Building and Protecting Human Capital: The Technology Landscape for Service Delivery in South Asia
Sajitha Bashir, Carl J. Dahlman, Naoto Kanehira, Klaus Tilmes · 2021
Describes the landscape of technologies being deployed in South Asia in health, education, and social protection to help build and protect human capital by (1) discussing the opportunities and the characteristics of technology markets in human development; (2) reviewing of the inequalities in digital access that limit these opportunities; and (3) summarizing the technology landscape in health, education, and social protection in the region, including a brief look at two case studies. The opportunities from new digital, data-driven, and converging technologies arise from their ability to reach the unreached, improve quality and efficiency, and enable personalization and differentiation according to need. In the public sector, the potential also lies in reimagining citizen-centric service delivery models and fostering data-driven decision-making. Yet these opportunities remain limited by inequalities in digital access, not only in broadband connectivity and electricity availability, but also in devices, people’s digital skills, and local content, which risk deepening the human capital inequalities in the region.