Introduction

CHAPTER 3

This chapter describes the landscape of technologies being deployed in South Asia in health, education, and social protection to help build and protect human capital, following the framework outlined in figure 2.1 in chapter 2. Technologies being rapidly deployed in sectors that indirectly contribute to human capital (such as agriculture and sanitation), while extremely important, are not covered.

The opportunities from new digital, data-driven, and converging technologies arise from their ability to reach the unreached, improve quality and efficiency, and enable personalization and differentiation according to need. In the public sector, the potential also lies in reimagining citizen-centric service delivery models and fostering datadriven decision-making. Yet these opportunities are limited by inequalities in digital access, not only in broadband connectivity and in the availability of electricity, but also in devices, people’s digital skills, and local content, which risk deepening the human capital inequalities in South Asia.

The chapter begins by discussing the opportunities and the characteristics of technology markets in human development in South Asia, followed by an overview of the inequalities in digital access that limit these opportunities. It then moves to a summary of the technology landscape in health, education, and social protection in South Asia, including a brief look at two case studies that highlight applications of converging technologies in the human development sectors, and the use of technology in the initial phases of the response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.