{ "title": "Building a Better Digital Economy", "publication": "IMF News, June 24, 2021", "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2021/06/24/sp062421-building-a-better-digital-economy", "canonical": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2021/06/24/sp062421-building-a-better-digital-economy", "overlayPath": "/en/news/articles/2021/06/24/sp062421-building-a-better-digital-economy/index.md", "summary": "Speaker: Geoffrey Okamoto, First Deputy Managing Director, IMF.", "publishDate": "2021-06-24", "sections": [ { "heading": "Overview", "content": "- Speaker: Geoffrey Okamoto, First Deputy Managing Director, IMF.\n- Remarks delivered to: IDB Miami-LAC Conference.\n- Venue and date: The Light Box at Wynwood — Miami, Florida; June 24, 2021.\n- Central message: Latin America and the Caribbean must accelerate digital adoption and reform policy frameworks so the region can harness a technological super cycle to raise living standards, reduce economic and social divides, and unlock new sources of growth." }, { "heading": "Key findings and observations", "content": "- The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the importance of technology: consumers were able to order meals, sign mortgage loan agreements, and hold virtual quinceaneras due to technological innovation and societal adoption.\n- IMF research indicates Latin America and the Caribbean have lagged other regions in ensuring inclusive access to the benefits of the digital transition.\n- The region faces a digital divide rooted in:\n - Lack of access to digital technology.\n - Lack of skills to use technology productively.\n- The digital divide is translating into an economic divide and risks becoming a social divide if unaddressed.\n- Examples of where government and private collaboration has worked: tech hubs and Silicon Valley–style ecosystems that attract disrupters and investors, injecting dynamism and growth." }, { "heading": "Policy recommendations (roles for government and private sector)", "content": "- Invest in basic digital infrastructure:\n - Governments and private firms both should invest.\n - Governments should prioritize investments that are inaccessible or unprofitable for private providers.\n - Infrastructure includes physical connectivity, digital identity infrastructure, and critical data on SMEs.\n - Regional coordination across countries can amplify benefits.\n- Reconsider regulatory frameworks:\n - Ensure regulations are conducive to private-sector investment and innovation.\n - Avoid overly tight regulation that favors large incumbents able to absorb compliance costs.\n - Right-size regulation to facilitate entry of smaller firms, attract investment, and create better-paying jobs.\n - Use mechanisms like guidance units within regulators and regulatory “sandboxes” (e.g., in FinTech) as interim measures to encourage innovation while undertaking more thorough reviews.\n- Develop human capital:\n - Governments should invest in education, particularly in STEM fields.\n - Private sector should invest in training to provide “last-mile” technical skills specific to business needs.\n- Capitalize and regulate the financial sector to support new entrants:\n - Maintain financial stability while channeling capital to startups and dynamic firms.\n - Aim for a mix of banks, capital markets, and FinTechs allocating capital at different scales, on different terms, and assuming different risks.\n - Preserve capital account openness to attract foreign investment seeking opportunities amid low yields in many Advanced Economies.\n- Strengthen legal and judicial frameworks:\n - Ensure clear, enforceable property rights, including intellectual property rights, to attract startup investing which is high-risk by nature." }, { "heading": "Emerging challenges and considerations", "content": "- Cybersecurity:\n - Safe, trusted, and reliable digital ecosystems are central to adoption and usage.\n - Cyber threats increase as consumers connect via mobile devices and public Wi‑Fi.\n - Design the digital ecosystem with cybersecurity in mind.\n- Standards and technological change:\n - Development of global standards must keep pace with technological advances, including movement toward a quantum processing world with super computers.\n- Algorithmic bias:\n - Advanced analytics and computing power require vigilance about biases embedded in algorithms that could exacerbate the digital divide.\n- Digital money and payments architecture:\n - Crypto currencies, stable coins, and central bank digital currencies have sweeping implications for monetary policy, capital flows, and the role of the financial sector." }, { "heading": "IMF support, initiatives, and role", "content": "- Deploy analytical expertise to help countries assess growth forgone without timely action on digital reforms.