Digital Inclusion Benchmark

13 March 2023

This third iteration of the Digital Inclusion Benchmark measures and ranks 200 of the world’s most influential technology companies on their responsibility to advance a more inclusive digital society. More specifically, the benchmark measures what companies are doing to:

  • enhance universal access to digital technologies
  • improve all levels of digital skills
  • foster trustworthy use by mitigating risks and harms
  • innovate openly, inclusively, and ethically.

This year we also assessed companies on 12 high-level societal expectations that all companies – digital or otherwise – should meet in order to play their part in ensuring that we leave no one behind. These include topics such as whether companies are paying workers a living wage, or paying fair taxes.

From laptops, to online news platforms, to the WIFI connection that powers them, digital technology has become indispensable for everyday life. Digital technologies should be available to everyone. If left unaddressed, the growing gap between the under-connected and hyper-digitalised will widen, inflaming existing inequalities.

 

 

Five key findings

Our 2023 iteration shows that the majority of tech companies still aren’t taking their responsibility to ensure that people are able to use technology – and in a way that benefits them – seriously. A handful is leading the way with robust child safety commitments or ethical principles regarding artificial intelligence. However most of the world’s most powerful and influential aren’t displaying the maturity that the world expects of them to ensure that they help, rather than hinder our progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

Key finding

Social transformation critical to achieving digital transformation

The WBA core social indicators have been integrated into this year's Digital Inclusion Benchmark. Good social performance is essential for achieving digital transformation. The top three companies on the benchmark are also the top three in social transformation. In this sector that is largely unregulated, high-level commitments to human rights, decent work and acting ethically are often all there is to hold companies accountable. A number of challenges for the tech sector–child digital rights, ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data privacy–are at core human rights issues. Encouraging companies to commit to human rights and assess their digital risks could have a significant impact on ameliorating some of the tech industries biggest problems.

Key finding

Slight improvement in overall performance but most companies still have far to go

Of the 150 companies that were included in the last year's benchmark, the average company score in digital inclusion went up by 6.8% from 33 to 36 (out of 100). Only 27 companies out of 200 assessed have a passing score of 50 or above on the benchmark illustrating the huge progress needed in digital transformation by the remaining 173.

Key finding

Global events affect company performance

A number of companies had Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities related to COVID-19 in the previous benchmark (e.g., providing internet access or laptops to underprivileged students so they could educate remotely). Many discontinued these initiatives in 2021, resulting in lower scores. Out of the 38 companies identified with having such initiatives in the last benchmark, two dozen discontinued them (63%) even though they were often aimed at vulnerable groups. Another example is the world spending more time online during COVID-19 with tech companies doing extremely well financially. However, the downturn in the global economy is now affecting digital companies reflected by many announcing significant employee layoffs.

Key finding

Mind the data gaps

While some digital companies are extremely transparent in their reporting, many are not. Some companies suggest that they are providing a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) disclosure but the response does not meet the requirement. Others appear to greenwash their emissions disclosures by listing the lower market-based figure and not their actual location-based emissions although guidelines call for both to be disclosed. Many companies use vague text to describe their commitment to cybersecurity, AI ethics, child online safety and data privacy. Fortunately, there is a group of companies leading in the transparency of their reporting and going beyond simple compliance; through their disclosures these leading companies also push back on companies who claim the information is confidential.

Key finding

Stakeholders can influence company behaviour

WBA Allies such as investors, civil society, think tanks, NGOs, international inter-governmental organisations and others have been instrumental in supporting the benchmark. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the focus of the Collective Impact Coalition (CIC) for Digital Inclusion. Investors in the Digital CIC have been engaging with companies to encourage them to make a commitment to ethical AI. Coinciding with this collaborative engagement, there has been notable progress. Among the 100 digital companies in the first benchmark, the number of companies with publicly available AI principles went up by only 1 between the first and second benchmark (from 14 to 15 companies); it has now increased by 14 since the digital CIC was formed at the start of 2022. Among all 200 digital companies, 44 now have publicly available ethical AI principles.

