The key messages for this brief are as follows: 1) Africa has a window of opportunity to enlarge the economic benefits from its booming oil, gas, and minerals industries; 2) The lack of specialized expertise is a major bottleneck obstructing the potential for more well-paid jobs and home-grown supplier companies; 3) Significant skills shortages exist both in terms of numbers and quality, particularly within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields); 4) Establishing public private partnerships and regional centers of excellence is key to building these specializations; and 5) The World Bank is supporting 10 African countries as they train workers for the extractive industries.
... See More +See Less -
The key messages for this brief are as follows: 1) Africa has a window of opportunity to enlarge the economic benefits from its booming oil, gas, and minerals industries; 2) The lack of specialized expertise is a major bottleneck obstructing the potential for more well-paid jobs and home-grown supplier companies; 3) Significant skills shortages exist both in terms of numbers and quality, particularly within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields); 4) Establishing public private partnerships and regional centers of excellence is key to building these specializations; and 5) The World Bank is supporting 10 African countries as they train workers for the extractive industries.
... See More +See Less -
This report concerns the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and post conflict reconstruction, especially with ways in which ICTs can be used by governments and donors to support the transition from violence to stability.
... See More + The report is divided into two parts: part one presents an overview and framework for analysis; and part two presents' case studies. The World Bank Group (WBG) has been concerned with sustainable recovery from violent conflict since its origins in 1944 as indicated by the name of its leading institution, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The role of ICTs in development has also been prominent within the Bank's portfolio since the 1990s, as they have developed rapidly in technological complexity and geographic reach, becoming ever more central to government and business, to the sharing of knowledge, and to interactions between individuals and within communities. This report gives an overview of the relationship between conflict, reconstruction and the role of ICTs. It builds on experience within the Bank as well as on a wide range of practitioner, academic, and other literature. It draws on five case studies of aspects of ICT development in societies emerging from conflict, which were commissioned by the Bank and which are reported in subsequent chapters. These case studies were specifically chosen to reflect the experiences of widely differing countries, at different stages of recovery from conflict: Afghanistan following decades of civil war followed by international intervention; Liberia following a negotiated settlement to protracted civil war; Timor-Leste since its troubled acquisition of independence; Rwanda seeking stability in the aftermath of genocide; and Tunisia, which recently experienced not civil war but insurrection leading to a change of government.
See Less -
The development objectives of the Telecommunications Sector Reform Project for Myanmar are to: (a) improve the enabling environment for the telecommunications sector and extend coverage in selected remote pilot locations; and (b) establish priority eGovernment technological foundations and institutional capacity for Government to embark on its public sector reform program.
... See More + There are four components to the project, the first component being creating an enabling environment for connectivity. This component will focus on technical assistance for addressing policy and regulatory bottlenecks to maximize the benefits of the sector reform agenda ($2.00 million). Technical assistance will be provided to MCIT on policy matters and to the regulator on various regulatory matters. The second component is the extending connectivity to rural areas. This component will support the development of the Government's universal access strategy in order to accelerate the provision of telecommunications and internet services in remote areas of Myanmar. The third component is the enabling eGovernment foundations. This component aims to support the Government's charter in governance reforms by improving transparency and accountability. It will also place a stronger emphasis on the provision of Government information and services for its constituents as committed by the President to its people. Finally, the fourth component is the project implementation support.
See Less -
The Information for Development Program's (InfoDev) "From Mind to Market" approach was designed to bridge early-stage innovation support gaps and guide promising ideas on toward minimum viable products, ultimately turning them into sustainable businesses.
... See More + The approach aims to source ideas from a large talent pool and spur the best innovators to turn their innovations into sustainable, growth-oriented start-ups. The primary goal is start-up creation. Secondary goals include the generation of pools of ideas and prototypes, the creation of basic topical knowledge for a large group of innovators, and broader awareness-raising around a new topic, as well as partnership and capacity-building for implementation partners. This report summarizes the approach, which is based on four steps: 1) the identification of a novel topic with market potential and high potential for international development; 2) the implementation of a broad based collaborative, open innovation competition; 3) the implementation of an activity that forges minimum viable products through face-to-face support at sites across the globe; and 4) the follow-up with a program of incubation and acceleration for the best and most committed innovators.
See Less -
In the period under review, infoDev's projects and activities reached more than 100 countries via its convening power, its unique, 'ground-up' approach to stimulating the growth of innovative enterprises, and its robust multi-stakeholder engagement strategy.
