About the data
The WBA Digital Inclusion Benchmark measures and ranks the world's most influential companies on their efforts to advance digital inclusion, tracking how companies are expanding access to digital technologies, improving digital skills and literacy, and ensuring safe and inclusive digital environments for all. The 2026 edition assessed 200 companies across key sectors of the digital economy including telecommunications, software, hardware, and digital platforms. The benchmark is developed in close collaboration with an Expert Review Committee and partners including GRI, ITU, and the Alliance for Affordable Internet, with a methodology designed to incentivise companies to understand where digital exclusion risks are highest and act to bridge the digital divide, while keeping human rights and social impacts at its core.
More information can be found here.
More information can be found here.
Methodology
SDG target 4.4 aims to ‘substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.’ As digital technology permeates all sectors, digital skills have become essential for general employability and entrepreneurship.
Additional digital skills beyond digital literacy are important for people's livelihoods. Such digital skills include web design, desktop publishing and digital marketing, which prepare students for jobs in these areas or help entrepreneurs use these tools to publicise and grow their business. They also include technical digital skills that are needed to become a specialist in digital professions, such as data analysis, hardware design, network management and software programming. There is a large technological skills gap across gender and income and between high-income and low- and middle- income countries.
Research Guidance:
The companydisclosesa programme that actively contributes topromote digital skills needed to stay relevant in the digital transformation and improve people‚s livelihoods, particularly around employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. These skills include developing digital content,integrating and re-elaborating digital content, copyright and licences, above-basic programming skills, solving technical problems (with a device, software or connectivity), identifying needs and technological responses, creatively using digital technologies, identifying digital competence gaps, computational thinking, operating specialized digital technologies for a particular field, interpreting and manipulating data, information and digital content for a particular field.To meet the requirements of this element, the programme must be explicitly designed to serveat least women, workers, unemployedpeopleor youth.The company mustdemonstratethat the programme is part of a strategic effort and aligns with the company‚s core business, social investmentstrategyor long-term sustainability goals. In addition, the company must collaborate with relevant partners‚Äîsuch as NGOs, community groups, government bodies, or other companies‚Äîin the implementation or scaling of the programme.The nature of collaboration should be described.To be considered, the programme must have been running in the reporting period of interest of the assessment in question.
Note: programmes from the company‚s Foundation are accepted. If this element is not met, elements c to ecan‚tbe met.
Additional digital skills beyond digital literacy are important for people's livelihoods. Such digital skills include web design, desktop publishing and digital marketing, which prepare students for jobs in these areas or help entrepreneurs use these tools to publicise and grow their business. They also include technical digital skills that are needed to become a specialist in digital professions, such as data analysis, hardware design, network management and software programming. There is a large technological skills gap across gender and income and between high-income and low- and middle- income countries.
Research Guidance:
The companydisclosesa programme that actively contributes topromote digital skills needed to stay relevant in the digital transformation and improve people‚s livelihoods, particularly around employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. These skills include developing digital content,integrating and re-elaborating digital content, copyright and licences, above-basic programming skills, solving technical problems (with a device, software or connectivity), identifying needs and technological responses, creatively using digital technologies, identifying digital competence gaps, computational thinking, operating specialized digital technologies for a particular field, interpreting and manipulating data, information and digital content for a particular field.To meet the requirements of this element, the programme must be explicitly designed to serveat least women, workers, unemployedpeopleor youth.The company mustdemonstratethat the programme is part of a strategic effort and aligns with the company‚s core business, social investmentstrategyor long-term sustainability goals. In addition, the company must collaborate with relevant partners‚Äîsuch as NGOs, community groups, government bodies, or other companies‚Äîin the implementation or scaling of the programme.The nature of collaboration should be described.To be considered, the programme must have been running in the reporting period of interest of the assessment in question.
Note: programmes from the company‚s Foundation are accepted. If this element is not met, elements c to ecan‚tbe met.
License
Topics
Framework Mappings
Value Type
Category
Options
Yes
No
Not Applicable
Assessment
Steward Assessed
Report Type
Aggregate Data Report