GENEVA
\nThe UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said that the world needs a new approach to allow as many people as possible to access digital data across borders. This should help maximise development gains and ensure that they are equitably distributed, said the agency, launching its Digital Economy Report 2021.
\nA new approach should also enable worldwide data sharing, increase the development of global digital \u201cpublic goods\u201d, increase trust and reduce uncertainty in the digital economy, UNCTAD added.
\nThe report stressed that the new global system must help avoid further fragmentation of the internet, address policy challenges emerging from the dominant positions of digital platforms, and narrow existing inequalities.
\n\u201cIt is more important than ever to embark on a new path for digital and data governance,\u201d UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in his preface to the report. \u201cThe current fragmented data landscape… may create more space for substantial harms related to privacy breaches, cyberattacks and other risks\u201d he added.??
\nDigital data play an increasingly important role as an economic and strategic resource, a trend reinforced by the Covid-19 pandemic, the report says. For example, sharing health data globally is of \u201ccritical importance\u201d as it can help countries fight disease outbreaks, and for research purposes, in the development of effective vaccines: \u201cThe issue of digital governance can no longer be postponed,\u201d UNCTAD Secretary General Rebeca Grynspan said.
\n\u201cThe global data economy calls for moving away from the silo approach towards a more holistic, coordinated global approach,\u201d UNCTAD Deputy Secretary General Isabelle Durant added.?
\nUNCTAD is proposing the formation of a new United Nations coordinating body, focused on assessing and developing global digital and data governance. The body should seek to remedy the underrepresentation of developing countries and provide sufficient policy space to ensure countries with different levels of digital readiness and capacities, can truly benefit.
\nThe report notes that now, there are widely diverging approaches to data governance, with three leading players \u2013 the United States, China and the European Union (EU). In essence, the US approach focuses on control of data by the private sector, the Chinese model emphasizes control of data by the government, while the EU favours control of data by individuals, based on fundamental rights and values.
\n\u201cThe absence of a global data governance framework hampers countries\u2019 ability to reap benefits from the digital economy,\u201d?UNCTAD\u2019s director of technology and logistics, Shamika N Sirimanne, said. \u201cIt also hinders their ability to protect the privacy of people from both private sector and government use of data and to address concerns related to law enforcement and national security\u201d.
\nThe report warned that a data-related divide is emerging, resulting in many developing countries becoming mere providers of raw data to global digital platforms while having to pay for the digital intelligence generated from their data.
\nIt also noted that the average mobile broadband speed is about three times higher in developed countries than in LDCs. The report warns that it has become increasingly difficult to consider regulations of cross-border data flows without also considering the governance of the digital corporations. These platforms continue to expand their own data ecosystems and increasingly control all stages of the global data value chain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GENEVA The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said that the world needs a new approach to allow as many people as possible to access digital data across borders. This should help maximise development gains and ensure that they are equitably distributed, said the agency, launching its Digital Economy Report 2021. A new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n