... See More + Our disbursements increased over 50 percent between 2012/13 from the previous two years, totaling $15.5 million in 2013. In addition to designing and deploying more locally owned and operated innovation centers and labs around the world focused on mobile, climate, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and agribusiness, infoDev has innovated in testing out new models of startup or seed finance, a critical gap in developing countries today that often stymies growth entrepreneurs. We tried out new models to train and build communities of women entrepreneurs. We developed cutting-edge toolkits, good practice guides, and analytical pieces on a wide range of issues, from the use of mobile phones at the Base of the Pyramid to the development potential of online crowd funding platforms to the link between diaspora communities and angel investing. In May 2013, infoDev convened more than 800 innovation and entrepreneurship stakeholders at our biennial fifth Global Forum on Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship in South Africa. Seeing policy makers, angel investors, development practitioners, entrepreneurs, technology giants, and innovation activists engage so robustly with one another brought home the multidimensional nature of our work. In the developing world, all these stakeholders must engage with one another to truly profit from the burgeoning global knowledge economy. In 2013, an independent evaluation of infoDev documented many interesting findings about infoDev's relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency.
See Less -
The Science and Technology Education Post-Basic Project for Nigeria had an overall satisfactory outcome, with satisfactory performance from the Bank, while the borrower's performance was deemed to be moderately satisfactory.
... See More + All the project development objective indicators as well as the intermediate outcome indicators were fully achieved, with many results surpassing the target by a significant margin. Significant lessons learned during the course of implementing the project are: 1) quality reforms and those involving institutional capacity building need extended periods of time to firmly take root in changed thinking and practice, and to have an attributable effect on institutional reform through changed staff and student thinking; 2) ownership of the project and continued political commitment at national and decentralized levels is critical for successful project implementation; 3) project effectiveness is considerably enhanced when ongoing technical assistance by zonal consultants is provided to ensure timely and direct assistance to institutions in areas of procurement, financial management and monitoring and evaluation; 4) competitive and merit-based allocation of funds based on clearly identified performance criteria is beneficial to raise motivation and standards and increase innovation; and 5) to leverage relevant knowledge sharing and research and development in science and technology linked to current industry needs, the development of industry and sector partnerships is critical.
See Less -
Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR2802 DEC 27, 2013
Ratings for the Farmer Empowerment through Agriculture Technology and Information Project (FEATI) for Indonesia were as follows: outcomes were moderately unsatisfactory, the risk to development outcome was significant, the Bank performance was moderately unsatisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also moderately unsatisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: it provided Farmer Organization or FOs with the opportunity to improve their capacity in achieving their goals based on market and agro-ecological conditions within which they operate. Training provided to farmers and the first-hand experience of FO members in participatory planning, proposal preparation, Farmer-managed extension activity, or FMA implementation, simple monitoring, and the financial management of grant funds gave them confidence and the incentive to manage their own learning activities and business enterprises more effectively. Under the project, the successful dissemination of technology depended on strong collaboration between farmers, researchers and field extension workers, using participatory, learning-by-doing dissemination approaches and involving the provision of intensive research support by scientists who developed the technologies. A lesson from the FEATI Project and from experience elsewhere is that farmers will adopt improved technologies faster if they participate in the field assessment and in the fine tuning of the technologies through farmer-managed demonstrations, farmer research trials, field days, multi-media information campaigns, and other similar activities. In the project, early technology adopters included the farmer cooperators and technology demonstrators involved in these activities.
See Less -
Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3022 DEC 24, 2013
On June 30, 2013, the World Bank completed the third year of implementing its landmark policy on Access to Information (AI policy). In this third year, which covers the fiscal year period of July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (FY 2013), the public made in excess of one million visits to the World Bank's Documents and Reports database, viewed more than 6.6 million pages and downloaded more than one million files.
... See More + Through its dedicated public Access to Information (AI), the World Bank has made available to the public, for direct searching and browsing, more than 150,000 documents, which includes over 72,000 operational documents, 18,000 legal documents, and 46,000 publications and research reports. This includes over 18,000 documents that the World Bank newly declassified in FY 2013. The World Bank continued to make available to the public through its AI website the documents of its Board of Executive Directors (Board), including the Boards work program and scheduled discussions, and documents released to the public before Board discussion (i.e., simultaneously disclosed Board documents). In FY 2013, the World Bank simultaneously disclosed 99 Board documents.
See Less -
The development objective of the Technology Center Systems Project for India is enhancing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME's) access to transformative technologies and increasing the number of skilled workers, through systems of financially sustainable technology centers.
