Driving digital transformation : lessons from seven developing countries / Benno Ndulu [and three others].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ndulu, B. J., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic development.

Developing countries.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (218 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, England : Oxford University Press, [2023]

Summary:

This book explores seven developing countries' use of technology to begin reforming the economy and government. Foregrounding the voices of policymakers and participants, it documents and critically assesses government efforts to kick-start digital transformation, and offers an exposition of the process of policymaking in the 2020s.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Preface

Acknowledgements

Contents

Abbreviations and acronyms

1. Introduction to the Digital Economy Kit

Introduction

Our key messages

What do we mean by digital transformation?

Lessons for policymakers

Lessons for outsiders

How the book should be read

The audience

Methodology

The context: brief history of the Pathways for Prosperity Commission

Chapter outline

Endnotes

2. Seizing the opportunity for digital reform

The political economy of reform

The public sector and bureaucratic politics

Purview

Career

Autonomy

Special interest groups

Digital transformation as trade liberalization

A historical institutionalist perspective on digital transformation

Political settlements-elite bargain

A political economy-savvy theory of change

Insights from the political economy of reform

Seizing the opportunity: preconditions for success

Country demand

Demand in South Africa

Demand in Ethiopia

Demand in Bangladesh

Demand in other countries?

The right government champion

Mongolia: getting the attention of the prime minister and cabinet secretary

Lesotho: the senior economic advisor to the President

Countries where the right champion was not identified

Bangladesh: the former cabinet secretary, and a smart senior bureaucrat

Ethiopia: the built-in champion

The right time

Early in an administration

The government planning cycle

Key lessons on when to engage in digital reform

3. Objectives: What is the Digital Economy Kit trying to do?

What we set out to do with the Digital Economy Kit

Digital transformation: the potential

Digital transformation: the vision

Downside risks of digital technology.

Digital transformation and inclusion

Digital transformation: the entry point

From hypothesis to action

Designing a strategic framework

The three partnership picks

Country choice

Local partner

Steering committee

How the Kit differs from other diagnostics

Insiders and outsiders

Country ownership

The role of outsiders

The Oxford team

The donors

Key lessons on the Kit's objectives

4. Assessment: Data and diagnostics

Diagnosing digital readiness

Infrastructure-hard and soft

People

Finance

Policy and regulation

From questions to diagnosis

Assessing the four pillars: questions to ask

The fifth pillar: integrating the vision

The diagnostic process in practice

Challenge one: dealing with poor-quality data

Challenge two: the limits to quantitative data

Challenge three: data discrepancies and contestation

Key lessons on assessments

5. Multi-stakeholder dialogue

Why hold stakeholder dialogues?

What the Kit's dialogue set out to do

Objectives of the dialogues

Framing: thinking big

The invitation list

Getting the right government representation

How the dialogues worked in practice

Challenge one: getting the politics of the room right

Selecting the right policymakers

Strange bedfellows: the private sector and civil society representatives

Representation and marginalized stakeholders

Challenge two: making talks substantive

Just another talk shop?

Challenge three: turning talk into action

Value of the dialogue process: did it deliver?

Key lessons on multi-stakeholder dialogues

6. Strategy primer

Keeping it local: strategy primer design

Look and feel

The strategy primer in practice

Challenge one: boiling it down.

Challenge two: how much pre-baking is right?

Challenge three: putting names to actions

Recognition

Budget constraints

Bureaucratic inertia

From strategy to action

Bridging process

The importance of communications

Key lessons on strategy primers

7. A critical view on implementation

Some early indications of cut-through

Attribution versus contribution

Implementation as designed in the toolkit

Implementation in practice

Bureaucratic politics: 'death by silo'

The unnamed country: battles for turf

Ethiopia: the refresher strategy

Special interest groups: a force for good as well as bad

South Africa: the digital competitive advantage

Bangladesh: the need for a private sector leadership

Elite bargain and rent-seeking

Malawi: a country too far?

Mongolia: the digital economy as an anti-corruption mechanism

Unintended consequences

Key lessons on implementation

8. Conclusion

What have we learnt on digital transformation?

Three overarching lessons

Lesson one: meet the preconditions for successful implementation

Lesson two: gain value from the process itself

Lesson three: the importance of internal coalitions

Five lessons for working on reform sensibly as an outsider

Endnote

References

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version: Ndulu, Benno Driving Digital Transformation

ISBN:

0-19-287285-0

0-19-287286-9

9780191975899

OCLC:

1373346528