Digital State Capacity

2026-08-04

AI Summary

This study proposes a novel approach to measuring “digital state capacity” by leveraging publicly held IPv4 address space allocated to government entities as a proxy for their ability to deploy ICT infrastructure in support of policy implementation. By integrating IPv4 allocation records with classifications of government organizations and mappings to geospatial administrative units, the indicator offers an objective, observable measure of cross-agency information exchange and coordination potential, enabling fine-grained comparisons across both national and subnational jurisdictions. Empirical analysis covering over 150 countries and 1,681 subnational regions from 2019 to 2024 reveals that higher scores on this metric are significantly associated with better governance outcomes, including lower corruption levels and higher vaccination rates, thereby providing an innovative tool for assessing state capacity in the digital era.

Abstract

Digital State Capacity is the ability of governments to deploy ICT infrastructure and information systems to implement policy. This paper introduces a new measure of government ICT capacity based on an observable stock of deployable public-sector network infrastructure: public IPv4 address space held by government organisations. These address holdings are key inputs into digital administration because they support internet-facing systems, networked information exchange, and coordination across agencies and functions. The core panel covers approximately 150,000 country-entity records classified as government across more than 150 countries from 2019 to 2024 and can be disaggregated by administrative level and government function. In the 2019 to 2024 Admin-1 panel, government IP holdings are observed in 1,681 subnational regions across all years. We validate the measure at the crosscountry and subnational levels and apply it to government tasks related to corruption control and vaccination rollout. In illustrative country-year analysis, higher Digital State Capacity is associated with higher-quality governance and publicservice outcomes in the expected directions, including lower measured corruption and higher vaccination coverage. These associations are descriptive; they demonstrate the empirical relevance of the measure and are not causal estimates.

Problem

• Digital State Capacity
• ICT infrastructure
• government capacity
• public administration
• IPv4 address

Innovation

• Digital State Capacity
• IPv4 address space
• government ICT infrastructure
• subnational governance
• digital administration