To address this challenge, the World Bank Group (WBG) has unveiled its first digital strategy, aimed at helping developing countries overcome barriers and expand access to technology.
The world is entering an era in which science and technology, especially AI, have become a decisive factor shaping a country’s competitiveness and standing in the global economic and geostrategic landscape. However, while the AI revolution offers opportunities to all countries, not every nation can seize them.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the wave of investment in AI is opening a growing gap between economies. While the US and several semiconductor manufacturing hubs in Asia are benefiting from strong capital inflows, many other countries risk being left behind in this fiercely competitive race.
Disparities in infrastructure, alongside access to and use of information technology and the internet are considered among the primary drivers of this growing divide.
Currently, only 23% of the population in low-income countries uses the internet, compared with 94% in high-income countries.
In many African countries, even people living in areas with network coverage are unable to access the internet because they cannot afford smartphones or data packages, or lack basic digital skills.
The global AI landscape is also increasingly divided into two contrasting camps. While the most advanced AI systems are being developed by a handful of countries and major technology corporations, many other economies remain unable to deploy the technology effectively because they lack reliable electricity supplies, internet infrastructure, data, skills and the necessary institutional frameworks.
Countries deeply integrated into high-tech value chains not only enjoy advantages in attracting investment and strengthening production capacity but are also better positioned to shape future global technology standards.
Conversely, countries that mainly consume AI products risk becoming dependent on external platforms, data and technologies.
Without measures to ease infrastructure bottlenecks and narrow technological development gaps between countries, the world could face increasingly severe inequality, potentially reversing progress achieved over recent decades.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has warned that the AI boom is rapidly becoming a driver of global economic growth, while deepening divisions as some countries struggle to keep pace with scientific and technological advances.
Against this backdrop, an urgent question arises: How can the rapid development of technology be prevented from erecting new barriers that divide the world?
In response, the WBG’s newly announced digital strategy outlines measures to help developing countries expand internet connectivity, lower device and data costs, develop digital services and skills, and establish the foundations needed to seize opportunities presented by AI.
The strategy identifies digital technologies as a means of boosting productivity and expanding employment opportunities across infrastructure, energy, agriculture, healthcare, tourism and manufacturing.
Analysts expect the WBG initiative to equip developing countries with the tools needed to participate confidently in the global technological transformation.
Observers note that if action is taken now, AI could enable developing countries to compress a century of progress into just a decade.
Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the WBG Indermit Gill said developing economies do not need enormous AI models or large data centres to reap the benefits of the technology.
By adopting small, low-cost AI tools tailored to their needs, countries can deliver better healthcare, education, justice and other essential services to millions of people.
However, this can only be achieved if the world acts swiftly to remove barriers in energy, connectivity infrastructure and digital skills, thereby narrowing the digital divide between countries.
