Harnessing the Power of Big Data for Trade and Competitiveness Policy

Big data solutions have the potential to accelerate the work of our teams by deriving timely, accurate, and actionable insights from alternative data sources in order to close data gaps and inform policymaking. For example, pilot projects underway in the Trade and Competitiveness practice are exploring the use of data science techniques to harness publicly available government and commercial data to aid competition authorities in detecting cartels and other anti-competitive practices. We are also mining Internet data to measure innovative economic activity in cities, so agencies can make better informed policy decisions and, we are collecting regulatory data to classify and assess the impacts of non-tariff measures on economies and their competitiveness. This paper, prepared in collaboration with Deloitte and with other global practices within the Bank Group, highlights data-driven pilot projects underway in the Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice and shares compelling cases of how big data is changing the way we look at the challenges countries are facing and how we can best support them