Informal Digital Transformation Among Sudanese Youth During Armed Conflict: Digital Adaptation, Livelihoods, and Community Resilience, 2023-2025

Abstract This study examines informal digital transformation among Sudanese youth during the armed conflict that began in April 2023. Rather than treating digital transformation as a state-led or corporate modernization process, the paper analyzes youth-led, low-resource, and community-based digital practices that emerged under conditions of displacement, infrastructure disruption, economic contraction, and information insecurity. The study uses a conflict-sensitive secondary mixed-methods design combining digital-access indicators, programme documentation, case-based evidence, and thematic analysis of youth-oriented digital activity in education, livelihoods, humanitarian coordination, and civic engagement. The revised analysis corrects earlier overextension by limiting empirical claims to Sudan-specific evidence from 2023–2025 and treating South Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen only as comparative regional references. Findings suggest that Sudanese youth have relied on low-bandwidth platforms, offline learning tools, social-commerce practices, diaspora networks, and peer-to-peer coordination to sustain learning, income generation, mutual aid, and public communication. The paper argues that informal digital transformation is best understood as a form of crisis adaptation and community resilience rather than a substitute for formal digital infrastructure. It concludes with policy recommendations emphasizing offline-first design, digital safety, local ownership, renewable energy, transparent data governance, and targeted support for youth and women in conflict-affected communities.