World Bank Group Launches Its First Digital Strategy at the Global AI and Digital Summit in Seoul
The World Bank Group launched its first-ever Digital Strategy at the inaugural Global Artificial Intelligence and Digital Summit 2026 in Seoul, South Korea. The strategy aims to benefit 1 billion people by 2030 through four priorities: connectivity, lower access costs, digital services and skills, and AI readiness. It notes that over 2 billion people were offline in 2025, with internet use at 23% in low-income countries against 94% in high-income countries, and that about 1.2 billion young people in developing countries will reach working age over 10-15 years against roughly 420 million jobs. An AI Infrastructure and Readiness Initiative starts in Africa and Latin America.
The World Bank Group has five institutions: IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA and ICSID, and is headquartered in Washington DC | IBRD and the IMF were both created at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, with IBRD beginning operations in 1946 | The World Bank's flagship publications include the World Development Report, Global Economic Prospects and Doing Business's successor, Business Ready