Workshop on the Demand for Digital Infrastructure and Digital Public Infrastructure

EVENT

Digital Infrastructure Introductory Workshop Series

21 January

2026

TIME: 21 January 2026, 22:00 - 00:00 (GMT+8)

LOCATION: Virtual

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SUMMARY

Workshop Series

The digital economy, the fastest growing sector worldwide and a crucial driver inclusive and sustainable development, depends on digital infrastructure to support it. However, there is limited knowledge of digital infrastructure and how governments in developing countries can best support its development to gain a competitive advantage.

The four-part virtual Digital Infrastructure Introductory Workshop Series will examine digital infrastructure’s role in economic development strategies, how to prioritize and finance it, and keys to managing associated risks. Workshops in the series will feature high-level speakers, including ministers from emerging markets, distinguished scholars, private sector representatives, and development practitioners.

Certificate

Participants who join three out of four workshops in the series will receive a participation certificate.

Workshop One: The Demand for Digital Infrastructure and Digital Public Infrastructure

The first session will introduce the key foundational concepts and differences between digital infrastructure and digital public infrastructure, essential for identifying connectivity and other digital service gaps, particularly in rural areas. It will examine both the supply and demand sides of digital infrastructure and stakeholder responses and highlight the need to prioritize and finance the sector as a critical tool for promoting sustainable economic development.

SPEAKERS

Ivan Rossignol

Senior Advisor on Digital Infrastructure, MCDF

Ivan Rossignol works as a senior advisor to multilateral banks, governments, and consulting firms. He focuses on digital infrastructure, competitiveness and growth strategies, cities and cluster approaches. Ivan’s recent consulting assignments include defining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Digital infrastructure strategy, chairing the global working group on digital infrastructure risks, and providing expert advice on digital infrastructure financing at the G20 under the Indonesia and India presidencies in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Ivan is a former director at the World Bank, where he spent 24 years advising governments on economic development, growth opportunities, and competitiveness, mostly in South Asia and Africa. He helped found the World Bank competitiveness practice and was its first Chief Technical Specialist (Director). While at the World Bank, Ivan also worked as Country Director of Sri Lanka and Maldives, was selected (not appointed) as Country Director for Afghanistan, worked as Acting Global Director of Practice for Trade and Competitiveness, manager of the Trade and Competitiveness practice in South Asia, and managed the World Bank country office in Egypt (2006). Ivan also worked for COMESA as a World Bank secondee (2000). He has lived in several African countries as well as in India. He has taught development economics as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, the University of Edinburgh, and as a Honorary Professor at Heriot-Watt University. He has delivered lectures at Harvard University and Cambridge University. Ivan published several articles on competitiveness. More recently, he published a financial method to evaluate the cost of natural capital (2022) and a Compendium on Digital Infrastructure Financing (2022 @G20).

Hon. Ibrahim Kalil Konate

Minister, Digital Transition and Digitalization of Côte d’Ivoire

Hon. Ibrahim Kalil Konate has served as Minister of Digital Transition and Digitalization of Côte d’Ivoire since October 2023, steering national efforts to expand digital infrastructure, services, and data‑driven governance. An engineer and seasoned executive, he integrates technical depth with institution building across electricity, mining, and the digital economy. He began his career at PETROCI in 1996, moved to Nestlé in 1997, and joined the National Bureau of Technical Studies and Development (BNETD) in 1998, where he contributed until 2010. In August 2011, he was appointed Director General of the Ivorian Institute of Enterprise, leading a flagship initiative to identify and profile Ivorian small and medium-sized enterprises, equipping the State with actionable data to tailor support and policy for varied enterprise segments. Before his ministerial role, he served as Chairman of the Board of SODEMI (the national mining development company) from September 2021. Hon. Konate is a graduate of INSET Yamoussoukro and holds an engineering degree in quality – industrial enterprises from the African Institute for Total Quality, Paris.

Darío Genua

Secretary of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Argentina

Darío Genua is the current Secretary of Innovation, Science, and Technology of Argentina. He was appointed to this role after previously serving as a director at Telecom Argentina. With a diverse career in technology consulting, business management, and strategic leadership, Genua has accumulated extensive experience in both the private and public sectors. Before becoming Secretarry, he founded OpenAgro S.A., an investment company focused on trust fund management, which he has led since 2001. Genua holds a degree in business and economics from the Catholic University of Argentina and is a certified SAP FI/CO consultant. His expertise spans ERP implementations, SAP solutions, and driving innovation within Argentina’s tech and science sectors.

David Eaves

Co-Deputy Director and Associate Professor in Digital Government, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London

David Eaves is Co-Deputy Director and Associate Professor in Digital Government at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. David teaches and writes on digital era public administration, digital transformation, and the governance of digital public infrastructure. David co-founded <a href="https://www.teachingpublicservice.digital" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Teaching Public Service in a Digital Age</a>, which brings together faculty from around the world to co-design and share an open licensed curriculum on how to teach the minimum needed digital competences for future public leaders. These materials are used by hundreds of faculty members in over 60 universities across 30 countries.  His work on digital public infrastructure - including establishing <a href="https://dpimap.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the digital public infrastructure map</a> - is used by researchers, donors, investment banks, and countries around the world. David has taught or advised senior government officials from Brazil, South Africa, Singapore, India, and the United States, among others. In 2024, he was appointed by the United Kingdom (UK) Ministry of the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tech-experts-to-shape-government-digital-vision-to-drive-innovation-and-boost-public-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a 12-person expert advisory committee</a> chaired by Baroness Fox and CDDO Chair Paul Willmott to help advise on a 10-year digital strategy for the UK government.

AUDIENCE

The workshop is tailored for officials of ministries of information and communications technology, digital economy, digital infrastructure, finance, planning, agriculture, and rural development and relevant regulatory authorities, particularly those from developing countries. Staff from International Financial Institutions (IFIs), digital infrastructure companies, project developers, and developing country financiers working in the sector, as well as other interested stakeholders, are also encouraged to participate.

FORMAT

The workshop will be held virtually. Presentations, case studies, and discussions will be conducted in English, with simultaneous translation in Spanish and French.

Participants will engage through small group discussions, quick-answer apps, and question and answer sessions at the end of each panel discussion.

Video recordings of select workshop content will be uploaded on the MCDF website.

ORGANIZING PARTNERS

Jointly organized by the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF), African Development Bank, CAF - Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and World Bank Group.

MODERATOR AND STRATEGIC LEAD

Ivan Rossignol, Senior Advisor on Digital Infrastructure, MCDF

CONTACT

If you would like to learn more about the Digital Infrastructure Introductory Workshop Series or get in touch with the IFI co-organizers, please contact MCDF’s Ms. Jenny Lou Fernandez jenny.fernandez@themcdf.org