Session
IGF 2018 Report Template
Pre-Session Synthesis Due: 2 November 2018
Short Report Due: Within 12 hours of when session is held
Long Report Due: 27 November 2018
- Session Type (Workshop, Open Forum, etc.): Panel
- Title: IGF 2018 NRI Session on Digital Economy (“Developing regional, national and local digital economy ecosystems: assessing roles, perspectives and responsibilities in a multistakeholder fashion”)
- Date & Time: Tuesday, 13 November, 2018 - 17:20 to 18:20
- Organizer(s): NRIs
- Chair/Moderator: Diego Canabarro (CGI.br / NIC.br)
- Rapporteur/Notetaker: Juliano Cappi (CGI.br / NIC.br) & Jean Santos (CGI.br / NIC.br)
- List of speakers and their institutional affiliations (Indicate male/female/ transgender male/ transgender female/gender variant/prefer not to answer):
- Brazil IGF: Nivaldo Cleto - CGI.br
- France IGF: Armen Khatchatourov, Chair Values and Policies of Personal Information, Institut Mines-Télécom (PoC Lucien)
- Panama IGF: Krizia Matthews – IPANDETEC
- Arab IGF: Charles Shaban – Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP).
- Theme (as listed here): Development, Innovation & Economic Issues
- Subtheme (as listed here): None assigned
- Please state no more than three (3) key messages of the discussion.
- Instruments for policy-making (esp. public-private partnerships) and specific policy areas (infrastructure implementation, capacity development and digital inclusion) where discussed in tandem with modalities of technologies (A.I., blockchain, 5G, IoT, etc.) that should drive the development of digital economy ecosystem. Participants identified the importance of national statistical offices to produce statistics on ICT-related issues to contribute with the development of evidence-based public policies.
- A systemic approach to the topic is needed to reconcile technological and economic variables with cultural, societal and political aspects inherent to the global, regional, national and local political economy. Diversity, inclusion and universality should basic principles for any discussion regarding the development of digital ecosystems. On a more operational level, participants discussed how to trust the digital economy in a context of monopolistic practices and abuses in data collection and use. There was some discussion on how to introduce competition and antitrust Internet governance forum.
- A sociological approach to the issues of trust (attitude) and confidence (based on a set of structural components) in the digital economy can help develop sustainability in the evolution of digital economy ecosystems. Comparing the digital economy with the financial sector, participants identified a trend that indicates the grow of trust at the expense of confidence (i.e.: the individual attitudes of people versus the amount of social institutions that provide the foundation of effective confidence). There was consensus on the importance of context for the discussion of “digital economy ecosystems”. Accordingly, confidence depends of the social context in which a specific actor operates. A participant in the audience, representing a NRI that was not panelist on the session raised the question of “what type of regulation is needed” for governments to build trust in the digital economy. The panelists coalesced around the idea that regulation without the sustaining social structure might be problematic.
- Please elaborate on the discussion held, specifically on areas of agreement and divergence.
Panelists converged on the importance of issues like innovation, cooperation among stakeholder groups and different contexts in which digital economy ecosystems arise and evolve. Only the Panamanian IGF highlighted the role of civic engagement coupled with regulatory agencies in keeping the stability of digital economy. The Brazilian IGF presented a systemic approach to the topic, while the Arab IGF provided a list of priorities for Arab countries vis-à-vis Digital Economy. The French IGF proposed a discussions from the social sciences perspective on issues of trust and confidence as captured above. The rapporteurship could not identify areas of divergence among the panelists.
- Please describe any policy recommendations or suggestions regarding the way forward/potential next steps.
A systemic approach to the topic is needed to reconcile technological and economic variables with cultural, societal and political aspects inherent to the global, regional, national and local political economy. Diversity, inclusion and universality should basic principles for any discussion regarding the development of digital ecosystems. On a more operational level, participants discussed how to trust the digital economy in a context of monopolistic practices and abuses in data collection and use. There was some discussion on how to introduce competition and antitrust Internet governance forum.
- What ideas surfaced in the discussion with respect to how the IGF ecosystem might make progress on this issue? There was no discussion with respect to how IGF ecosystem might make progress on this issue.
- Please estimate the total number of participants: 23
- Please estimate the total number of women and gender-variant individuals present: 15.
- To what extent did the session discuss gender issues, and if to any extent, what was the discussion? The Arab IGF had as one of its outcomes the importance of the development of policy to bridge gender digital divide, but it was only mentioned as one of the important aspects of the development of digital economy. There had been no further discussion.
- Session outputs and other relevant links (URLs): Not applicable.