Launch of World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends

Thank you, Selina.

Good morning, everyone.

Those of you familiar with Apple products may remember the phrase the technology giant used to promote the iPad 3: "Technology is at its best when it is invisible. When you're conscious only of what you're doing, not the device you're doing it with."

As the new World Bank report we have before us suggests: Apple's phrase is accurate but incomplete.

For us, here at UNCTAD, technology is at its best when it is inclusive. When a technology used by some people today can be expanded to more and more people tomorrow.

Technology cannot be at its best when only you and I can make a bank transaction on our phones.

When only you and I receive an SMS reminding us of a medical appointment;

When only big firms can engage in e-commerce;

Or, when only our children can benefit from the richness of knowledge available on the Internet.

Too many don't have the opportunity to take advantage of technologies that the rest of us now take for granted.

Technology is at its best when it is inclusive.

And wider use of ICT has important economic effects. It can be transformational.

For instance, more internet use in a country is positively correlated to the growth of bilateral exports of goods and services, as well as to higher exports to higher-income countries

Recent literature reviews in ICT and productivity suggest a clear positive impact -- of course, given that ICTs are properly incorporated in the system. For instance, African firms using the internet have on average 3.7 times higher labour productivy, than non-users.

And this is not only the case in developing countries. In fact, recent research in UNCTAD shows that e-sales activities accounted for 17% for the total growth of labor productivity, between 2003 and 2010, in some sectors in Europe.

By using websties for marketing and sales, firms are able to sell to markets otherwise not reachable. That is for instance, the case in China, where Alibaba enables smaller and younger firms to sell more products and reach new consumers or businesses in foreign countries. Or, it is also the case of Anou, the Moroccan online platform that enables artisans in rural areas to directly export their product on line.

There are many reasons why technology must be inclusive. And there is wide consensus that we need technology to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. In fact, last December, the UN General Assembly established a direct link between the processes of the World Summit on the Information Society and Agenda 2030.

The World Development Report is a timely and relevant contribution to the question of how to enhance Digital Dividends, how to better harness ICT for development. And we are thus very pleased to co-host this launch of the World Development Report 2016.

A key ending of this report is that we cannot expect technology to be inclusive on its own. It needs help. It needs policies.

And this is where we all come in, to design, or help design, policies that create or strengthen what the World Bank calls the analog complements. Not only to reduce the cost of provision, but to ensure a competitive business environment that the physical and human infrastructures are there to get the most out of ICTs.

Maximizing Digital Dividends is part of UNCTAD's core mandate, and it requires enormous coordination within countries, and cooperation between international organizations. And I was pleased to see that the World Development Report benefited from UNCTAD's research in this areas, such as the Information Economy Report.

But there are other areas in which we could foster collaboration. UNCTAD is currently chairing the UN Group on the Information Society (UNGIS), where we coordinated the preparation of the Joint Statement by the Chief Executives Board on the WSIS Implementation.

UNCTAD is also serving as the secretariat for the ECOSOC Commission on Science and Technology for Development, where the follow-up to the WSIS process is key.

We are more than pleased to collaborate in all possible fronts, research and analysis, technical cooperation, or intergovernmental negotiations.

I would like to conclude by welcoming the WDR as a very valuable contribution to our understanding on the how to leverage ICT for development. I am keen to hearing more from the main authors.

I am pleased that Philippa Biggs from ITU and Michael Kende from the Internet Society were able to join us today and share their perspective on the report. Torbjörn will also add some additional UNCTAD reflections on the report.

It is great to see so many in the audience, which I believe is an indication of the strong interest here in Geneva in the topic selected for the WDR.

Thank you for coming.

I wish all of you a very interesting and interactive session.

Back to you Selina!