Developing Economies

Information and communications technology (ICT) is driving global economic growth and economic opportunity. Many countries are taking effective steps to deploy digital infrastructure, enhance citizens’ digital skills and literacy, empower women and disabled citizens to leverage digital tools, and helping small- and medium-sized enterprises take advantage of digital technologies.

The U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which was created to serve counterweight to China’s Belt-and-Road initiative, rewards countries whose intellectual property and data policies harm American commercial interests and jobs. That needs to stop.

Governments should ignore the message that large firms are harmful and instead allow them to acquire market power legitimately, keep IP rights strong, and reduce corporate tax rates. Doing so will increase innovation and expand the economic pie for everyone.

China has experienced the same growth trend that some of the Asian Tigers have experienced. Only China’s path is about 25 years behind.

Watch the ITIF Center for Data Innovation event for a discussion about AI, jobs, and digital development in the Global South.

In order to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, we must advance policies that facilitate global trade and innovation to secure access to safe water, clean and affordable energy, and sustainable industrialization.

Econometric research found that farmers with access to extension services, where agents visit farmers directly to share new information and technology, were over 18 percent more likely to adopt improved rice varieties than farmers lacking extension services.

While there are more advancements to be made, Kenya’s long-term innovation policies for improved digital access prove that digitalization is a force for sustainable economic growth among developing nations.

Intellectual property has proved to be indispensable in developing effective vaccines and therapeutics. Nevertheless, advocates have seized the moment to petition the WTO’s TRIPS Council not just to suspend patents, but also to reform national copyright laws governing digital access to knowledge, and data and text mining.

Amidst an unprecedented pace of innovation, some 90 developing nations, led by India and South Africa, have petitioned the WTO’s TRIPS Council calling for a waiver to suspend all IP rights associated with COVID-19 innovations—again asserting the false narrative that IP rights inhibit access to medicines.