New Research: Many Countries Severely Lag in Preparedness For Post-Pandemic, Socially Distant Digital Economy

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (May 14, 2020)—As countries around the world consider reopening for business after months under lockdown, new research reveals vast differences in preparedness for a post-pandemic global digital economy, with certain smaller nations emerging as standard setters and large countries in the global south among the least prepared.

The study, the first from a three-year research project called “IDEA 2030: Imagining a Digital Economy for All” at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, looked at which countries are best prepared to work in a socially distant mode using digital technologies. Among the findings:

• Small nations like Singapore and the Netherlands have emerged as leaders in social distance readiness.
• Large countries in the global south – India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and the Philippines – are the least prepared.
• China, while more ready than many other large countries, has gaps to close even as it proved proficient in the use of a cluster of different digital technologies to contain the spread of its outbreak and enforce social distance compliance.
• The United States has room to improve on resilience measures.
• And most of the European Union is relatively less ready.

“The global coronavirus pandemic became the purest test imaginable of the Internet. It showed us where the digital systems can work well and exposed gaps in these systems as they attempted to hold our economies together,” said Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at The Fletcher School at Tufts. “It is critical to understand how to make the digital economy work better for everyone, everywhere. IDEA 2030 applies the rigor and objectivity of academia to create timely, actionable insights for policymakers, innovators, technology leaders and other decision-makers.”

The study (see a video summary here) looked at the social distance readiness of 42 countries, using four measures:

• Key platforms that are critical for business continuity;
• The resilience of internet infrastructure in response to traffic surges;
• The proliferation and resilience of digital payment systems; and
• The percentage of the workforce able to work remotely.

The analysis shows that some countries’ social distancing policies are at odds with the readiness of their digital systems, with implications for how countries emerge from what is being called “The Great Lockdown.” 

Housed at The Institute for Business in the Global Context (IBGC) at The Fletcher School at Tufts, IDEA 2030 brings together two fundamental issues – the need for inclusive growth and recovery, and the pervasiveness of digital technology. Facilitating the growth of an inclusive global digital economy could be a catalyst for realizing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals envisioned by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015, according to IBGC.

“While we have been falling behind in making adequate progress on these goals, digital ‘leapfrogging’ capabilities and other innovative applications could act as accelerants,” said Chakravorti. “The aim of this research is to focus the minds of decision-makers on those goals with rigorous, data driven research and insights – an objective that has taken on an even greater urgency in a post-pandemic world in which the digital economy has been the principal stand-in for the real economy.”

Chakravorti discussed the preliminary findings in a recent webinar and in an article for Harvard Business Review titled “Which Countries Were (and Weren’t) Ready for Remote Work?”.

The research is funded by a three-year grant from the Mastercard Impact Fund in collaboration with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, which focuses on promoting equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world. The grant is being used to fund the creation of a global insight community that will bring together leading thinkers and researchers from the fields of academia, technology, business, public policy, social enterprise organization, independent research organizations and think tanks. Through these relationships, the community aims to serve as a go-to hub that disseminates data-driven research and actionable insights for fostering an inclusive global digital economy.

For more information, visit: https://sites.tufts.edu/digitalplanet/.

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About The Fletcher School at Tufts University

The Fletcher School at Tufts University is the oldest graduate school of international affairs in the U.S., working to solve the world’s most pressing challenges through a collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach to research and education. Since 1933, The Fletcher School has prepared the world’s leaders to become innovative problem-solvers in government, business, and non-governmental organizations with strategic cross-sector networks. Through our ongoing commitment and rigorous approach to advancing world knowledge through research and scholarship, The Fletcher School at Tufts University continues to inform and build bridges to meaningful global solutions. 

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