The World Bank online: Inclusion and exclusion through digital networks

Abstract

The World Bank has increasingly adopted the Internet as a tool to support its development assistance activities. The rhetoric has been clear in announcing that digital networks will empower a greater range of actors, democratising development. However, the potential of online engagement is contingent upon the presence of and the ability to use such technology. As such, in adopting a techno-development paradigm, the World Bank has contributed to reinforcing new hierarchies of inclusion and exclusion between those who have access to the Internet and those who do not.