Digital Economy

This essay collection presents how rapid developments in human-machine interactions bring challenges in ethics, labour, gender equality, and intimacy.

An economically demanding and foreign-dominated digital market, along with a lack of political will and trust, make it harder for local digital entrepreneurs to succeed in DR Congo.

The global pandemic became a linchpin for many health-tech startup companies that were struggling to find their purpose. In 2020, the industry saw record funding and attention – and the need to balance investor’s expectations with public health concerns.

As the economic recession continues, more people are working for delivery apps, flooding the market and lowering the quality of service. 

From rural live-streaming to coordinating medical care, technology platforms in China have taken on a central role during the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic accelerated trends that further cement these companies as key infrastructure providers working in close tandem with the state – but this cozy relationship comes at a cost to many.

Covid-19 has accelerated innovation in the Nigerian health tech sector, providing opportunities for growth in an industry that has typically lacked investment, government endorsement, and attention.

Covid-19 has become a moment of opportunism for Indian e-commerce companies to consolidate their market power, insert themselves into local supply chains and co-opt neighborhood stores. Policy interventions are urgently needed to preserve the autonomy of the traditional retail sector and prevent Big Tech’s takeover of local economies.

Big technology companies are getting a break from the “techlash,” but this does not mean that the monopolists are permanently off the hook. The crisis has highlighted privacy and security concerns and well as subpar labor standards in the industry. Social media face additional scrutiny for how they deal with COVID-19 related disinformation.