Infrastructure

Developing countries cannot view the digital transition as a luxury, but as a necessity if cities and countries wish to be a part of the new global economy. To support this transition governments, donors and the private sector each have a role to play, with key actions for each stakeholder group as set out in […]

Digital solutions can improve city government-citizen engagement, promote improved prioritisation of services, support data-driven decision making, enable greater revenue generation, improve viability and delivery of investments, and support asset management.

This paper explores the four key opportunities that developing country governments and donors must consider if they wish to make their urban areas centres of inclusive and sustained economic growth.

This paper sets out the key challenges that digital solutions could address, provides a skeleton theory of change for how digital solutions can address the challenge of poor urban infrastructure, and then explores the four key opportunities that developing country governments and donors must consider if they wish to make their urban areas centres of […]

At a time when the transition commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution is gaining pace, it is important for donors to understand developing economies’ capacities to build and leverage digital. We created this benchmarking tool to support DFID program managers better understand the different topics that are critical towards building a digital economy.

In September 2016 the UN Secretary General launched the first ever report by the High Level Panel (HLP) on Women’s Economic Empowerment. The Infrastructure and Cities for Economic Development (ICED) facility was instrumental in ensuring this HLP report recognised the potential role of infrastructure as a game-changer for women’s economic empowerment (WEE).

ICED developed a business case for mini-grid electrification in remote communities in Sierra Leone using innovative private-sector business models

Do ‘smart cities’ bear relevance in the burgeoning cities of the global south? Basic infrastructure and service provision shortfalls faced by many southern cities present a challenging context for ‘smart’ solutions; and certainly contrasting to those of many existing ‘smart cities.’

DFID has placed trade firmly on the economic development agenda, with the objective of harnessing the potential of new trade relationships to boost job creation and investment to the world’s poorest countries.

DFID’s Economic Development Strategy (2017) recognises climate change as ‘the biggest global threat to sustained economic development’. Climate resilient infrastructure can accommodate the shocks and stresses posed by extreme weather events and climate change, while supporting economies and communities (particularly the poor and vulnerable) to survive, adapt and thrive in the face of these challenges. […]