World Bank's Open Learning Campus (Video)

The Growth and Employment (GEM) Project, a World Bank Group funded project implemented by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), has provided technical advice to Office of the Vice-President on the establishment regional Innovation Hubs across Nigeria. GEM project is now inviting proposals from existing private sector operators or non-governmental organizations with innovative, viable and sustainable proposals for the establishment or expansion of Innovation Hubs in the South- East, South West, North-West, North-East or North-Central Zones of Nigeria. The webinar will be presenting key findings of a recently launched report on “catalyzing growth in Nigeria through regional innovation: opportunities and challenges for developing innovation hubs across Nigeria” and discuss the call for proposals for innovation hubs under the innovative market grant window of the GEM project.

The webinar will present several methodologies for analyzing entrepreneurship and start-up activity in a country. Speakers will present case-studies based on the work implemented in Suriname, Serbia, Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh, Palestine, Lebanon and other countries. These methodologies (or diagnostic tools) help not only understand constraints to innovation and entrepreneurship, but also compare performance vis-a-vis peer countries. The information they provide represents a necessary step toward a response – policy reforms, change in program design and resourcing, or a specific intervention, helping policy practitioners identify suitable entry points, justify interventions, and achieve consensus for key priorities and a course of action.

The webinar will explore social impact bonds as a potential model that addresses weaknesses of traditional approaches in solving social issues. An RBF instrument itself, impact bonds tie financial returns and payments to social outcomes. Their design brings private sector investment to programs that are not profit-centered but produce social externalities.

Acceso y visualización de datos multisectoriales en un contexto espacial

Many decisions in a watershed or a river/lake basin are hampered by availability of adequate information. For example, which are the erosion hotspots in a watershed? What is the flow at various points in a basin? Which areas are susceptible to floods and droughts? What impact do upstream landuse changes or future climate scenarios have on its hydrology? Answering these questions requires access to a range of multi-sectoral data that impacts multi-sectoral decisions in the basin context.

This webinar will set the watershed context for making decisions at different scales, illustrate what types of data are useful to help make such decisions, and overview of public-domain data (from in-situ and earth observation) curated by many organizations. In particular, the session will introduce new opportunities for bottom-up (in-situ) monitoring with new sensors, and explore a rapidly expanding range of earth observation data products that are now accessible in the public domain. A new innovative free World Bank App called Spatial Agent will be presented along with its associated learning resources on OLC. This will demonstrate the powerful visualization of thousands of relevant (mostly global) data services provided by NASA, ESA, The World Bank, UN organizations, Universities, and other institutions around the world.

At the end of this webinar, we expect that the participants can gain a good appreciation of why spatial information is useful in a watershed/basin context, and be able to use the Spatial Agent App. It will also introduce the Watershed Moments webinar series.

De nombreuses décisions prises dans un bassin hydrographique ou dans un bassin hydrographique sont entravées par la disponibilité d'informations adéquates. Par exemple, quels sont les points chauds de l'érosion dans un bassin hydrographique? Quel est le débit à divers points dans un bassin? Quelles sont les zones sensibles aux inondations et aux sécheresses? Quelles sont les répercussions des changements de l'utilisation des terres en amont ou des scénarios climatiques futurs sur son hydrologie? Répondre à ces questions nécessite l'accès à une gamme de données multisectorielles qui ont un impact sur les décisions multisectorielles dans le contexte du bassin.

Ce webinaire définira le contexte de la prise de décisions, illustrera les types de données utiles pour prendre de telles décisions et un aperçu des données du domaine public (de l'observation in situ et de l'observation de la Terre) organisées par de nombreuses organisations. En particulier, la session offrira de nouvelles possibilités de surveillance (in situ) par le bas avec de nouveaux capteurs et explorera une gamme de produits d'observation de la Terre en pleine expansion qui sont maintenant accessibles dans le domaine public. Une nouvelle application gratuite de la Banque mondiale appelée Spatial Agent sera présentée avec ses ressources d'apprentissage associées à OLC. Cela démontrera la puissante visualisation de milliers de services de données pertinents (principalement mondiaux) fournis par la NASA, l'ESA, la Banque mondiale, les organisations des Nations Unies, les universités et d'autres institutions dans le monde.

À la fin de ce webinaire, nous nous attendons à ce que les participants puissent bien comprendre pourquoi l'information spatiale est utile dans un contexte de bassin versant / bassin et pouvoir utiliser l'application Spatial Agent. Il servira aussi de base pour le prochain webinaire de la série portant sur les outils analytiques.

Часто принятию решений по водосборному и (или) речному/озерному бассейну препятствует недостаток необходимой информации. Например, какие локации в бассейне наиболее подвержены эрозии? Каков уровень стока в разных точках бассейна? Какие районы подвержены паводкам и засухам? Как изменения в практике землепользования в верховьях рек или будущие климатические сценарии влияют на его гидрологию? Чтобы ответить на эти вопросы, требуется к доступ к данным из самых разных областей знаний, которые влияют на принимаемые в разных отраслях экономики решения в бассейновом контексте.

