ADB Moves to Help Asia-Pacific Ride the AI Wave While Protecting Those at Risk

The Asian Development Bank has launched a new digital transformation strategy for 2026–2030, aimed at expanding digital infrastructure, connectivity and AI readiness across the Asia-Pacific region. The move reflects a broader development challenge: ensuring that rapid technological change supports inclusion, jobs and public services rather than widening existing digital and economic divides.

The Asian Development Bank is placing digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence readiness and cybersecurity at the centre of its development agenda for Asia and the Pacific, with a new strategy designed to guide its work from 2026 to 2030.

Titled Digital Transformation for Development: Advancing Inclusion, Security, and Innovation, ADB's new digital transformation strategy aims to help countries across the region strengthen connectivity, build AI-ready systems, improve cybersecurity and privacy safeguards, modernize data governance, and develop the skills needed for a more digital economy. It is closely tied to the Asia-Pacific Digital Highway, a $20 billion initiative announced in May 2026 to finance digital corridors, data infrastructure and AI-ready economies by 2035.

The Digital Divide Is Now an Economic Divide

The Asia-Pacific Digital Highway aims to mobilize $20 billion by 2035, with ADB expected to finance $15 billion from its own resources and raise another $5 billion through cofinancing, including from the private sector. Planned investments include terrestrial and subsea fiber networks, satellite links and regional data centers, alongside policy and regulatory support.

By 2035, it aims to provide first-time broadband access to 200 million people and faster, more reliable connectivity for another 450 million people. It is also expected to reduce connectivity costs in remote and landlocked areas by about 40% and help create 4 million jobs.

Digital access is now a condition for economic participation. Broadband can affect whether a student can learn online, a small business can reach customers, a farmer can access market information, or a remote community can use digital public services. In areas where connectivity remains weak or expensive, the digital economy can become another source of exclusion rather than a route to opportunity.

Lower connectivity costs could improve access for communities that have often been expensive to serve. However, the outcome will depend on implementation: where projects are built, how affordability is measured, whether local institutions can maintain systems, and whether connectivity translates into useful services.

AI Readiness Is Becoming a Development Priority

ADB's strategy also reflects the growing role of AI in development planning. AI is increasingly linked to productivity, public administration, education, health, finance, disaster response and economic competitiveness, but its adoption requires more than access to software. It depends on data systems, regulation, skilled workers, secure infrastructure and public trust.

The planned Center for AI Innovation and Development in Seoul is designed to support that agenda. Backed by a $20 million contribution from the Government of the Republic of Korea, the center will promote responsible and inclusive AI adoption and help train about 3 million people in digital and AI-related skills by 2035.

Digital infrastructure can expand access, but people need the capacity to use it. Governments need technical expertise to regulate and deploy systems responsibly. Workers need training to adapt to changing labor markets. Businesses need digital capabilities to compete. Without skills, the benefits of AI and digital infrastructure may concentrate among already advanced firms, cities and economies.

The Seoul center also points to the role of partnerships in the region's digital transition. Development banks, governments, private companies and technical institutions will all be needed to mobilize financing and expertise. However, coordination will be difficult because countries across Asia and the Pacific vary widely in digital readiness, regulatory capacity, infrastructure needs and exposure to cyber risks.

Connectivity Without Trust Will Not Be Enough

More connected systems can improve public services and business efficiency, but they also increase exposure to cyberattacks, data misuse and operational failures. AI tools can support decision-making, but they can also raise questions about bias, accountability and transparency. Digital public platforms can widen access, but poor design can exclude people who lack devices, literacy, documentation or reliable connectivity.

The strategy's emphasis on secure and interoperable systems suggests recognition that digital development must be built on trust. Governments will need frameworks that protect citizens while allowing innovation. Regulators will have to manage cybersecurity risks without slowing useful investment. Public institutions will need the capacity to use data responsibly.

ADB plans to raise $5 billion through co-financing, including from the private sector. Private capital can help expand the scale of investment, but it may also influence which projects are commercially attractive. The challenge will be ensuring that underserved communities remain central to project selection, rather than being sidelined because they are harder or less profitable to connect.

The Real Test Is Whether the Benefits Reach the Underserved

The promise of ADB's digital push is clear: better connectivity, stronger skills, safer systems and more inclusive AI adoption could support jobs, public services and economic resilience. But the risks are also clear. If investment flows mainly to already connected areas, if training does not match labor-market needs, or if cybersecurity and privacy safeguards lag behind deployment, the strategy could fall short of its inclusion goals.

What comes next will matter more than the announcement itself. Key aspects to watch include which countries and corridors will be prioritized? How will affordability gains be measured? What standards will guide responsible AI adoption? How will the 4 million jobs estimate be tracked? How will governments ensure that women, rural communities, small firms, young workers and vulnerable groups benefit?