World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives

by World Bank

Overview

The unprecedented growth of data and its ubiquity in our daily lives signal that the digital revolution is transforming the world. But much of the value of data remains untapped, waiting to be realized. Data collected for one particular purpose has the potential to generate economic value in applications far beyond those originally anticipated. However, many barriers stand in the way of the beneficial reuse of data, ranging from misaligned incentives and incompatible data systems to a fundamental lack of trust. The World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives will explore the tremendous potential of the changing data landscape to improve the lives of poor people, but also to open backdoors that can harm individuals, businesses, and societies. The first part of the report assesses how better use and reuse of data can enhance the design of public policies, programs, and service delivery, as well as improve market efficiency and job creation through private sector growth. The second part of the report focuses on issues of governance, law, and policy that can help realize data’s potential benefits while safeguarding against harmful outcomes. By examining these issues, the report aims to show how data can be leveraged to benefit the lives of poor people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781464816017
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	06/15/2021
Series:	World Development Report
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	346
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

The World Bank came into formal existence in 1945 following the international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements. It is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. The organization's activities are focused on education, health, agriculture and rural development, environmental protection, establishing and enforcing regulations, infrastructure development, governance and legal institutions development. The World Bank is made up of two unique development institutions owned by its 185 Member Countries. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries and the International Development Association (IDA), which focuses on the poorest countries in the world.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Abbreviations xvii

Overview 1

Overview 3

Advancing development objectives through data 3

Aligning data governance with the social contract 10

Moving toward an integrated national data system 16

Notes 18

References 19

Part I Advancing development objectives through data 21

Chapter 1 Harnessing the value of data for the poor 23

The untapped potential of data to serve development objectives 24

A brief history of data 25

A data typology 27

The economics of data and political economy issues 30

Data for development: A conceptual framework 33

A data governance framework to enforce the social contract for data 38

Putting it all together: Establishing an integrated national data system 41

Organization of this Report 42

Notes 43

References 44

Spotlight 1.1: Helping communities to gain the ability to collect and analyze their own data 48

Spotlight 1.2: The importance of good data in helping low- and middle-income countries to manage debt during and after the COVID-19 pandemic 50

Chapter 2 Data as a force for public good 52

The central role of public intent data 54

Public intent data and development: Three pathways for adding value 54

Gaps in the coverage, quality, and usability of public intent data 59

Why data gaps persist: The political economy of public intent data 65

Realizing the potential of public intent data 71

Notes 75

References 78

Spotlight 2.1: Deploying data to curtail violence against women and girls 85

Spotlight 2.2: The role of international organizations in improving public intent data 89

Chapter 3 Data as a resource for the private sector 91

Creating value and solving development challenges through data-driven business models 92

The role of data in the production process of firms 92

Data-driven businesses and the technologies that help them create value 93

Focus on platform firms in low- and middle-income countries 95

Data inputs for economic activity 98

The positive development impacts of data used in the production process 100

How use of data in the production process is transforming sectors 103

Some potential risks and adverse outcomes of data-driven businesses to be addressed by policy 107

Notes 111

References 113

Spotlight 3.1: The huge potential of open data for business applications 117

Chapter 4 Creative reuses of data for greater value 121

The power of repurposing and combining different types and sources of data 122

New insights from repurposing and combining data 125

Limitations in using private intent data for development 134

Investments in data innovations: Building a culture of data 136

Notes 143

References 144

Spotlight 4.1: Gathering, sharing, and using better data on weather, water, and climate from low- and middle-income countries 150

Spotlight 4.2: Making roads safer by repurposing private intent traffic data 152

Part II Aligning data governance with the social contract 155

Chapter 5 Data infrastructure policy: Ensuring equitable access for poor people and poor countries 157

Data infrastructure as a source of inequity 158

Connecting poor people 160

Connecting poor countries 168

Conclusions and recommendations 174

Notes 178

References 180

Spotlight 5.1: How the COVID-19 pandemic has recalibrated expectations of reasonable data consumption and highlighted the digital divide 184

Spotlight 5.2: Data's carbon footprint 186

Chapter 6 Data policies, laws, and regulations: Creating a trust environment 189

A trust framework of data safeguards and enablers 190

Building safeguards for trusted data use 191

Creating enablers for data sharing 199

Recommendations for crafting a holistic legal framework 206

A maturity model for strengthening the legal and regulatory framework 208

Notes 209

References 215

Spotlight 6.1: The evolving social contract on data: Balancing data sharing and data protection to facilitate contact tracing to control COVID-19 222

Spotlight 6.2: The debate over ownership of personal data 224

Chapter 7 Creating value in the data economy: The role of competition, trade, and tax policy 227

Shaping data regulation to support competition, trade, and taxation 228

Competition policy 229

Trade policy 237

Tax policy 246

Conclusion 250

Notes 250

References 254

Spotlight 7.1: Understanding the interface between data protection and competition policy 259

Spotlight 7.2: The role of regional and international cooperation in addressing data governance challenges 261

Chapter 8 Institutions for data governance: Building trust through collective action 265

How can institutions help govern data for development? 266

Data management across the data life cycle 267

Data governance functions 269

Mapping data governance functions to illustrative institutions 271

Data intermediation and collaboration 277

Making data governance institutions effective 280

Sustainable outcomes through inclusive multistakeholder governance 284

Assessing the institutional foundation through the lens of a maturity model 286

Notes 288

References 291

Spotlight 8.1: The need for a new global consensus on data: A call to action 297

Spotlight 8.2: Promoting citizen science in the Amazon basin 299

Part III Moving toward an integrated national data system 301

Chapter 9 Creating an integrated national data system 303

Toward an integrated national data system 304

The vision of an integrated national data system 305

Realizing the vision 309

Notes 322

References 324

Boxes

O.1 Toward an integrated national data system: Country examples 18

1.1 What this Report means by data 24

1.2 Innovation in traditional surveys: A COVID-19 example in Brazil 29

1.3 The challenges of trading data through markets 32

1.4 Using private intent data to tackle COVID-19 36

2.1 Six types of public intent data 55

2.2 The World Bank's Statistical Performance Indicators 60

2.3 Gender data and the COVID-19 pandemic 61

3.1 Technologies and methods that support data-driven decision-making and intermediation 94

4.1 Using cellphones to combat COVID-19 122

4.2 Leveraging private intent data to tackle COVID-19 126

4.3 Preventing illegal fishing in protected maritime areas 131