Human capital is South Asia’s most important asset. How well this human capital is nurtured, utilized, empowered, and invested in will determine how strong a leadership role South Asia will play in the global economy during the twenty-first century. Over the last two decades, there has been reason for optimism. The region posted the fastest decline in under-five mortality and the fastest increase in life expectancy, made strong gains toward universal primary enrollment, and saw a rapid reduction in the proportion of the population living below the poverty line. But the shocks imparted by the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the fragility of these gains, many important gaps in human development service delivery, and the vulnerability of large sections of the population stemming from deep structural inequalities. The shocks also highlighted the need for greater resilience as the region faces possible new waves of the pandemic and increasingly severe shocks caused by climate change and environmental degradation. This report thus comes at an opportune time as the region looks to rapidly rebuild its human capital.

The most important message of this report is that the ongoing converging technology revolution being spearheaded by the private sector in South Asia and globally should be exploited deliberately and strategically through public policy to build and protect, deploy and utilize, and empower human capital. The convergence of different groups of technologies, underpinned by universal connectivity, big data, and high-speed com-puting power—and propelled by artificial intelligence—is unleashing technological advances at an unprecedented speed. Specifically, these advances in technology can be used to improve access to and the quality of service delivery, prepare the workforce for technological changes in the workplace, encourage innovation for human development, and empower marginalized segments of the population.