A DC state of mind? A review of the World Development Report 2021: data for better lives

Data has become a core part of our economic and social infrastructures, transforming how we produce and exchange goods, services and information. Debates over data governance have intensified, and encompass issues such as data protection, privacy, surveillance, competition, taxation and digital trade flows. With its 2021 World Development Report, Data for Better Lives, the World Bank enters the fray, offering a data governance model which, its authors argue, will help harness the power of data for ‘better lives’ while limiting risks of misuse. This Assessment provides a brief summary of its main claims and recommendations, before critiquing it on three grounds, namely that its evidence base is weak; that its data market-centric data governance framework serves the interests of existing incumbents while undermining data rights; and that it misrepresents the nature of global debates on data governance and thus undermines the actual positions taken by representatives from developing countries. Overall, we argue that the World Bank is using this report to represent one heavily contested governance framework that advances the interests of high-income countries as the standard common-sense approach while occluding alternative models and frameworks.