The OECD Digital Economy and Society Outlook (DESO) is a flagship publication that analyses trends in technology development, digital policies and digital performance in OECD Member countries and partner economies. It draws on indicators from the OECD Going Digital Toolkit, the OECD ICT Access and Usage, and the OECD Broadband Statistics databases, among other data. The 2026 edition also benefits from responses to the DESO 2026 data collection that provide insights into digital priorities and policies in OECD Member countries and partner economies.
Beginning with an overview chapter that analyses recent developments in the digital policy landscape across countries and economies, the remainder of the DESO 2026 is structured around three main pillars. First, a technology pillar monitors key developments in access and connectivity and provides insights into the future of artificial intelligence (AI) compute. Second, an economy pillar analyses how people, firms and governments are adopting digital technologies and sheds light on innovation in privacy-enhancing technologies. Third, a society pillar focuses on the two ends of the age spectrum by exploring child well-being in video gaming and how older adults engage with digital environments in the AI age.
The DESO 2026 represents the collective work of staff in the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) supporting the OECD Digital Policy Committee (DPC), chaired by Yoichi Iida (Japan). The publication has benefited from valuable comments from delegates to the DPC and its Working Parties. The DPC declassified content in the DESO 2026 by written procedure on 10 June 2026, 26 June 2026, 24 July 2026, 28 July 2026 and 4 September 2026.
Molly Lesher (Head of Division) led the orientations and development of this publication with support from Elif Koksal-Oudot (Economist and Policy Analyst).
The authors are Elif Koksal-Oudot, Molly Lesher, Hanna Pawelec and Julia Carro (Chapter 1: “Digital priorities, policies and governance”); Lauren Crean, Karim-Bensassi-Nour, Alexia González Fanfalone, Frédéric Bourassa and Charles Laverdure (Chapter 2: “Trends in access and connectivity”); Giorgia Bergamo, Nicolas Benoit and Nils Adriansson (Chapter 3: “Digital technology diffusion and the economy”); Nora Beauvais, Nicolas Benoit, Lisa Robinson and Hanna Pawelec (Chapter 4: “Levelling up child well-being in video gaming”), Celine Caira and Jan-Peter Kleinhans (Spotlight 1: “Powering AI progress: The future of compute”); Christian Reimsbach-Kounatze and Claudia Abdallah (Spotlight 2: “The innovation landscape of privacy-enhancing technologies”); Nils Adriansson and Dahye Jung (Spotlight 3: “Growing older in the AI age”); and Giorgia Bergamo and Frédéric Bourassa (Statistical Annex).
The following OECD colleagues provided valuable input to the DESO 2026 in their respective areas of expertise: Giorgia Bergamo (Chapter 1); Kohsuke Ikeda (Chapter 2); Luis Aranda, Celine Caira, Flavio Calvino, Peter Gal and Molly Lesher (Chapter 3); Molly Lesher (Chapter 4); Luis Aranda, Andrés Barreneche, Tana McCauley, Jeff Mollins and Karine Perset (Spotlight 1); Hélène Dernis (Spotlight 2); Nicolas Benoit, Giorgia Bergamo, Elif Koksal-Oudot and Molly Lesher (Spotlight 3); and Nils Adriansson, Alexia González Fanfalone and Elif Koksal-Oudot (Statistical Annex).
The publication benefited from comments, support and input by Jerry Sheehan (Director), Audrey Plonk (Deputy Director), Clarisse Girot (Head of Division), Sara Rendtorff-Smith (Head of Division) and Gallia Daor (Senior Advisor) of STI.
Andreia Furtado, Mark Foss, Alice Weber, Sebastian Ordelheide and Angela Gosmann provided communication and editorial support. Bestiario created the infographics. Graphic design expertise from Fabio Parmeggiani and secretarial assistance from Sean Brish, Christy Dentler, Stephanie Root and Alice Weber are gratefully acknowledged.