See how the companies performed

View ranking

Further Reading

  • 2023 Digital Inclusion Benchmark Insights Report

    The report gives in depth insights into the Digital Inclusion Benchmark findings for this third iteration. Digital inclusion covers 16 indicators in four measurement areas: enhancing universal access to digital technologies; improving all levels of digital skills; fostering trustworthy use; and innovating openly, inclusively and ethically (Table 1.1).2 These indicators map to one or several of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed by all 193 United Nations (UN) members in 2015.

    Download insights report
  • Data set

    The third iteration of the Digital Inclusion Benchmark was published in March 2023. It measures 200 of the world’s most influential tech companies. These companies were assessed using the Methodology for the Benchmark, which includes 16 indicators. This year was the first year to include core social indicators. The data set contains information on the scores of each of these companies. Scores for each company are publicly available at the indicator level for all stakeholders. Individual company results are presented in company scorecards.

    Download data set
  • Press release

    Read press release

The 200 most influential digital companies

Locations

  • Title: Zoom
    Place: San Jose, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: ZTE
    Place: Shenzhen, China
    Description:
  • Title: Spark
    Place: Auckland, New Zealand
    Description:
  • Title: Spotify
    Place: Stockholm, Sweden
    Description:
  • Title: stc
    Place: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
    Description:
  • Title: Stripe
    Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Sudatel
    Place: Khartoum, Sudan
    Description:
  • Title: Swisscom
    Place: Ittigen, Switzerland
    Description:
  • Title: Tata Communications
    Place: Mumbai, India
    Description:
  • Title: TCL
    Place: Huizhou,China
    Description:
  • Title: TE
    Place: Schaffhausen, Switzerland
    Description:
  • Title: TEL
    Place: Tokyo, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Tele2
    Place: Stockholm, Sweden
    Description:
  • Title: Telecom Egypt
    Place: Cairo, Egypt
    Description:
  • Title: Telecom Italia
    Place: Rome, Italy
    Description:
  • Title: Telefonica
    Place: Madrid, Spain
    Description:
  • Title: Telenor
    Place: Fornebu, Norway
    Description:
  • Title: Telia
    Place: Stockholm, Sweden
    Description:
  • Title: Telkom
    Place: Johannesburg, South Africa
    Description:
  • Title: Telkom Indonesia
    Place: Bandung, Indonesia
    Description:
  • Title: Telstra
    Place: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
    Description:
  • Title: Tencent
    Place: Shenzhen, China
    Description:
  • Title: Texas Instruments
    Place: Dallas, TX, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Toshiba TEC
    Place: Tokyo, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Transsion
    Place: Shenzhen, China
    Description:
  • Title: TSMC
    Place: Hsinchu, Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: Türk Telekom
    Place: Ankara, Turkey
    Description:
  • Title: Twilio
    Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Twitter
    Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Uber
    Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: United Internet
    Place: Mountabar, Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Veon
    Place: Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Description:
  • Title: Verizon
    Place: New York, NY, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Viettel
    Place: Hanoi, Vietnam
    Description:
  • Title: VMWare
    Place: Palo Alto, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Vodafone
    Place: Newbury, United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Western Digital
    Place: San Jose, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Xiaomi
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: Yandex
    Place: Moscow, Russia
    Description:
  • Title: Yunji
    Place: Hangzhou, China
    Description:
  • Title: Zain
    Place: Kuwait City, Kuwait
    Description:
  • Title: NXP
    Place: Eindhoven, Netherlands
    Description:
  • Title: Ola
    Place: Bangalore, India
    Description:
  • Title: Omantel
    Place: Muscat, Oman
    Description:
  • Title: Ooredoo
    Place: Doha, Qatar
    Description:
  • Title: Oracle
    Place: Redwood Shores, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Orange
    Place: Paris, France
    Description:
  • Title: OTE
    Place: Athens, Greece
    Description:
  • Title: Palantir
    Place: Denver, CO, USA
    Description:
  • Title: PalTel
    Place: Nablus, Palestine
    Description:
  • Title: Panasonic
    Place: Kadoma, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: PayPal
    Place: San Jose, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: PCCW
    Place: Hong Kong
    Description:
  • Title: Pinduoduo
    Place: Shanghai, China
    Description:
  • Title: PLDT
    Place: Makati, Philippines
    Description:
  • Title: Proximus
    Place: Brussels, Belgium
    Description:
  • Title: Qualcomm
    Place: San Diego, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Rakuten
