Digitalisation per se has marginal impact; the crux is the way it is leveraged and implemented. We need a better understanding of how digital transformation could create welfare-enhancing societal outcomes. Where does the impact break down and why? What are the risks of negative impacts and how to manage societies’ transition where such impacts are inevitable? These are some of the questions we are exploring in our digital transformation work.

Cenfri’s digital transformation strategy focuses on building the fundamentals of welfare-enhancing digitalised economies that contribute to sustainable economic growth and inclusion for all. We target welfare-enhancing societal change that builds economies that are:

• Inclusive: Customer-centric and inclusive for all parts of society, including the vulnerable and marginalised (such as women, youth, rural communities and forcibly displaced people)
• Sustainable: Supporting resilience for households, businesses and governments against shocks, and helping societies adapt to the impact of climate change
• Opportunity creating: Building economic participation and advancement opportunities for individuals and small businesses through inclusive and competitive markets
• With safeguards: Providing fair outcomes for consumers, ensuring the integrity of the system and data protection for consumers and businesses alike

Across our portfolio, we often explore the drivers of welfare-enhancing digital transformation to effect change – be it at the real economy sector level or by engaging in the foundational building blocks of digital infrastructure, digital innovation or inclusive digital financial services.

We consider this a learning agenda and while we have outlined our objectives, current thinking and related projects in this strategy note, this is a work in progress. We would be interested to talk to others who have an interest in, and insight into, the ways in which digital transformation can unlock inclusive, welfare-enhancing outcomes.