by the World Bank Boad of Directors in FY24 across three regions, including three DPFs and four IPFs, with a total financing of $627 million.
Annual Reviews
DDP 2.0
DDP Annual Review 2024
New Beginnings, Bolder Ambitions.
DDP Annual Review 2023
Transitioning Towards Scale
The 2023 Annual Review is the final one of the initial phase of the Digital Development Partnership (DDP 1.0) and provides aggregate overview of DDP during such phase, with particular emphasis on select results achieved in FY23. During its first strategy cycle, spanning FY 2016-2023, the Partnership promoted global thought leadership and client-facing grant activities in over 80 countries, focusing on leveraging digital technologies and data to foster green, inclusive, and resilient social and economic development. DDP’s initial phase has been characterized by the development of an initial understanding of client needs in the digital development space and the World Bank’s value proposition in providing support to meet such needs. Since its inception in 2016, DDP has evolved and played a strategic role in enabling the transition of the World Bank’s digital development agenda in line with the ambitions laid out in its historical Evolution process. In FY23, ‘Accelerating Digitalization’ was chosen as one of six World Bank Global Challenge Programs (GCP) which support countries to respond to global challenges and achieve development impact at speed and scale. DDP helped position the Digital Development Global Practice to lead one of the GCPs.
DDP Annual Review 2022
Towards Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Digitalization.
Digital Development Partnership (DDP) has now completed its sixth year of the implementation cycle. During the reporting period, the partnership continued its ambitious growth path, rapidly accelerating its portfolio and expanding its geographical footprint. Since inception in 2016, the DDP portfolio has reached a total of 36 million dollars (in terms of funding allocations from the underlying DDP umbrella trust fund) in support of 125 activities in 80 economies. The partnership has solidified its position as a leading World Bank platform, shaping the digital agenda and driving digitalization in developing countries. The balance between DDP’s country-specific work and global knowledge has gradually shifted toward a greater emphasis on country-level engagements, particularly in the reporting period.
DDP Annual Review 2021
On the Path to Recovery
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis demonstrates the need for continued efforts for improving integration of technology in development solutions. Digital Development Partnership (DDP’)s support remained critical to facilitate deployment of digital infrastructure and adoption of technologies to expand connectivity, coverage, and quality of service, while safeguarding data privacy, governance, and online security. Over the past fiscal year, DDP continued to build strong partnerships with both the public and private sectors to foster the creation and implementation of digital development strategies for their client countries. DDP-funded technical assistance to client governments continued to help shape the views and understanding of the digital environment and drive the development and implementation of concrete reforms on the ground. To build back better from the crisis, DDP will continue to keep its programmatic focus on an ecosystem approach to digital transformation, working on both the foundational elements of the digital economy, including digital infrastructure, digital platforms, digital skills, as well as digital applications across critical sectors, while ensuring protection of personal data, mitigating cybersecurity risks, and aiming for a truly inclusive digital economy for all. Despite the unprecedented scale of the crisis, DDP will continue to provide critical support to clients to help cope with the aftermath of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and accelerate green, resilient, and inclusive Coronavirus (COVID-19) recovery.
DDP Annual Review 2020
Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic presented countries with unprecedented challenges this year, spurring widespread shutdowns, school and business closures, and job losses. Countries are facing an unprecedented economic downturn. Digital technologies have become a critical lifeline for people coping with social distancing. Digital Development Partnership (DDP) remained a key vehicle to deliver assistance and help countries respond quickly to the pandemic. In the midst of the crisis, DDP was able to use the program levers to channel support to where it is needed most and escalate solutions for the most vulnerable. The partnership continued to draw on experience and knowledge across sectors and regions to provide policy advice to our client countries and facilitate exchange of ideas and best practices. Throughout the past year, DDP continued to build strong partnerships with both public and private sectors. In March, Google joined DDP, bringing the number of private sector partners to three (GSMA and Microsoft were founding partners) and the total number of partners to 12. DDP’s footprint in International Development Association (IDA) countries - as well as countries affected by fragile, conflict, and violence (FCV) - continued to expand. The teams are currently working with 50 plus client countries, most of which are in Africa - an expansion from around 25 active client relationships two years ago. The authors are also actively growing our portfolio in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia regions.
