Important Takeaways:

• On March 5th, 2024, World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga, and Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon, were guest panelists at the Global Digital Summit in Washington D.C., discussing “the power of digital technologies to accelerate poverty reduction on a livable planet and how the public and private sectors can collaborate to accelerate this mission.”
• The World Bank added that the summit ‘highlighted forward-thinking perspectives, cutting-edge technologies, and new insights centered on three pillars: (1) Connect, (2) Innovate, and (3) Transform.”
• With the digital landscape transforming so rapidly, Banga believes that these new investments in the digital space is needed for “governance.” He said, “I think that if governments embrace digital, they create transparency, they create clean governance, they create citizen engagement, and I think that is a very important part of digital that we are keen to be a part of.”
• Later in the conversation Banga was asked how they should go pitching their emphasis on governments making deeper and long term investments to build a sustainable digital framework. One of these things includes “a sense of crisis,” he claims.
  • “A sense of crisis is your best friend. Never let a crisis go waste. A sense of crisis is your best friend in getting people to agree to tackle this triangle, along with the enabling tool of technology and the biggest headroom is geopolitics and fractionizing of the global order. That’s why I believe in digital for us.”
  • “I think providing infrastructure is a core element. But on top of that, creating a digital identity platform for citizenry is kind of foundational. I believe your government should be the owner of your digital ID.” Vestberg agreed: “Absolutely, 100%,” he remarked.

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