CarderPlanet
Professional
Today, more than ever, a new approach to digital data management is needed so that as many people as possible around the world can benefit from it and have guarantees of the protection of their personal data.
This is stated in the report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Its authors believe that the new approach is intended to help maximize the benefits of technology development and ensure their equitable distribution. Experts call for a worldwide exchange of digital data and its recognition as a public good, which will significantly increase the importance of the digital economy and the credibility of doing business on the World Wide Web.
The new global system, according to experts, should prevent further fragmentation of the Internet, solve political problems arising from the dominance of leading digital platforms, and also reduce the scale of inequality in the global cloud.
“Today it is important to take a new path for digital and data governance,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his introduction to the report. “The current fragmented data landscape ... is fraught with large privacy breaches, cyberattacks and other risks,” Guterres added.
New, more holistic management
Today, especially during a pandemic, digital data is playing an increasingly important role as an economic and strategic resource. For example, sharing health data helps countries develop the right strategies for dealing with disease outbreaks, and develop effective medicines and vaccines.
“The issue of digital governance cannot be postponed any longer,” said UNCTAD Director-General Rebeca Greenspan.
“The global data economy requires moving away from a fragmented approach to more holistic, coordinated global governance,” added UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Isabelle Durand.
New governing body
UNCTAD is proposing the creation of a new coordinating body with the mandate to assess and develop global digital and data governance. Its goal is to achieve a coordinated approach and greater equality on the world wide web.
Currently, data management strategies vary widely across countries and regions. This can be clearly seen in the example of the three leading players on the World Wide Web: the United States, China and the European Union (EU).
The United States is outsourcing everything to the private sector, the Chinese model is based on government oversight, while the EU supports an approach of individuals participating in cloud data management who respect fundamental human rights and societal values.
“The lack of a global data management system limits the ability of countries to benefit from the digital economy,” said Shamika Sirimann, UNCTAD Director of Technology and Logistics. She believes that such a fragmented approach does not guarantee the protection of people's privacy, does not protect against the use of personal data without their knowledge.
The new approach will enable countries to better leverage advances in electronics for the benefit of society, harmonize rights and principles, develop standards, and enhance international cooperation.
Unfortunately, according to many experts, today the management of cross-border data flows has reached an impasse due to differences in views and approaches to this issue.
The data access gap
Many developing countries are only suppliers of "raw materials" - raw data for global digital platforms. Then the giants of the Internet process this data and sell them expensive finished products, created using their intelligence cheaply.
Today, only 20 percent of people in least developed countries use the Internet. At the same time, they have access to data with a low download speed and a relatively high price.
Today, the average speed of mobile broadband in developed countries is about three times faster than in least developed countries. In rich countries, eight out of ten people shop online, while in many poor countries only one in ten people use these services.
Dominated by the USA and China
According to the UNCTAD report, the US and China are the leaders in the use of data. They account for 50 percent of the world's hyperscale data centers and have the highest 5G (fifth generation cellular) adoption rates in the world. These two countries have 70 percent of the world's top AI researchers, 94 percent of all AI start-up funding, and about 90 percent of the market capitalization of the largest digital platforms. During the pandemic, the profits of these platforms skyrocketed.
Corporate growth
Experts admit that today it is increasingly difficult to consider the issue of managing cross-border data flows without taking into account the position of digital corporations that expand their own systems and control all stages of data creation and circulation.
The report says that major digital platforms such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Facebook, Tencent and Alibaba are increasingly investing in all parts of the global data value chain.
For example, Amazon has invested about $ 10 billion in satellite broadband. Between 2016 and 2020, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft were the top buyers of information innovation startups.
In the last quarter of 2020, four major platforms - Alibaba, Amazon, Google and Microsoft - accounted for 67 percent of global cloud infrastructure services revenues.
The findings of the report will be used for discussion during the 15th UNCTAD conference, which will be held online from 3 to 7 October.
This is stated in the report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Its authors believe that the new approach is intended to help maximize the benefits of technology development and ensure their equitable distribution. Experts call for a worldwide exchange of digital data and its recognition as a public good, which will significantly increase the importance of the digital economy and the credibility of doing business on the World Wide Web.
The new global system, according to experts, should prevent further fragmentation of the Internet, solve political problems arising from the dominance of leading digital platforms, and also reduce the scale of inequality in the global cloud.
“Today it is important to take a new path for digital and data governance,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his introduction to the report. “The current fragmented data landscape ... is fraught with large privacy breaches, cyberattacks and other risks,” Guterres added.
New, more holistic management
Today, especially during a pandemic, digital data is playing an increasingly important role as an economic and strategic resource. For example, sharing health data helps countries develop the right strategies for dealing with disease outbreaks, and develop effective medicines and vaccines.
“The issue of digital governance cannot be postponed any longer,” said UNCTAD Director-General Rebeca Greenspan.
“The global data economy requires moving away from a fragmented approach to more holistic, coordinated global governance,” added UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Isabelle Durand.
New governing body
UNCTAD is proposing the creation of a new coordinating body with the mandate to assess and develop global digital and data governance. Its goal is to achieve a coordinated approach and greater equality on the world wide web.
Currently, data management strategies vary widely across countries and regions. This can be clearly seen in the example of the three leading players on the World Wide Web: the United States, China and the European Union (EU).
The United States is outsourcing everything to the private sector, the Chinese model is based on government oversight, while the EU supports an approach of individuals participating in cloud data management who respect fundamental human rights and societal values.
“The lack of a global data management system limits the ability of countries to benefit from the digital economy,” said Shamika Sirimann, UNCTAD Director of Technology and Logistics. She believes that such a fragmented approach does not guarantee the protection of people's privacy, does not protect against the use of personal data without their knowledge.
The new approach will enable countries to better leverage advances in electronics for the benefit of society, harmonize rights and principles, develop standards, and enhance international cooperation.
Unfortunately, according to many experts, today the management of cross-border data flows has reached an impasse due to differences in views and approaches to this issue.
The data access gap
Many developing countries are only suppliers of "raw materials" - raw data for global digital platforms. Then the giants of the Internet process this data and sell them expensive finished products, created using their intelligence cheaply.
Today, only 20 percent of people in least developed countries use the Internet. At the same time, they have access to data with a low download speed and a relatively high price.
Today, the average speed of mobile broadband in developed countries is about three times faster than in least developed countries. In rich countries, eight out of ten people shop online, while in many poor countries only one in ten people use these services.
Dominated by the USA and China
According to the UNCTAD report, the US and China are the leaders in the use of data. They account for 50 percent of the world's hyperscale data centers and have the highest 5G (fifth generation cellular) adoption rates in the world. These two countries have 70 percent of the world's top AI researchers, 94 percent of all AI start-up funding, and about 90 percent of the market capitalization of the largest digital platforms. During the pandemic, the profits of these platforms skyrocketed.
Corporate growth
Experts admit that today it is increasingly difficult to consider the issue of managing cross-border data flows without taking into account the position of digital corporations that expand their own systems and control all stages of data creation and circulation.
The report says that major digital platforms such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Facebook, Tencent and Alibaba are increasingly investing in all parts of the global data value chain.
For example, Amazon has invested about $ 10 billion in satellite broadband. Between 2016 and 2020, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft were the top buyers of information innovation startups.
In the last quarter of 2020, four major platforms - Alibaba, Amazon, Google and Microsoft - accounted for 67 percent of global cloud infrastructure services revenues.
The findings of the report will be used for discussion during the 15th UNCTAD conference, which will be held online from 3 to 7 October.
