The Next Half Billion: Digital Access and Beyond

For nearly two decades, policymakers, technology providers, civil society organizations, private investors, philanthropic funders, and others, have invested billions of dollars and worked tirelessly to build a digital India that can improve the lives of its people. However, our understanding of whether these efforts helped people—particularly those who are lower-income or less advantaged and newer to the internet—live better lives, remains under-explored and less understood. For instance, has it helped them earn more income, gain a better education, or increase their agency? We similarly do not know the collective impact of greater connectivity: has it helped India become more equitable? Dalberg’s new study, supported by Omidyar Network India, titled The Next Half Billion: Digital Access and Beyond, attempts to answer these questions in a first-of-its-kind, human-centered, panoramic study of 15,000+ recent internet users from lower-income households in India