At GlobalDev we have spent half a year exploring how digitalization is revolutionizing services and connectivity around the world. This will also be the focus of GDN’s 2025 Global Development Conference, which will bring together experts to discuss how to make this transformation inclusive and sustainable
As every year, GlobalDev launches a special series. This time, we have decided to focus on digitalization, launching a call for papers in collaboration with The Institute for Development Studies (IDS): Digital Public Infrastructure, State Capacity, and Development, for which we have already published a number of articles.
This will also be the central theme of our annual conference at GDN in 2025. This is no coincidence: around the world, the pandemic fueled a true digital boom, resulting in an urgent need to stay in touch, conduct business transactions, make bank payments, and more.
Since the pandemic, each country has advanced at its own pace, prioritizing the most urgent areas for modernization. A notable example is Mexico, where in 2023, more than 80% of its population gained access to the internet, boosting the use of digital technologies such as e-commerce and fostering initiatives such as “smart cities”. Mexico City became the second city in the world with the highest access to free public internet, while Puebla hosted the 10th edition of the Smart City Expo LATAM Congress, an event that brings together presidents and political leaders from Latin America to explore smart, inclusive and sustainable solutions for cities.
This digital transformation is not exclusive to one country: significant progress is taking place in different corners of the world. That is why, during the first half of the year, GlobalDev has published several articles by researchers that analyze this trend from global and regional perspective. For example, Sridhar Ganapathy examines global advances in digital infrastructure and the systemic barriers that low- and middle-income countries still face to effective data sharing, in his article “Challenges and Opportunities for Data Sharing in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.”
Likewise, Research Associate at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), together with Dr. Farooq, PhD in Taxation and Development from IDS, Fida Muhammad, Head of International Taxation at the Federal Board of Revenue of Pakistan, and Waqas Ahmed, Joint Secretary at the Federal Board of Revenue, Government of Pakistan, show how digital public infrastructure (DPI) is revolutionizing government service delivery, citizen engagement, and core state functions, highlighting the case of Pakistan and the integration of its DPI into the tax system.
Elizabeth Bermeo, Research Associate at the University of Bristol and Fabrizio Santoro (IDS), discusses how developing countries are investing in digital platforms to transform government operations and improve service delivery, highlighting the example of Rwanda and its integrated e-government platform, IremboGov, which streamlines access to essential services. Her article “Bridging the divide: Rwanda’s quest for equitable digital governance” provides a detailed overview of this experience.
Similarly, Lucía Rossel, ICTD consultant and again Fabrizio Santoro (IDS), explore the potential of digital public infrastructure to simplify tax administration and improve tax compliance in Africa.
Since the beginning of the year, we have maintained our focus on digitalization, given its global relevance, particularly in upper-middle-income countries. This line of work is aligned with the thematic axis of the 2025 Global Development Conference: Inclusive digital transformation, social impact and technological innovations. The GDN team has identified the urgency of analyzing the social implications of this change, discussing innovative solutions and promoting policies that promote digital inclusion.
The conference will be held in October at our headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, where researchers and experts from all over the world will meet to discuss, exchange experiences and participate in workshops dedicated to the various aspects of digitalization.
GlobalDev will participate again by facilitating various workshops, both in English and French, aimed at researchers who seek to acquire new tools to communicate their work more effectively. In addition, we are launching our new project for journalists, which will bring together six professionals from different countries to work on the co-design of collaborative training programs. These journalists will also contribute to giving greater visibility to our conference, so we invite you to follow our social networks, so you don’t miss the news and coverage in real time.
We hope that the second half of the year will bring us more articles that continue to inform and inspire our readers, as well as new development communication workshops to strengthen the capacities of our research community.