Sanjay Pradhan, Vice president World Bank Institute

As many of those gathered here in Busan, I feel very excited about the chance we have to collectively
shape the way in which development is practiced.

We live in times of extraordinary change and in the middle of a global financial crisis. In these times of
change, our assumptions about economic development and about development cooperation are being
fundamentally challenged. The old development cooperation paradigm is outdated. The old paradigm
is a North-South paradigm of aid. It is based on the transfer of money from the developed “north” to
the developing “south”. The money is accompanied by the transfer, also from North to South, of so-
called “knowledge”, i.e. reform prescriptions. And in providing this North-South flow of Aid, the focus is
on a narrow set of governmental actors.

Today, the world is fundamentally different in many different ways. Look at how the financial
crisis is creating pressures on traditional assistance, including the pressure and imperative to show
concrete and tangible results. Look at how citizen movements in the Middle East to the Anna Hazare
movement in India have underscored powerfully that citizens want accountability. They are showing
that development is not just a matter of government. Look at how the rise of ICT – the penetration
of social media and mobile technologies - have dramatically changed the way we work, the way we
think, the way we connect, the way we can involve everyone in development. And look at the rise of
MICs. The emergence of MICs in the G20 signals a dramatic shift in global power.

Also, these countries represent development success for other developing countries. These countries represent important
new sources of South-South knowledge and investment that were not present just a decade ago. South-
South exchanges can build inspiration, give practical know-how, build ownership and capacity in ways
the North-South paradigm could not.

By inverting the old North-South paradigm, we are developing a new approach that focuses firmly
on supporting country-led reforms by building the capacity of domestic leaders to themselves tackle
development challenges. And for this, whereas the old or traditional paradigm focused on working
primarily with a narrow set of government, to achieve results, we need collaborative actions between
state and non-state actors, recognizing the growing importance of citizen voice and participation. We
call this Open Governance. And to build the capacity of these actors, to build ownership, inspiration and
practical “how to knowledge” of what has worked elsewhere, they need to be connected to multiple
sources of knowledge and innovation, especially from the South. We call this Open Knowledge. And in
the context of increasing pressures on traditional aid, we need to leverage aid to achieve stronger and
more visible results, while broadening sources of finance, including South-South investments as well as
grants from foundations to build the capacity of non-state actors. We call this Open Aid. This troika of
Open Governance, Open Knowledge and Open Aid lies at the core of a new open development paradigm
and can bring us closer to the vision of a more inclusive, democratic and effective development.