Panel During the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) e-Week
“Overcoming the fragmentation of digital governance: what role for the Global Digital Compact and e-trade rules?”
Co-organized by the South Centre (SC) and the University of St. Gallen
7 December 2023
Geneva, Switzerland
Panel During the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) e-Week
“Digital health at the crossroads of human rights, AI governance and digital trade”
Co-organized by the South Centre (SC) and the Brazilian Institute for Consumer Protection (Idec)
6 December 2023
Geneva, Switzerland
The Global Digital Compact: opportunities and challenges for developing countries in a fragmented digital space
By Carlos Correa, Danish, Vitor Ido, Jacquelene Mwangi and Daniel Uribe
The adoption of a Global Digital Compact (GDC) as one of the outcomes of the Summit of the Future opens up the opportunity to address in a systematic manner issues that are of critical importance for the digital global governance. It also poses a challenge to developing countries, as most of them lack the infrastructure and capabilities to fully participate in the digital transformation. Many inequalities, including a deep digital divide, do exist and would need to be addressed by the GDC for it to become a real instrument of change and improvement in the living conditions and the prospects of a better future for most of the world population. This paper examines the current fragmentation in the digital governance and some of the issues raised by the proposals made by the UN Secretary-General for adoption of the GDC.
