2015•06•23     Paris

Tomasz Janowski, the Head of UNU-EGOV, contributed to the “World Development Report (WDR) 2016: Internet for Development” workshop organized by L’Agence Française de Dévelopement (AFD) and the World Bank in Paris on 23-24 June 2015.

Published annually since 1978, the World Development Report is an influential publication produced by the World Bank  to provide in-depth analysis of specific aspects of economic development. The past WDR reports focused on: Mind and Culture (WDR2015), Risk and Opportunity (WDR2014), Jobs (WDR2013), Gender Equality and Development (WDR2012) and Conflict, Security, and Development (WDR2011). WDR2016 will examine how internet can advance development, especially for the poor in developing countries; what is its impact on economic growth, on social and economic opportunity, and on the efficiency of public service delivery; why some businesses, people, and governments benefit from the internet and others not; and how countries can better leverage the internet for development particularly through policy reforms in the information and communication technology and other sectors. The workshop aimed at taking the premises of WDR2016 and shaping them into “Actionable Ideas” through a series of discussions focused on the main topics of the report.

Tomasz Janowski contributed to the panel “Delivering Services: Strengthening government capacity and empowering citizens in the digital society” co-chaired by Samia Melhem (World Bank) and Cyrille Bellier (AFD), introduced by the chapter author Zahid Hasnain (World Bank), and attended by Zaki Khoury (Microsoft), Edwin Lau (OECD), Dominique Buende (Quickdo) and Tomasz Janowski. Based on the article “Janowski, Tomasz. Digital government evolution: From transformation to contextualization. Government Information Quarterly. Volume 32, Issue 3, July 2015, pages 221-236. Elsevier.” the contribution examined: 1) how the Digital Government (DG) concept is evolving, 2) what evidence exists to support this evolution, 3) how to explain and predict this evolution, and 4) how to address specific questions to the panel on the grounds of the DG evolution theory.

Tomasz Janowski presenting at the 2016 World Development Report “Internet for Development” workshop organized by AFD and the World Bank in Paris on 23 June 2015.