In this second edition of the case compendium, we cover three
enterprises working in the education technology (ed-tech)
and upskilling industry in three distinct emerging markets.
Women remain under-represented in high-paying technical and decision-making roles in STEM professions. This disparity is a vexing problem and the Achilles’ heel of the entire technology industry.
Is it possible for an economy to be both digitally inclusive and at the forefront of innovation-based digital growth?
We present Progress to Digital Parity—an interactive scorecard that tracks the journey towards realizing the goal of a digital economy for everyone, everywhere.
In our analysis of over 4 million tweets during an 8-week period (March 1st and April 27th, 2022) across 5 countries— the United States, United Kingdom, India, South Africa, and Nigeria— we studied the sentiments expressed by users on the platform to Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover saga. While reactions to Musk’s initial criticism of the platform were generally more positive, his plan to buy Twitter was met with largely negative emotions.
Data governance around the world is constantly changing to accommodate the dynamic nature of data itself.
Households managing the Covid-19 pandemic relied heavily on broadband to work, learn, and secure necessary resources and information. Our new analysis finds that the internet may have been even more important in the pandemic than initially understood—for some, it was literally a matter of life and death. We find that, even after controlling for a host of other socioeconomic factors, a 1% increase in broadband access across the US reduced Covid mortality by approximately 19 deaths per 100,000, all things equal. The impact was even more stark in urban areas—in metro counties alone, a 1% increase in broadband access reduced Covid mortality by 36 deaths per 100,000, holding all else constant.
For Pride Month, Digital Planet investigates the degree to which LGBTQ+ community finds solidarity among STEM fields. Analysis reveals the share of workers who express their identity as or affiliation with the LGBTQ+ community on their resumes is smaller among STEM graduates than college graduates overall. Women in STEM were twice as likely as men to profess an affiliation with the gay community on their resumes. Younger STEM candidates display a higher rate of LGBTQ+ affiliation than their older colleagues but still significantly trailed younger college graduates overall.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is the latest source of funding to expand broadband across the US. As local, state, and federal government officials weigh how best to allocate $65 billion in resources, we call for a “people over miles” approach that will ensure more Americans have access to broadband at the speed necessary to learn, work, and access vital services.
We present Progress to Digital Parity—an interactive scorecard that tracks the journey towards realizing the goal of a digital economy for everyone, everywhere.