    Place: Tokyo, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Rogers
    Place: Toronto, ON, Canada
    Description:
  • Title: Rostelecom
    Place: Moscow, Russia
    Description:
  • Title: Safaricom
    Place: Nairobi, Kenya
    Description:
  • Title: Salesforce
    Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Samsung
    Place: Seoul, Republic of Korea
    Description:
  • Title: SAP
    Place: Waldorf, Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Seagate
    Place: Dublin, Ireland
    Description:
  • Title: ServiceNow
    Place: Santa Clara, CA , USA
    Description:
  • Title: SES
    Place: Luxembourg
    Description:
  • Title: Sina
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: Singtel
    Place: Singapore
    Description:
  • Title: SK Telecom
    Place: Seoul, Republic of Korea
    Description:
  • Title: SK Hynix
    Place: Icheon, Republic of Korea
    Description:
  • Title: Skyworks
    Place: Irvine, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Snap
    Place: Santa Monica, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: SoftBank
    Place: Tokyo, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Sonatel
    Place: Dakar, Senegal
    Description:
  • Title: SONY
    Place: Tokyo, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: SpaceX
    Place: Hawthorne, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: JD.com
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: Jio
    Place: Mumbai, India
    Description:
  • Title: JOYY
    Place: Singapore, Singapore
    Description:
  • Title: Jumia
    Place: Lagos, Nigeria
    Description:
  • Title: Juniper Networks
    Place: Sunnyvale, CA,USA
    Description:
  • Title: KDDI
    Place: Tokyo, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: KEYENCE
    Place: Osaka, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: KPN
    Place: Rotterdam, Netherlands
    Description:
  • Title: KT
    Place: Seongnam, Republic of Korea
    Description:
  • Title: Kyocera
    Place: Kyoto, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Lam Research
    Place: Fremont, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Largan Precision
    Place: Taichung, Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: Lenovo
    Place: Hong Kong
    Description:
  • Title: LG Electronics
    Place: Seoul, Republic of Korea
    Description:
  • Title: Liberty Global
    Place: London, United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Liquid Telecom
    Place: London, United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Logitech
    Place: Lausanne, Switzerland
    Description:
  • Title: Lumen
    Place: Monroe, LA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Lyft
    Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: MediaTek
    Place: Hsinchu, Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: MegaFon
    Place: Moscow, Russia
    Description:
  • Title: Meituan
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: Mercado Libre
    Place: Buenos Aires, Argentina
    Description:
  • Title: Meta
    Place: Menlo Park, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Microchip
    Place: Chandler, AR, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Micron
    Place: Boise, ID, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Microsoft
    Place: Redmond, WA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Millicom
    Place: Luxembourg
    Description:
  • Title: MTN
    Place: Johannesburg, South Africa
    Description:
  • Title: MTS
    Place: Moscow, Russia
    Description:
  • Title: Murata
    Place: Kyoto, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Naspers
    Place: Cape Town, South Africa
    Description:
  • Title: NAVER
    Place: Seongnam, Korea
    Description:
  • Title: NEC
    Place: Tokyo, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Nepal Telecom
    Place: Kathmandu, Nepal
    Description:
  • Title: NetApp
    Place: San Jose, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: NetEase
    Place: Hangzhou, China
    Description:
  • Title: Netflix
    Place: Los Gatos, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Nintendo
    Place: Kyoto, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Nokia
    Place: Helsinki, Finland
    Description:
  • Title: NTT
    Place: Tokyo, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Nvidia
    Place: Santa Clara, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Cogent
    Place: Washington, D.C., USA
    Description:
  • Title: Cognizant
    Place: Teaneck, NJ, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Comcast
    Place: Philadelphia, PA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Corning
    Place: Corning, NY, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Delivery Hero
    Place: Berlin, Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Dell
    Place: Round Rock, TX, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Deutsche Telekom
    Place: Bonn, Germany
    Description:
  • Title: DiDi
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: Digicel
    Place: Kingston, Jamaica
    Description:
  • Title: Digital Realty Trust
    Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Etisalat
    Place: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
    Description:
  • Title: eBay
