This paper was prepared as part of the implementation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) regional technical assistance, Digital Development Facility for Asia and the Pacific project. Lim May-Ann (domain expert and consultant, ADB) led the writing of the paper, with guidance from Thomas Abell, chief of digital technology for development, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department (SDCC), and Arndt Husar, senior public management specialist, digital technology for development, SDCC. Samantha Brown (consultant, ADB) copyedited the draft paper; Lawrence Casiraya (consultant, ADB) proofread the draft paper; Ginojesu Pascua (consultant, ADB) prepared the graphics work; and Jennifer Flint (consultant, ADB) typeset and laid out the final publication. Laarni Zapanta-Tuazon, senior operations assistant, SDCC, and Carmela Fernando-Villamar, digital technology officer, SDCC, provided valuable administrative support. 

Peer reviewers of this working paper were Marcus Bartley Johns, regional director, Government Affairs and Public Policy (Asia), Microsoft, and Mike Leow, senior compliance manager, Alibaba Cloud (Singapore). ADB greatly acknowledges all these contributions and would like to give special thanks to the Asia Cloud Computing Association and the Amazon Web Services Institute, which provided valuable feedback and inputs.