This evidence report from IDS looks at the possible ways in which digital technologies might contribute to or damage development agendas, and how development practitioners and policymakers might best respond.

Over the next 15 years, developing countries are likely to experience sweeping changes in how states and societies engage with knowledge. These changes hold the potential to improve people’s lives by making information more available, increasing avenues for political and economic engagement, and making government more transparent and responsive. But they also carry dangers of a growing knowledge divide influenced by technology access, threats to privacy, and the potential loss of diversity of knowledge.

Title: The Future of Knowledge Sharing in a Digital Age: Exploring Impacts and Policy Implications
for Development Author: Jon Gregson, John Brownlee, Rachel Playforth, Nason Bimbe Year: 2015