    Place: San Jose, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: EchoStar
    Place: Englewood, CO, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Elisa
    Place: Helsinki, Finland
    Description:
  • Title: Equinix
    Place: Redwood City, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Ericsson
    Place: Stockholm, Sweden
    Description:
  • Title: Ethio Telecom
    Place: Addis Ababba , Ethiopia
    Description:
  • Title: Eutelsat
    Place: Paris, France
    Description:
  • Title: Far EasTone
    Place: Taipei, Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: Foxconn
    Place: Taipei, Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: GlobalFoundries
    Place: Malta, NY, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Globe
    Place: Taguig, Philippines
    Description:
  • Title: GoTo
    Place: Jakarta, Indonesia
    Description:
  • Title: Grab
    Place: Singapore, Singapore
    Description:
  • Title: GTT
    Place: Mclean, VA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: HCL
    Place: Noida, India
    Description:
  • Title: HP
    Place: Palo Alto, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: HPE
    Place: Spring, TX, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Huawei
    Place: Shenzhen, China
    Description:
  • Title: IBM
    Place: Armonk, NY, USA
    Description:
  • Title: iFlytek
    Place: Anhui, China
    Description:
  • Title: Iliad
    Place: Paris, France
    Description:
  • Title: Infineon
    Place: Frankfurt, Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Infosys
    Place: Bengaluru, India
    Description:
  • Title: Inmarsat
    Place: London, United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Intel
    Place: Santa Clara, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Iridium
    Place: McLean, VA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: América Móvil
    Place: Mexico City, Mexico
    Description:
  • Title: American Tower
    Place: Boston, MA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Amphenol
    Place: Wallingford, CT, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Analog Devices
    Place: Wilmington, MA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Ant
    Place: Hangzhou, China
    Description:
  • Title: Apple
    Place: Cupertino, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Applied Materials
    Place: Santa Clara, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: ASML
    Place: Veldhoven, Netherlands
    Description:
  • Title: ASUS
    Place: Taipei, Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: AT&T
    Place: Dallas, TX, USA
    Description:
  • Title: ATH
    Place: Suva, Fiji
    Description:
  • Title: Axiata
    Place: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    Description:
  • Title: Baidu
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: BBK Electronics
    Place: Shenzhen, China
    Description:
  • Title: BCE
    Place: Quebec, Canada
    Description:
  • Title: Bezeq
    Place: Tel Aviv, Israel
    Description:
  • Title: Bharti Airtel
    Place: New Delhi, India
    Description:
  • Title: Block
    Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: BOE
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: Booking Holdings
    Place: Norwalk, CT, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Broadcom
    Place: San Jose, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: BT
    Place: London, United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Bytedance
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: Canon
    Place: Tokyo, Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Capgemini
    Place: Paris, France
    Description:
  • Title: China Mobile
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: China Satcom
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: China Telecom
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: China Unicom
    Place: Beijing, China
    Description:
  • Title: Chunghwa Telecom
    Place: Taipei, Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: Cisco
    Place: San Jose, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Citrix
    Place: Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Cloudflare
    Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Acer
    Place: Taipei, Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: Activision Blizzard
    Place: Santa Monica, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Adobe
    Place: San Jose, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Airbnb
    Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: AIS
    Place: Bangkok, Thailand
    Description:
  • Title: Akamai
    Place: Boston, MA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Alibaba
    Place: Hangzhou, China
    Description:
  • Title: Alphabet
    Place: Mountain View, CA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: Altice
    Place: Luxemburg, Luxemburg
    Description:
  • Title: Amazon
    Place: Seattle, WA, USA
    Description:
  • Title: AMD
    Place: Santa Clara, CA, USA
    Description:

Previous findings

  • 2021 Digital Inclusion Benchmark

    The World Benchmarking Alliance’s second iteration of the Digital Inclusion Benchmark assessed 150 of the world’s most influential technology companies.

    See 2021 findings