From ICT Works: How to Design Inclusive Digital Programming in International Development

During a global pandemic, the need for supply chain digitization has become glaringly obvious. Yet it’s not just the seafood sector that needs transformation–many industries, such as restaurants, have shifted to digital platforms. With research showing we’ve lept ahead five years in roughly two months in terms of going digital, that speed might also signal that we might be losing people along the way. There are gender and demographic gaps to consider, but there’s a resource to help highlight the problem and provide ways to think inclusively as we shift towards a more digitally connected world.
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“The coronavirus pandemic is creating rapid and dramatic shifts in the global economy and how business is transacted. This disruption is fueling fast-paced innovation and uptake of digital technology in all spheres of life. COVID-19 digital response also poses real risks, exacerbating the existing vulnerabilities of poor women and men and leaving them even further behind… According to research by McKinsey, in the span of just a few months, consumer and business digital adoption rates have catapulted five years ahead. The study also predicts that post-COVID, customers will retain, at least to some degree, current preferences for the use of digital services, indicating that the widespread shift to the use of more digital is here to stay…”