Why Does GDN Work on Digitalisation (and What Are We Up To)?

Why would an international organisation with a mandate to strengthen the social sciences in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) focus on digitalisation? Because digitalisation is not just a trend. It’s being actively pursued in many places as a strategy for transformative socio-economic development.

The World Bank calls it “the transformational opportunity of our time,” noting that “hospitals, schools, energy, and agriculture — all run on connectivity and data.”

Gargee Ghosh of the Gates Foundation, which recently announced an unprecedented acceleration of its giving through 2035, puts it this way:  "Just as roads and railways have long connected people to opportunity, [digital public infrastructure] — like digital ID and payment systems — are transforming access to government services, health resources, and financial tools, unlocking economic potential for millions."

Nandan Nilekani, the chairman and co-founder of Infosys, pitches the urgency of a digital transition in these terms: “issues of economic inequity cannot be solved in a traditional way. It can’t be solved by spending money, because we have to do a lot more with a lot less money, and we have to do it faster and achieve a big impact.”

We could quote many more. The bottom line is this: between the widespread enthusiasm and the bold promises, digitalisation is moving forward faster than it is being understood. It is becoming synonymous with systemic reforms, and possibly even systemic change in society and the economy. What shape will this push take across countries? Who will win and who will lose from it? Is a new social contract on the horizon?

At GDN, we’ve been stepping up our work in this domain under the leadership of our President, Jean-Louis Arcand, and with a dynamic and expanded team. If digitalisation is driving policy reforms and simultaneously reshaping previously analog processes, then social sciences have a critical role to play. Whether in analysing the evolving relationship between citizens and the state, access to services, or the dynamics of innovation, social science can help make sense of the visions, proposals, realities, and impacts. We must also keep an eye on how digitalisation is changing research itself, and its interface with public debate and decision-making.

A Pilot for Studying Digital Public Infrastructure

In 2024, after attending the first Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Summit, we launched a pilot programme  with funding and thought partnership from Co-Develop  to explore how researchers across developing countries could study the socio-economic impacts of DPI. This includes everything from digital IDs and payments to interoperability between digital systems in public and private sectors.

Even though many components of public infrastructure remain analog, the digitalisation of select layers can significantly impact their performance, accessibility, and equity. Studies in Benin, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh illuminated these dynamics and underscored how quickly digitalisation is outpacing policy and academic debates around its scope.

Shaping Research Agendas on digitalisation, from the South up

A natural next step was the first-ever Conference on the Economics of DPI, held in New Delhi on June 28, 2025. We brought together some of India’s top economists and policy thinkers to ask: What are the questions the economics discipline should be asking about the impact of DPI on economies and societies?

A public consultation on this research agenda is now open on our website, and a mighty donor coalition is forming to support local research institutions in advancing this work in India and beyond.

This conference was inspired by work we have started in West Africa, where GDN runs a comprehensive capacity-building programme for early-career researchers, universities, and think tanks. At the May 2025 Evidence Fair in Cotonou, 14 think tanks and policy actors from six countries gathered to discuss urgent research priorities at the intersection of digitalisation and governance. This is part of GDN’s Savoirs Sahel programme, and was implemented in a thought and programmatic partnership with ACED Africa. We have launched an online regional consultation, building on this two-day gathering of over 60 participants, and collaborative grants for literature reviews on specific sub-themes will feed the reflection in the early fall.

The 2025 Global Development Awards Competition: Digital Transformation for Universal Health Coverage

To fully harness the potential of digitalisation, and to understand where and how it can work best, state actors must also draw on the imagination and vision of non-state actors. This is the spirit of the Global Development Awards Competition, which each year recognises both researchers and NGOs working on a priority theme under Japan’s ODA.

The 2025 edition of GDN’s flagship competition focuses on the intersection between all things digital and the long-standing goal of universal health coverage. Six NGOs and researchers from around the world will receive grants under this programme, which has awarded more than USD 4 million to 134 grantees worldwide since its launch in 2000.

Digitalisation on GlobalDev

GDN’s work on digitalisation also extends to thought leadership through GlobalDev, our international development blog. Recent contributions have explored the promise and pitfalls of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), in partnership with the ICTD initiative at the Institute of Development Studies (UK),  and how digital tools can be treated as global public goods for policymaking. Articles have examined topics ranging from financial inclusion and service delivery to the challenges of data privacy, affordability, and algorithmic bias, with voices from across the Global South reflecting on how digitalisation is reshaping governance, economic opportunity, and social inclusion.

Looking Ahead: Research Systems for a Digitalised World

If digitalisation represents systemic change, then we must also ask: What kind of research systems do we need to meet these new challenges? This question, among many others, will be at the heart of the Global Development Conference in October 2025, titled Inclusive Digital Transformation, which we’re organising in partnership with local and global institutions in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Keynote speakers include some of the most thought-provoking thinkers on digitalisation, from the global North and the global South.

Why This Matters

Ultimately, we believe researchers across the Global South must play a central role in shaping the digitalisation research agenda. This is the very purpose and strength of the social sciences: to analyse, question, and inform the complex challenges and opportunities of our time, feeding public debates and informing policy discussions.

We will succeed only if this conversation is inclusive, diverse, and well-funded.

That’s what we’re up to. And that’s why GDN is working on digitalisation.