The COVID-19 pandemic, and now the war in Ukraine, has created havoc disrupting billions of lives and livelihoods, hitting low- and middle- income countries the hardest. How can digital solutions and data contribute to helping countries recover and achieve green, resilient and inclusive growth? The World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives highlights the tremendous potential of the changing data landscape to improve the lives of less advantaged people, while also acknowledging its potential to open back doors that can harm individuals, businesses, and societies. To address this tension between the helpful and harmful potential of data, this Report calls for a new social contract that enables the use and reuse of data to create economic and social value, ensures equitable access to that value, and fosters trust that data will not be misused in harmful ways. Using these three principles, the report offers an aspirational vision of an Integrated National Data System (INDS) supp