SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - The World Bank Group aims to expand digital opportunities to 1 billion people worldwide by 2030 through its first digital strategy, harnessing artificial intelligence to create jobs and accelerate economic growth.
The development lender set out the initiative at its inaugural Global AI and Digital Summit in Seoul, where President Ajay Banga said “digitalization democratizes market opportunity.”
“Digitalization is such an enabler of jumping over the standard ways of development,” Banga said.
The strategy has four priorities: expanding internet connectivity, making digital devices and services more affordable, strengthening digital ecosystems and preparing countries to adopt AI. Its implementation targets include 600 million people using broadband internet and 400 million using digitally enabled services by 2030.
“That means 1 billion people with a better chance to learn, earn, build a business and find a job,” said Kim Sangbu, the group’s vice president for digital and AI.
“The impact goes beyond individual opportunity. It can transform economies,” he added.
The initiative comes as developing economies face tightening financial constraints and a rapidly growing working-age population. About 1.2 billion young people will reach working age in those countries over the next 10 to 15 years, while their economies are projected to create only 420 million jobs, according to World Bank estimates.
Kim said digital technologies could help narrow the gap by raising productivity, attracting private investment and opening new markets.
“We bring together financing guarantees, policy reform, technical expertise and private capital at scale, helping countries build full digital ecosystems, not isolated systems,” he said.
Banga said digital tools could lower the cost of entering markets, enabling individuals and small businesses to compete without the resources traditionally needed to build large-scale operations.
But he warned that advances in AI could deepen inequality if countries lack the infrastructure and resources to benefit.
“You don’t want other countries to get left behind,” he said. “You certainly don’t want inequality to expand.”
Computing power, electricity, data, skilled workers and capital are essential to developing large AI models, Banga said, noting that few countries possess all five at sufficient scale.
Developing economies should therefore avoid assuming they must compete to build the most sophisticated systems. Instead, he advocated “small AI”—practical applications that address specific problems using local data, languages and relatively inexpensive technology.
For lower-income economies, Banga said, his principal concern was the opportunity to create jobs being lost if countries failed to adopt AI, rather than simply the displacement of existing workers.
“This is how you take this amazing power, this amazing capability and bring it to life for a farmer, for a healthcare worker, for a teacher, for a student,” he said.
He cited farmers in India using mobile phones to identify crop diseases and obtain agricultural advice, and AI tools in El Salvador that assess students’ language skills and support classroom instruction.
Successful applications should move beyond pilots, he said.
“Take that and put it to work in 100 countries,” Banga said, describing how an educational AI program could be adapted for wider use.
Anna Bjerde, the group’s managing director of operations, cautioned that AI could not compensate for a lack of reliable electricity, internet connectivity or effective institutions.
“It’s easy to overestimate what AI can do when you only see it working in places where the basics are already in place,” she said.
“Around 2.2 billion people remain offline globally,” she said. Many others live within network coverage but cannot afford smartphones or digital services.
“Digital economies cannot grow without reliable, affordable electricity.”
Bjerde pointed to the bank’s Mission 300 initiative, which aims to provide electricity access to 300 million people in Africa by 2030. The program had already connected 59 million people, she said.
She also highlighted applications that do not require countries to develop costly computing infrastructure.
“Countries should not have to build everything from scratch,” she said. “Small AI offers a practical starting point.”
Citing an AI tutoring initiative in Peru, Bjerde said: “The point is not the sophistication of the technology, it’s whether the technology solves a real problem.”
Public trust would be equally important.
“People will only use digital systems if they know their information and money are protected,” she said.
The World Bank separately announced an AI Infrastructure and Readiness Initiative to help emerging economies obtain affordable computing capacity through shared infrastructure, rather than building individual national data centers.
The initiative will initially focus on Africa and Latin America, with technology partners including Nvidia and Cassava Technologies.
South Korea, co-hosting the summit through its Ministry of Finance and Economy and Ministry of Science and ICT, pledged to share its technological experience.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said Korea’s transformation from aid recipient to advanced economy demonstrated the value of sustained investment in technology and infrastructure.
“Today, AI is opening a new chapter in the global economy and international development,” Lee said.
Countries lacking infrastructure, technological capabilities and effective institutions risked falling further behind, he warned.
“This is why we must work together to ensure that the technology gap does not become a development gap.”
Lee outlined plans for a global AI hub in Korea bringing together AI cooperation centers from six multilateral development banks, including the World Bank. The hub would combine their financing and development expertise with Korea’s technological capabilities.
He also promoted the proposed K-AI package, designed to offer developing countries AI solutions suited to their economic conditions and infrastructure.
“Korea’s use of AI in water treatment plants is a good example,” Lee said, describing how the technology can analyze water quality and improve the efficiency of public infrastructure.
The government hopes to develop such applications into larger World Bank-supported projects.
“This way successful solutions can reach more countries and benefit more people,” he said.
The Korea–World Bank Group AI and Digital Knowledge Center, established in December 2025, is expected to help transfer that expertise.
“Korea shows what sustained investment in people, infrastructure, and institutions can achieve,” Kim said.
The summit brings together government officials, development experts and technology executives, with discussions continuing through Thursday on applications in agriculture, healthcare, education and other sectors.
The goal, Banga said, is to use technology to “bring dignity and hope to young people.”
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