Development Implications Of Digital Economies (DIODE) Research Network

As digital technologies - the internet, web, mobile phones, social networks, 3D printers, etc - spread around the world, both work and business are changing via creation of digital economies.

There has already been impact in developing countries: thousands of digital startups, millions working in the ICT sector, millions more undertaking online work for platforms like Upwork. And the potential is even greater: hundreds of millions could access online work platforms, digital businesses like Uber and Airbnb are spreading rapidly, demand for digital enterprises is high, 3D-printing could level the manufacturing playing field, etc. But problems are also arising: most digital startups and digital careers fail; most citizens are unable to participate in digital economies; the benefits of digital work and trade seem to flow more to big corporations in the global North than to workers, enterprises or governments in the global South.

The speed of change means much of this is happening in a knowledge vacuum. Researchers are playing catch-up to try to understand these new trends in the global North, but very little research on digital economies looks at developing countries or is done by researchers in those countries. As a result, there are four knowledge gaps about digital economies in the global South. We don't know:
- what's going on and where;
- the development impact e.g. whether digital economies are increasing or reducing inequalities;
- what governments, NGOs and businesses should be doing to create an effective "digital ecosystem" that works for the benefit of all.
And as researchers we are not sure what concepts and methods to apply.

The "Development Implications of Digital Economies" (DIODE) Strategic Network aims to help fill these knowledge gaps. It has three main objectives:
- To assess the current state-of-play and identify a future research agenda around the four knowledge gaps above.
- To create a research network with the capacities to implement this research agenda on digital economies and development.
- To develop specific research proposals that address identified research priorities.

The network consists of senior and junior researchers from the UK, developing countries and other locations around the world who - along with those working in digital economy policy and practice - will work together to fulfil these objectives. Following initial synthesis studies to understand the current state-of-play, we will meet in four workshops - two in developing countries, two in the UK - each of which will address particular knowledge gaps through presentations and working group sessions.

Alongside the network itself, by the end we will have produced a final report that provides a future research agenda; a strategy brief to guide those involved in digital economy policy/practice; and a set of research proposals that can put the agenda into practice.

Initially, the main beneficiaries will be network members: we will have a far better understanding of what to research next and how to research it, with stronger capacity to undertake this work, and dense contacts to ensure our research is relevant to policy and practice. We will have created research capacity within and between developing countries, so that work on this important and growing phenomenon can be driven from and undertaken in those countries.

GCRF and other researchers - especially in developing countries - will benefit from having a clear sense of research priorities and tools, but also from understanding how important digital economies are becoming in the global South. Digital economy policy-makers, entrepreneurs, worker organisations and other practitioners will understand what good-practice actions to take.

Through that policy/practice connection, and through the outputs from later implementing our research agenda, we will make a difference to development: helping ensure digital economies work to deliver development goals.

DIODE's knowledge development will impact a wide range of stakeholders in addition to GCRF and the academics who are core network members, associates, and in the wider contact network of members and associates:

1. UN system organisations: those within the UN Group on the Information Society and other WSIS actors will benefit from better understanding the role digital economies play in development, helping improve their policy and programme interventions. Agreed network collaboration includes UNCTAD and ILO, and Co-Is have ongoing links with ITU, UNDP, UN-ESCWA and others.

2. International development agencies: will similarly benefit from better understanding the role digital economies play in development, helping improve their policy and programme interventions including investments. Agreed network collaboration includes the World Bank and IDRC as Project Partners plus DFID and GIZ, and Co-Is have ongoing links with other European and North American donors.

3. National government agencies: are seeking guidance on most-effective digital economy policies, and will benefit from the Strategy Brief and policy-maker presentations/papers/etc that form part of WP2 (details in Case for Support). Agreed network collaboration includes government officials or advisors in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Ghana, and there are much broader links enabled by Project Partners and UN and international agency collaborators, and via Advisory Board representation of the OECD and World Economic Forum.

4. Private sector organisations: will benefit from more effective digital strategies, and better understanding of the links between digital business and development outcomes; via the Strategy Brief and practitioner presentations/papers/etc that form part of WP2. Agreed network collaborations include Xerox Research, Microsoft Research, Digital Divide Data, Auxenta, Infocom, Invotech and Caribou Digital; and representative organisations include GSMA (the global mobile operators association), International Chambers of Commerce, World IT and Service Alliance (WITSA) and International Federation of ICT Industry Associations of Latin America (ALETI).

5. Social enterprise: including digital enterprise hubs in the global South will benefit from more effective enterprise growth and support strategies via the Strategy Brief and practitioner presentations/papers/etc that form part of WP2. Agreed network collaboration includes iHub Kenya, Impact Hub Accra, and Mastercard Foundation.

6. Civil society/advocacy groups: will benefit from enhanced understanding of policy measures to advocate, and of institutional interventions that promote digital entrepreneurship and fair digital livelihoods. Agreed DIODE collaboration includes IT for Change and IG Metall.

7. PhD and early-career researchers: those researching digital-economy-and-development topics will benefit from research priority guidance, and exposure to cutting-edge conceptual and methodological approaches; via network outputs, and supervision by network members.

8. Students within development studies, informatics, ICT4D and other disciplines will benefit from revised teaching materials of network members and associates that incorporate DIODE outputs.

Most of these groups will also benefit from policy/practice recommendations flowing from a) the digital economy research being undertaken by Co-Is, Core Researchers and Network Associates during 2017-18 (see CVs for list), which will be reported at DIODE events and then published; and b) the subsequent research projects flowing out of DIODE from 2018 including its specific research proposals.