The recent rapid evolution of digitaltechnologies has been changing behaviors and expectations incountries around the world. These shifts make it the righttime to pose the key question thispaper explores: Willdigital technologies, both those that are already widespreadand those that are still emerging, have substantial impactson the way citizens engage and the ways through which poweris sought, used, or contested? The authors address thisquestion both to mitigate some of the World Bank’soperational risks, and to initiate a conversation with peersabout how those risks might require policy shifts. Theoverall framing question also is being explored in casetheapproaches to citizen engagement advocated by the WorldBank are changing and may require different advice forclient countries. Despite the lower technology penetrationlevels in developing countries, their more malleablegovernance contexts may be more influenced by the effects ofemerging technologies than older states with greaterrigidity. Digitally influencedcitizen engagement is, inshort, one of those “leapfrog” areas in which developingnations may exploit technologies before the wealthier partsof the world. But countries can leapfrog to worse futures,not just better ones. This paper explores what technologymight mean for engagement, makespredictions, and offersmeasures for governments to consider.
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