... See More + Negative impacts include: fast rusting of equipment, uncomfortable working conditions, floods, tsunami, cyclones, marshy land, loss of agricultural fertile land, additional expenditure towards relocation, interrupted or limited supply of water, damage to religious or cultural structures, soil erosion, air and noise pollution, occupational health hazards, disposal of debris and other wastes, and spread of sexually transmittable diseases like acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Mitigation measures include: (1) keeping finished and semi-finished products in control environment to avoid rusting; (2) maintaining cooling and heating arrangements to provide appropriate working condition for the employees; (3) constructing building structures strong enough to sustain certain degree of natural calamities like earthquake, cyclones; (4) identifying alternate land for development; (5) identifying alternate sources of water to ensure sustained availability; (6) taking necessary and adequate care to minimize impact on cultural properties or religious structure; (7) providing compensation for land and any existing assets on the basis of current government norms; (8) ensuring that the construction activity immediately follows the clearing of land to avoid soil erosion; (9) sprinkling water at regular intervals during excavation and drilling activities; and (10) conducting awareness programs regularly for workers on AIDS, and other health related issues.
See Less -
The development objective of the Technology Center Systems Project for India is enhancing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME's) access to transformative technologies and increasing the number of skilled workers, through systems of financially sustainable technology centers.
... See More + Negative impacts include: fast rusting of equipment, uncomfortable working conditions, floods, tsunami, cyclones, marshy land, loss of agricultural fertile land, additional expenditure towards relocation, interrupted or limited supply of water, damage to religious or cultural structures, soil erosion, air and noise pollution, occupational health hazards, disposal of debris and other wastes, and spread of sexually transmittable diseases like acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Mitigation measures include: (1) keeping finished and semi-finished products in control environment to avoid rusting; (2) maintaining cooling and heating arrangements to provide appropriate working condition for the employees; (3) constructing building structures strong enough to sustain certain degree of natural calamities like earthquake, cyclones; (4) identifying alternate land for development; (5) identifying alternate sources of water to ensure sustained availability; (6) taking necessary and adequate care to minimize impact on cultural properties or religious structure; (7) providing compensation for land and any existing assets on the basis of current government norms; (8) ensuring that the construction activity immediately follows the clearing of land to avoid soil erosion; (9) sprinkling water at regular intervals during excavation and drilling activities; and (10) conducting awareness programs regularly for workers on AIDS, and other health related issues.
See Less -
The Millennium Science Initiative Project for Uganda had an overall satisfactory outcome, with satisfactory performances by both the Bank and the borrower.
... See More + The project remains highly relevant in objectives, design and implementation. The project efficacy is rated as substantial, as is its efficiency. Most of the intermediate outcome indicators are deemed to have been achieved completely, while the remaining indicators are partially achieved. Critical lessons learned during the implementation of the project were: 1) proposals from departments and institutions should go through a very rigorous selection process to assure the effective utilization of resources and the quality of outcomes; 2) a project exit policy such as gradual financial contribution from the government is needed; 3) competitive funding should remain highly selective to maintain the overall quality of research; 4) recognition of the need for a long term strategy to establish a partnership with the private sector; and 5) projects with competitive funding need to consider a more efficient way of handling procurement activities.
See Less -
Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR2072 DEC 05, 2013
Tracking progress in sustainable agriculture and forest management is challenging: distances are long, populations are sparse, interventions range from policies to crop and livestock practices, and the voice of the farmer is critical for success.
... See More + Recent approaches focusing on climate impacts and land use pressures (climate-smart agriculture and landscape approach) add to the complexity and require efficient data collection and analysis methods. The systemization of information and communication technology (ICT) in the monitoring and evaluation (M and E) process enables accountability- from field staff to regional and central governments and development partners. The leapfrog effects of ICT have increased access to quality information, eased knowledge sharing among practitioners and resource-constrained governments, and created opportunities to improve accountability. The expansion of ICT has also made the work of development practitioners easier and more accurate. In some regions there are already more mobile phone subscriptions than people, and even internet access has become more common. This report identifies where ICT has expanded the capacity to perform good M and E and, more importantly, it identifies where it has not. It identifies where and how it can expand data collection and M and E, but also why and how technology is not a replacement for human agency and involvement in analysis and interpretation tasks. This report seeks to present solutions to some of the questions concerning data collection and M and E. It is designed to be an operational piece that addresses how governments and practitioners can use ICT to improve their data collection and M&E efforts in rural development projects. The first section gives overview. The second section of the report focuses on the most important aspect of ICT use: articulating the needs of the project and users. The third section provides an overview of five models currently used to implement and integrate information technology into M and E efforts. The crux of the report centers on choosing the right product or set of products for the project, and it includes cross-comparative guidance on application features such as data validation, offline capacity, dashboards, and built-in analytics in section four. The service design section deals with issues inherent to the provision of public services, such as how to provide appropriate incentives for the participation necessary to sustain the program and why post-data collection efforts are critical to success is discussed in section five. Along with these practical approaches to deploying ICT, the report describes five case studies on mobile-based data collection in the agriculture and forest sectors in section six. The conclusion section follows the case studies in section seven.