\n- Bali FinTech Agenda:\n - IMF, along with the World Bank, proposed the Bali FinTech Agenda to reinforce competition and commitment to open, free, and contestable markets.\n- Preparing to deepen work on digital money and implications for the international monetary system for which the IMF has longstanding responsibility." }, { "heading": "Closing points", "content": "- Building a better digital economy is a collective effort among governments, the private sector, development partners (e.g., IDB), and multilateral institutions.\n- Urgency: act now to ensure the digital revolution benefits the many and not just the few.\n- Speaker optimism and commitment: Geoffrey Okamoto expresses optimism about the region’s prospects and commits IMF support alongside the IDB.\n\nGeoffrey Okamoto, First Deputy Managing Director, IMF — Remarks to IDB Miami-LAC Conference; The Light Box at Wynwood — Miami, Florida; June 24, 2021.\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- Geoffrey W.S. Okamoto\n- Speeches\n- PRESS CENTER\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2021/06/24/sp062421-building-a-better-digital-economy" } ], "bullets": [ "[Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2021/06/24/sp062421-building-a-better-digital-economy/index.md)", "[Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2021/06/24/sp062421-building-a-better-digital-economy/index.json)", "[Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2021/06/24/sp062421-building-a-better-digital-economy/bundle-manifest.json)", "Published: June 24, 2021", "Speaker: Geoffrey Okamoto, First Deputy Managing Director, IMF.", "Remarks delivered to: IDB Miami-LAC Conference.", "Venue and date: The Light Box at Wynwood — Miami, Florida; June 24, 2021.", "Central message: Latin America and the Caribbean must accelerate digital adoption and reform policy frameworks so the region can harness a technological super cycle to raise living standards, reduce economic and social divides, and unlock new sources of growth.", "The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the importance of technology: consumers were able to order meals, sign mortgage loan agreements, and hold virtual quinceaneras due to technological innovation and societal adoption.", "IMF research indicates Latin America and the Caribbean have lagged other regions in ensuring inclusive access to the benefits of the digital transition.", "The region faces a digital divide rooted in:", "The digital divide is translating into an economic divide and risks becoming a social divide if unaddressed.", "Examples of where government and private collaboration has worked: tech hubs and Silicon Valley–style ecosystems that attract disrupters and investors, injecting dynamism and growth.", "Invest in basic digital infrastructure:", "Reconsider regulatory frameworks:", "Develop human capital:", "Capitalize and regulate the financial sector to support new entrants:", "Strengthen legal and judicial frameworks:", "Cybersecurity:", "Standards and technological change:", "Algorithmic bias:", "Digital money and payments architecture:", "Deploy analytical expertise to help countries assess growth forgone without timely action on digital reforms.", "Bali FinTech Agenda:", "Preparing to deepen work on digital money and implications for the international monetary system for which the IMF has longstanding responsibility.", "Building a better digital economy is a collective effort among governments, the private sector, development partners (e.g., IDB), and multilateral institutions.", "Urgency: act now to ensure the digital revolution benefits the many and not just the few.", "Speaker optimism and commitment: Geoffrey Okamoto expresses optimism about the region’s prospects and commits IMF support alongside the IDB.", "[Geoffrey W.S. Okamoto](https://www.imf.org/en/About/senior-officials/Bios/geoffrey-w-s-okamoto/)", "[Speeches](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)", "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)", "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)" ], "alternates": { "markdown": "/en/news/articles/2021/06/24/sp062421-building-a-better-digital-economy/index.md", "json": "/en/news/articles/2021/06/24/sp062421-building-a-better-digital-economy/index.json", "bundleManifest": "/en/news/articles/2021/06/24/sp062421-building-a-better-digital-economy/bundle-manifest.json" }, "generatedAtUtc": "2026-09-26T00:30:24.240Z" }