Report: Internet yields uneven dividends, widens inequality

According to a report issued on Wednesday by the World Bank, the vast changes wrought by technology have not expanded economic opportunities or improved access to basic public services in ways that many had expected. Rather, the report warned that internet innovations stand to widen inequalities and even hasten the hollowing out of middle-class employment.

“Digital technologies are spreading rapidly, but digital dividends — growth, jobs and services — have lagged behind,” the bank said. Those who are already well-off and well-educated have been able to take advantage of the Internet economy.