DDP Annual Review 2019
Making Sure That No One Is Left Behind in the Digital Age
Since its inception three years ago, the Digital Development Partnership has grown into a stable and productive partnership platform. The Netherlands and Israel joined in the summer of 2019, bringing the total number of DDP partners to 10. A fourth workplan with new activities – the most ambitious yet – was launched in early summer 2019 and signals significant growth for the DDP portfolio. DDP has delivered a wide range of knowledge pieces and reports in the past year. Most knowledge activities were supported by a conference, workshop, or seminar, to foster client engagement, awareness raising, and to disseminate the results of any assessments. Examples: Broadband report titled "Connecting Africa Through Broadband: A strategy for doubling connectivity by 2021 and reaching universal access by 2030". East Africa Single Digital Market Report. Seven cybersecurity assessments for African countries. Legal, regulatory, and competitive analysis of issues related to License Regimes, OTT and International Gateways Liberalization in the ECOWAS region. Digital Economy Readiness Assessments including in Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal. Ethiopia, Policy Options White Paper, and a Communications Services Regulation. Indonesia/Southeast Asia: "The Digital Economy in Southeast Asia: Building the Foundations for Future Growth", published June 2019. World Bank Digital Economy Reports for Cambodia and Vietnam April 2019. Innovative Use of Spectrum and Broadband Expansion 2019 in Peru. DDP-funded interventions help shape the views and understanding of the digital environment and efficient sector regulations. Examples include: Across African countries, digital economy assessments lay the ground for sector reforms and infrastructure investments to boost the digital sector. Cybersecurity assessments have started to support policy and legislative change for stronger cybersecurity protection. In Ethiopia, DDP-funded work has contributed to the realization of the Government of Ethiopia's vision towards a competitive telecommunications sector and resulted in a new telecom proclamation.
DDP Annual Review 2018
Moving the Needle: Digital Technologies Becoming a Driver for Development
Digital technologies can help address some of the toughest development challenges like providing access to information, overcoming remoteness, exclusion, and disconnects, and offering economic opportunity. To leverage digital solutions for development, the World Bank’s digital development partnership (DDP) offers a platform for digital innovation and development financing. DDP brings public and private sector partners together to catalyze support to low and middle-income countries in the articulation and implementation of digital development strategies and operational work programs. As digital progress is fast and primarily private sector driven, DDP draws on best practices from client countries and the private sector. To this end, DDP is bringing together traditional partners from the development community and leading global IT firms. Much of the agenda is also encouraged through loans and grants from the World Bank and other development partners. This DDP annual review 2018 reports on activities and results achieved during the last fiscal year. It is the second report in the series, after the inaugural report was issued in 2017. Chapter I gives a snapshot on the main contributions DDP has made to foster progress on the digital development agenda. Chapter II presents operational highlights across the different activities. Chapter III offers suggestions for planning FY 19.
DDP Annual Review 2017
1st Anniversary Edition
While in the past, digital was just another term for Information Technology (IT), today’s use of digital technology across sectors and industries, permeating nearly all aspects of social life, the economy, and public sector service delivery, marks the arrival of the digital age. In reaction, demand for digital solutions is increasing sharply, including in matters of development policy and operations. The availability and scale of digital-driven development solutions has grown significantly, enticing a wide range of stakeholders to rethink how they define and deliver their value propositions, and jointly investing in a culture of technology innovation and adoption. The World Bank’s 2016 world development report, titled digital dividends, provided a balanced analysis of the digital dividends that developing countries and emerging economies can expect to reap, while also highlighting the vast digital opportunities and gaps that exist, and the risks if some countries remain left behind the digital revolution. The World Bank’s digital development partnership (DDP) was established in October 2016 to operationalize the key messages of WDR 2016, offer a platform for digital innovation and development financing, and assist low and middle-income countries to reap the benefits of the digital age. Recognizing that digital progress is primarily private sector driven, DDP brings public and private sector partners together to catalyze support to developing countries in the articulation and implementation of digital development strategies and operational work programs. This report captures the initial efforts to meet our digital development aspirations during DDP’s first year, and it provides a forward-looking perspective towards more progress in year two of its operation.
