Digital Economy & Technology Data

Access comprehensive digital economy statistics from the World Bank's World Development Indicators database covering 200+ countries. Query internet penetration, mobile and broadband infrastructure, ICT trade metrics, digital divide analysis, and regional comparisons using natural language country names.

Actions

query_digital_data

Fetch digital economy and technology indicator data for a country or region.

Required Parameters:

• action (string): Must be "query_digital_data"
• country_or_region (string): Country or region name in plain language (e.g., "South Korea", "Kenya", "World")

Optional Parameters:

• digital_aspect (string, default: "all"): Digital domain to query. One of:
  • "internet" - Internet users (% of population and total count)
  • "mobile" - Mobile cellular subscriptions (total and per 100 people) and fixed telephone subscriptions
  • "broadband" - Fixed broadband (total and per 100 people) and mobile broadband subscriptions
  • "ict" - ICT goods exports/imports, ICT service exports, high-tech exports (value and % of manufactured)
  • "infrastructure" - Secure internet servers, telephone subscriptions, fixed broadband
  • "e_government" - E-government context (limited; World Bank data does not include EGDI directly)
  • "all" - All available digital indicators
• calculate_digital_divide (boolean, default: false): Calculate digital access gaps (100% minus current access rates) for internet, broadband, and mobile
• time_period (string, default: "latest"): Time period for data. Options:
  • "latest" - Most recent available data
  • "last_5_years" - Last 5 years of data
  • "last_10_years" - Last 10 years of data
  • "YYYY:YYYY" - Specific year range (e.g., "2015:2020"). Years must be between 1960 and current year.
  • "YYYY" - A single year (e.g., "2020")
• include_regional_comparison (boolean, default: true): Include comparison data with digital leaders (World average, High Income countries, South Korea, Singapore)
• include_trends (boolean, default: true): Include trend analysis with CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) calculations when historical data is available

Example - Latest internet data with digital divide:

{
  "action": "query_digital_data",
  "country_or_region": "Kenya",
  "digital_aspect": "internet",
  "time_period": "latest",
  "calculate_digital_divide": true
}

Example - Broadband growth trends:

{
  "action": "query_digital_data",
  "country_or_region": "South Korea",
  "digital_aspect": "broadband",
  "time_period": "last_10_years",
  "include_trends": true
}

Example - All digital indicators with comparison:

{
  "action": "query_digital_data",
  "country_or_region": "India",
  "digital_aspect": "all",
  "time_period": "latest",
  "calculate_digital_divide": true,
  "include_regional_comparison": true
}

Example - ICT trade for a specific period:

{
  "action": "query_digital_data",
  "country_or_region": "China",
  "digital_aspect": "ict",
  "time_period": "2015:2020"
}

Example - Mobile coverage for a region:

{
  "action": "query_digital_data",
  "country_or_region": "Sub-Saharan Africa",
  "digital_aspect": "mobile",
  "time_period": "latest"
}

Supported Countries and Regions

Accepts plain-language names. Examples of supported inputs:

• Countries: "United States", "USA", "India", "South Korea", "Nigeria", "Brazil", "Singapore", "Kenya", etc. (200+ countries)
• Regions: "Sub-Saharan Africa", "Latin America", "Middle East", "South Asia", "East Asia", "Europe"
• Income groups: "Low Income", "Lower Middle Income", "Upper Middle Income", "High Income", "OECD"
• Global: "World" or "Global"
• ISO3 codes: 3-letter codes like "USA", "IND", "KOR" are also accepted

Country names support partial matching, so "UK" maps to United Kingdom and "America" maps to USA.

Available Indicators

Internet Access

• Internet Users (% of population)
• Internet Users (total number)

Mobile and Telephony

• Mobile Cellular Subscriptions (total)
• Mobile Subscriptions (per 100 people)
• Fixed Telephone Subscriptions

Broadband

• Fixed Broadband Subscriptions (total)
• Fixed Broadband (per 100 people)
• Mobile Broadband Subscriptions

ICT Trade

• ICT Goods Exports (% of total goods exports)
• ICT Goods Imports (% of total goods imports)
• ICT Service Exports (% of service exports)
• High-Technology Exports (current US$)
• High-Tech Exports (% of manufactured exports)

Infrastructure and R&D

• Secure Internet Servers (per million people)
• Researchers in R&D (per million people)
• R&D Expenditure (% of GDP)

Response Structure

Responses include:

• Indicator data with latest values, proper units (%, per 100 people, total numbers, current US$), year, and source
• Trend analysis with absolute change, percent change, direction (increasing/decreasing/stable), data point count, and CAGR when applicable
• Digital divide analysis (when enabled): internet access gap, fixed broadband gap, mobile coverage status
• Regional comparison benchmarked against World average, High Income countries, South Korea, and Singapore
• Insights covering internet penetration levels, mobile adoption, broadband infrastructure, ICT export significance, digital expansion rates, and SDG 9.c progress
• SDG 9.c alignment (Universal and affordable access to internet)

Digital Divide Analysis

When calculate_digital_divide is true, the response includes:

• Internet access gap: Current access percentage and the gap (100% minus access)
• Fixed broadband gap: Current subscriptions per 100 people and gap to universal access
• Mobile coverage: Subscriptions per 100 people and whether coverage exceeds population (multiple devices per person)

Workflows

1. Digital Readiness Assessment: Query all digital indicators for a country with regional comparison to benchmark against digital leaders
2. Digital Divide Analysis: Enable calculate_digital_divide for internet and broadband aspects to quantify access gaps
3. ICT Trade Research: Use digital_aspect: "ict" with trends to track technology export growth over time
4. Infrastructure Planning: Query broadband and infrastructure aspects over the last 10 years to identify growth patterns
5. SDG 9.c Monitoring: Query internet penetration with regional comparison to assess progress toward universal access

Notes

• Data sourced from World Bank World Development Indicators
• Mobile subscriptions can exceed 100 per 100 people due to multiple SIMs/devices per person
• Fixed broadband means wired broadband subscriptions, not mobile broadband
• Mobile broadband refers to internet via mobile networks (3G, 4G, 5G)
• ICT goods include computers, telecom equipment, and consumer electronics
• High-tech exports include aerospace, computers, pharmaceuticals, and instruments
• Secure internet servers are measured per 1 million people
• The E-Government Development Index (EGDI) is not available in World Bank data; the "e_government" aspect returns an empty indicator set
• Data availability varies by country and indicator; most recent data may be 1-2 years old
• When an unrecognized digital_aspect is provided, the tool defaults to internet and mobile indicators
• Regional comparison benchmarks against World, High Income, South Korea, and Singapore using internet_users, mobile_subscriptions_per100, and fixed_broadband_per100
• Trend CAGR is only calculated for multi-year periods where both start and end values are positive