Also, inflation levels would be overestimated because of the improved quality of goods and services, not taken into consideration in their calculation. Another field where major changes are induced by this revolution is data production and use. Big data generated by new technologies are at the heart of the strategies of economic and social actors, both public and private. Their exploitation takes many forms such as customizing services and targeting messages to guide the behavior of the consumers or of the public opinion in general… The case of Facebook-Cambridge Analytica during the last US presidential elections offers an uplifting illustration in this regard. 4  Conversely, the impact of this revolution turns out to be rather positive on the administrative procedures, such as tax payment. In fact, benefits are multiple: reduced costs, increased transparency, and the fight against tax evasion and corruption reinforced. To sum up, I will recall one of the main conclusions of the 2016 World Bank's World Development Report on “the digital dividend”. Digital technologies and innovations have undoubtedly helped improve growth and services supply by substantially reducing the costs of economic and financial transactions, but the aggregate impact is still limited and unevenly distributed. Ladies and Gentlemen, I think that we all agree that one of the areas where technological innovation is growing rapidly is the financial sector, with a new term being even dedicated to it, the Fintech. The latter is revolutionizing the financial landscape, by expanding products and services, improving their quality, and making them more accessible and less expensive.

3/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  After all, as moving forward requires the economy to consider not just cutting edge, but also bleeding edge ideas and technologies, we need to start thinking about novel and unconventional approaches. Several questions spring to mind. First, how should the government take calculated policy risks, while managing policy failures? In building pathways to high income, ambitious industrial policies, or “moonshot strategies”, will play a key role. With any policy however, there would be uncertainty and possibility of failure. Development economist, Dani Rodrick, called for effective industrial policy to be less on the ability to pick winners, but on knowing when to cut losses. Too low a failure rate could also mean that we are playing it too safe. The objective, hence, should not be to avoid mistakes, but to minimise the cost of mistakes. This will require the Government to build its capacity to account for and quantify the associated risk within the decision framework. Only then can we make smarter, more intelligent bets to get the most bang for the buck. Second, how can the Government learn and execute better? Focus should be as much on process and governance, as it is on the outcomes. While we have achieved leaps and bounds in economic development since our Independence, past reforms also provide important lessons in areas where we must strive to do better. We have had roughly 60-70 blueprints and masterplans over the years; not all have been executed to their maximum potential.