June 2018

Digital Development: A New Agenda for the 21st Century

Digital is a game changer, for developed and developing countries alike. Top policymakers, world-leading experts and digital aficionados gathered at the High-Level Summit on Development in the Digital Age: A New Agenda for the 21st Century, jointly convened by the Lisbon Council and the World Bank Group, to deep dive on the increasing role digital technologies play in the development agenda. Andrus Ansip, vice-president of the European Commission and chair of the working group on digital entrepreneurship at the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, delivered a powerful keynote; and Hans Timmer, chief economist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank Group, gave a fascinating presentation on the challenge of digital for developed and developing world alike. Janet Shufor Bih Fofang, founder of the Tassah Academy, managing director of Girls in Tech Cameroon and TechWoman 2013, led an all-star panel on the future of work, outlining her work to help children in Africa to learn STEM. Vincenzo Spiezia, head of the information and communications technology at the OECD, brought new insight on the impact of technologies in the labour market. Christian Bodewig, programme leader for inclusive growth in European Union member states at the Work Bank Group; Linda Corugedo Steneberg, director for policy strategy and outreach at the European Commission’s DG communications networks, content and technology; Massimiliano Paolucci, special representative to the European institutions of the World Bank Group; and Jane Treadwell, practice manager for transport and digital development at the World Bank Group, also intervened.