See Less -
Working Paper (Numbered Series) 83305 DEC 01, 2013
The beginning of second year saw a continuation of year one activities including the third party monitoring (TPM) of the education quality improvement program (EQUIP), the national emergency rural access program (NERAP), and the national solidarity program (NSP), but also saw significant additions to the Afghanistan reconstruction trust fund (ARTF) monitoring program.
... See More + The irrigation restoration and development program (IRDP) was added to the TPM program and the supervisory agent (SA) branched out to two new initiatives: a ministry training center (MTC) at the ministry of education (MoE) and a community monitoring (CM) program to supplement IRDP under the ministry of energy and water (MoEW). Chief among the many successes of second year was that of the CM pilot program. Implemented in second year and providing observations throughout the second half of the year, the CM program under IRDP was quickly recognized as an invaluable tool for MoEW. The near real-time data from project sites provided the ministry with the ability to effectively monitor construction progress remotely with fewer travel costs and security risks. The CM program also provides a tool for verifying rectification of deficiencies quickly and efficiently. Additionally during second year, the SA began the development of "road maps" for ensuring that Common Monitoring and Reporting (CMORE) data and systems are integrated with the existing ministry systems. This is critical so that ministry databases may be populated with the vast amounts of information collected by the SA and that information seamlessly integrates with the systems used in regular operations.
See Less -
The objectives of African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) Regional Capacity Building Project for Africa are to: (i) improve capacity of ACBF's clients to deliver and measure their development results; and (ii) enhance ACBF's organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
... See More + The proposed additional financing will be used to support the development of capacity in Africa with three overarching goals, namely: (a) promoting economic and social stability for transformative change; (b) enhancing capacity to engage and regulate the productive sector; and (c) improving capacity to track policy impact. Underpinned by ACBF's core mandate to support regional integration and regional solutions to the continent's development challenges, these strategic goals seek to build effective institutions that drive the regional integration agenda and inform the regional policy debate.
See Less -
The development objective of the National Agricultural Innovation System Support Project for Peru is to create the adequate conditions in the National Agricultural Innovation System (SNIA) in order to support the effectiveness of its member organizations in providing or developing improved agricultural technologies.
... See More + The project has four components. The first component is strengthening capacity of National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA) to lead the SNIA through: (a) the establishment of SNIA's technical secretariat; and (b) the establishment of an innovation awards program within INIA to recognize excellence in agricultural innovation. The second component is consolidating the market for innovation services through: (a) the provision of support to beneficiaries for the carrying out of: (i) adaptive research subprojects, (ii) extension subprojects, and (iii) community seeds enterprise subprojects; and (b) the carrying out of awareness campaigns to promote the availability of the competitive funds described in (a) especially among women and indigenous population groups. The third component is strategic capacities in the SNIA to enhance the capacity of the system to produce and facilitate innovation, through: (a) the provision of support for the carrying out of: (i) strategic research subprojects, and (ii) capacity building subprojects; (b) the financing, on a competitive basis, of scholarships to eligible students for postgraduate studies and short term internships; and (c) the carrying out of awareness campaigns to promote participation in the subprojects. The fourth component is project implementation to strengthen the institutional and organizational capacity of INIA required for the successful implementation of project activities, including compliance with procurement, safeguards, financial management, and monitoring and evaluation requirements.
See Less -
The World Bank's oil, gas, and mining policy unit, Sustainable Development Network, with co-sponsorship from Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, the African Petroleum Producers' Association, the Inter-American Development Bank, ExxonMobil Corporation, hosted a conference on local content policies in the oil, gas, and mining sectors at the Hilton Danube in Vienna, Austria on September 30 - October 1, 2013.
... See More + The two-day conference was dedicated to exploring the particular political, economic, and social challenges arising from the use of local content policies in resource rich countries. The event brought together more than 170 senior representatives from government, industry and civil society to discuss how policy makers and industry can work together to support local economic development industries. Resource-rich developing countries have an opportunity to harness their oil, gas and mining resources for sustained growth. One of the most potent ways to achieve this is to encourage local growth based on increased domestic content, diversifying national economies. This report provides an overview of the proceedings with a view to distilling some of the initial lessons learned from the conference. It is organized as follows: section one includes background information on the conference; Section two summarizes the key messages from each session; and section three draws initial conclusions and suggests possible next steps.
See Less -
This paper uses a theoretically grounded model of international trade to estimate the cross-border tradability of services. The resulting indices cover up to 99 countries and ten sectors.
... See More + The results show that information and communications technology capital and legal institutions are particularly important determinants of a country's ability to successfully export services. The tradability indices are strongly correlated with outcome indicators, such as trade shares of individual countries. In addition, they are strongly correlated with important inputs, including country productivity and size, factor endowments, trade costs, and regulatory measures. In particular, the results suggest that a more restrictive regulatory environment significantly reduces the international tradability of services.
See Less -
Policy Research Working Paper WPS6712 NOV 01, 2013