In periods of crisis, digital technologies provide a lifeline that keeps people, communities and businesses functioning. From the Covid-19 pandemic to violent conflicts and natural disasters, these have shown us that being connected is vital for everyone to continue working, learning and communicating.
How policymakers have responded to these emergencies has played a large part. In particular, as a new paper by the World Bank Group's Development Committee shows, more agile regulation has accelerated digitalisation and unleashed innovation. In today's global context of several overlapping crises, this needs to become the norm. Secure and resilient internet infrastructure is a fundamental necessity.
During the pandemic, as more and more of our lives went online, internet usage spiked worldwide. In 2020, 800 million people went online for the first time, and 58 low- and middle-income countries used digital payments to deliver Covid-19 relief.
