Digital public goods in pandemic era: They have been tested at continental scale and they will script the economic future

India is democratising credit flows to MSMEs while simultaneously driving digitalisation within them – this is Microfinance 4.0

- Manjeet Kripalani

In the midst of the cruel second wave of Covid, rays of hope are still visible, offered by technology and digital solutions. The pandemic has made two things clear: Digitalisation will power the developing world out of economic crisis and digitalisation of the medium, small and micro (MSME) sector is a necessary ingredient for it.

The pandemic has accelerated economic reforms in many developing countries; social distancing has accelerated the adoption of digitalisation by governments, companies, consumers, educational institutions and NGOs; the decreasing cost of technology and prediction makes it accessible and possible; and platforms are the new institutions – now easier to build and participate in. At the cusp of this new era, how can we ensure equity and a level playing field in digitalisation? There are some challenges to consider, as this process is still fundamentally different in developed and developing countries.

First, there’s a difference between ‘access’ and ‘usage’ of technology. The issue facing the developed world is ‘usage’, that is, consumer privacy, security, data protection, productivity.