В ходе вебинара будет рассказано о водосборных бассейнах в контексте принятия решений, а также будут проиллюстрированы виды данных, которые могут быть полезны для принятия таких решений, и представлен обзор общедоступных данных (локальных наблюдений (in situ) и наблюдений Земли), курируемых множеством организаций. В частности, будет рассказано о новых возможностях мониторинга «снизу вверху» (in situ) при помощи новых сенсоров, а также о быстро растущем массиве данных наблюдения Земли, которые уже находятся в свободном доступе. Также будут представлены новое инновационное бесплатное приложение Spatial Agent от Всемирного банка и соответствующие материалы для обучения на OLC. На примере приложения будут продемонстрированы возможности визуализации тысяч (главным образом, глобальных) данных, предоставляемых НАСА, ЕКА, Всемирным банком, организациями ООН, вузами и другими организациями мира.

Мы надеемся, что к концу вебинара участники получат подробное представление о том, почему пространственная информация полезна в контексте водосборов/бассейнов, и научатся пользоваться приложением Spatial Agent. Он также станет основой для следующего вебинара серии, посвященного аналитическим инструментам.

Where there are unmet development challenges, such as sanitation problems in the slums, last mile health provision, access to clean drinking water, rural electricity needs, etc -- social enterprises have developed business models to address these issues and service gaps, as well as devised innovative means to make their services/products accessible and affordable to the poor. Social enterprises also often engage in inclusive employment to maximize the benefits to the local community, contributing to local skills development and driving greater upstream/ downstream value-chain activities.

As social enterprises prioritize social impact over profit, they are a natural ally for governments wanting to expand service delivery to the last mile, yet to do so in an economically sustainable way that minimizes fiscal outlays.

The webinar will look at some of the global social enterprise business models that could be replicated in new countries to improve the lives of those living in poverty. We will also explore public policy instruments to support the growth and potential of the social enterprises models to be scaled, replicated or mainstreamed through public or private channels of service delivery, including Bank operations.

Two critical challenges for countries affected by fragility, conflict and violence (FCV) are creating sustainable peace and constructing a path for growth. Often functioning with limited capacity, these countries possess unique characteristics to produce and enforce infrastructure regulation. In order to develop effective governance and regulatory systems in countries affected by FCV it is important to consider how their specific goals, instruments, and institutional arrangements differ from those of more developed countries.

To assist practitioners to be able to both develop much needed infrastructure and develop a viable regulatory system, the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) partnered with the University of Florida’s Public Utility Research Center to develop an updated Body of Knowledge on Infrastructure Regulation (BoKIR) that provides updated FAQs, a self-assessment tool, and a maturity taxonomy for practitioners who are developing and implementing infrastructure solutions. This webinar will introduce the portal, summarize its key content, and demonstrate its tools, including showing results from countries that have engaged with the self-assessment. This webinar will also feature an interview with experienced practitioners in the field of infrastructure service delivery

Virginia began its experience with Public-Private Partnerships by passing the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA) of 1995, which provided the legal framework for PPPs in the transportation sector. In 2002, the Virginia legislature passed the Public-Private Educational Facilities & Infrastructure Act (PPEA) to expand the possibility of PPP procurement outside the transportation sector. The Commonwealth has had a dedicated PPP organization within the state government since 2005, the current form of which is the Virginia Office of Public-Private Partnerships (VAP3). Virginia’s approach to PPP was codified in the publication of its PPTA Implementation Manuel and Guidelines in 2005. Updates, tools, and supplemental material have been developed since then, and the PPEA Implementation Manual and Guidelines was released in 2015.

Virginia has successfully implemented major PPP projects over the past decade, including a Design-Build-Operate-Maintain contract for the Capital Beltway Express Lanes, the Downtown/Midtown Tunnel/Martin Luther King Boulevard Extension in Hampton Roads, and the Interstate 95 express lanes in 2012. Currently, VAP3 is finalizing a contract for the Interstate 66 Outside the Beltway project.

Virginia’s PPP selection process occurs in three phases: Project Identification, Project Screening, and Project Development. Solicited projects and unsolicited proposals are entertained during Project Identification. Project Screening is a two-part, high-level analysis: High-Level Screening/Policy Review and Detail-Level Screening. If proposals continue to Project Development, they will be subjected to value-for-money and risk analysis.

This webinar will seek to expand upon Virginia’s PPP selection process, especially in identification and screening. The webinar will also discuss how Virginia’s experience works within the U.S. federal, state, and local infrastructure, and how applicable this experience can be for developing economies.