Technology

The COVID-19 response amounts to a significant expansion in the scale and scope of direct cash transfers as well as other social assistance—a huge increase in government-to-people (G2P) payments. As we explain in our new report, delivering on these programs will require an enormous increase in ...

The clock is ticking on the SDGs. Integrating digital tools—like mobile phones, states IDs, and financial services—can help us meet them. 

As the world grapples with COVID-19, many countries have announced cash transfers. Delivering will require an enormous increase in state capacity to make payments to citizens.

Increased reliance on digital tools to monitor the spread of disease raises serious questions about how to prevent governments from using those same tools to track individuals for other purposes after a health crisis has subsided.

The “more and better data” movement is based on the premise that well-intentioned governments can better serve the poor and vulnerable if they have basic information about them. Until recently, this notion would have seemed uncontroversial. But growing concern about the risks created by the misuse o...