When an aspiring entrepreneur wants to open a business, to get started, they need to navigate a series of administrative steps: registering their company, submitting beneficial ownership and shareholder information, verifying their identity, securing a tax ID, getting the company name approved, paying incorporation fees, receiving a certificate of incorporation, and applying for any specific permits. Each step often involves a different government agency, and traditionally, that has meant repeated paperwork, long queues, and frustrating delays.
Now imagine if these steps could be completed online—and even better, if different government systems could communicate with one another so that information only had to be entered once.
Governments worldwide are increasingly leveraging digital technologies to streamline bureaucratic processes, reduce costs, and promote transparency (World Bank, 2016; ILO, 2021). Digital public services, particularly those tied to business registration, hold enormous potential for fostering entrepreneurship and making the formal economy more accessible (Klapper, Miller, & Hess, 2019; Martins & Veiga, 2022).
This blog presents new data from the World Bank Business Ready (B-READY) project’s Business Entry topic, which examines the processes and requirements involved in starting a business across three pillars: the regulatory framework, public services, and operational efficiency. Here, we focus specifically on the Pillar II: Digital Public Services and Transparency of Information for Business Entry, which explores three interconnected components within the pillar: availability of digital services, interoperability of systems, and transparency of online information.
When digital services are available, entrepreneurs can submit documents, pay fees, and track progress without setting foot in a physical government office. Interoperability ensures that once their information is submitted—say, for a tax ID—it doesn’t need to be re-entered when applying for permits or registering shareholders. Transparency, meanwhile, gives entrepreneurs clear, accessible guidance on what’s required at each step, reducing confusion and improving compliance. Together, these elements contribute to a faster, more efficient, and more entrepreneur-friendly business registration process.
Initial findings: a global overview
The initial analysis of B-READY data shows significant variation in the adoption and effectiveness of digital public services for business entry across the 50 countries surveyed. Pillar II scores range from 8.33 to 94.50 out of 100, indicating a wide spectrum of performance. This contrast suggests that while some economies have well-developed digital infrastructures, others still face challenges in fully integrating digital public services, which may hinder their entrepreneurial growth potential.
Note: The figure illustrates the average Pillar II score across World Bank income groups and the corresponding room for improvement. The maximum possible score for Pillar II is 100, with higher scores indicating stronger performance. The room for improvement is calculated as the gap between each group's average score and the maximum.
Pillar II : Digital Public Services and Transparency of Information for Business Entry
High income economies also demonstrate strong performance, indicating a high level of digital adoption in public services
Digital services availability
The category of Digital Services for Business Entry is divided into three key subcategories: the availability of online services for the business start-up process, the digital storage of company and beneficial ownership information, and the implementation of online identity verification systems. The data reveals that while high-income countries generally perform well across all three subcategories, there are significant differences in adoption patterns across income groups. The availability of online services for the core business start-up process is the most widely adopted feature, even in lower-income countries.
However, the digital storage of company information and, particularly, identity verification systems show a much steeper decline in adoption as income level decreases. This suggests that while basic online portals for registration are becoming more common, the more sophisticated features that contribute to a truly integrated and secure digital environment are lagging in many lower-income countries.
While high-income economies like Estonia have a comprehensive digital platform covering all aspects from initial registration to secure data storage and identity verification, many low-income economies face hurdles with digital services limited to basic registration
Interoperability of services for business entry
Beyond the availability of digital services themselves, the interoperability of those services—how well they connect and share information—is crucial for a streamlined business entry process. This category focuses on the electronic exchange of company information and the use of unique business identifiers to streamline the business entry process and reduce administrative burdens for entrepreneurs. Efficient information exchange between agencies, such as the business registry and tax administration, minimizes errors and simplifies regulatory compliance. A Unique Business Identifier (UBI) provides a standardized way to identify businesses across different transactions and interactions with public agencies, further enhancing efficiency and transparency.
A pattern of uneven interoperability of digital services is observed from data across income groups. Higher income levels generally correlate with greater interoperability. However, across most income groups, the implementation of unique business identification systems tends to outpace the establishment of robust electronic exchange of company information between agencies. This reinforces the broader challenge of achieving fully integrated digital systems for business entry, regardless of geographic location or economic status.
Income groups exhibit a surprising trend: the implementation of unique business identification systems often outpaces the electronic exchange of company information between agencies.
This pattern suggests that while assigning unique identifiers may be a relatively straightforward initial step, creating truly interconnected systems that facilitate seamless data flow between government entities presents a more complex, and often overlooked, hurdle.
Transparency of online information for business entry
The transparency of online information is another critical element in facilitating successful business entry and operations. The Business Entry analysis evaluates how transparently economies present information on starting and operating businesses, including start-up procedures, general company information, and gender-disaggregated firm statistics.
A consistent gap exists across all income groups in the availability of comprehensive and gender-disaggregated firm statistics
Availability of business start-up data starts out highest among high-income countries but plunges sharply for low-income economies, while general company information shows a steadier decline. Meanwhile, sex-disaggregated statistics on newly registered firms remain the scarcest across all income levels, dropping from a moderate level in high-income contexts to nearly negligible availability in low-income settings.
A consistent gap exists across all income groups in the availability of comprehensive and gender-disaggregated firm statistics.
Availability of business start-up data starts out highest among high-income countries but plunges sharply for low-income economies, while general company information shows a steadier decline. Meanwhile, sex-disaggregated statistics on newly registered firms remain the scarcest across all income levels, dropping from a moderate level in high-income contexts to nearly negligible availability in low-income settings.
Higher income correlates with greater transparency in online information. However, the data consistently shows that, regardless of income level, the availability of general and gender-disaggregated firm statistics lags significantly behind other information types. This underscores a global need for improved collection and dissemination of detailed business statistics.
With the varying levels of digital public services evident across 50 economies, it is important to consider their subsequent impact. Efficient and transparent governmental services, particularly when delivered through digital channels, represent a critical infrastructure for enabling new venture creation.
It's worth noting that while higher-income countries often lead in public digital services for business registration, several lower-middle and even low-income countries are making significant strides. For example, Tanzania, a lower-middle-income economy, excels in all three categories of Pillar II, earning a score of 72.50 out of 100—15 points above the average. This success is largely due to the electronic system known as the Online Registration System (ORS) developed by the Business Registration and Licensing Agency (BRELA), which offers a comprehensive suite of digital services for entrepreneurs. Rwanda, a low-income economy, provides another compelling case: leveraging the national ID system, the National Identification Agency automatically verifies and uploads identity details into the company registry. The entire process is fully online—from application to company name approval—and businesses can be registered in as little as six hours, free of charge.
These examples underscore that with strategic investment in digital infrastructure and effective policy implementation, countries at all income levels can make substantial progress in digital public service delivery—proving that income is not a barrier to innovation and efficiency.
In conclusion, digital public services are essential for enabling entrepreneurship and fostering economic growth. The B-READY report offers a valuable lens to understand how digitalization can transform business entry processes and empower entrepreneurs. We encourage governments and researchers to prioritize digital reforms and continue exploring the transformative potential of digitalization in unlocking entrepreneurship and driving sustainable economic development.
