Making data governance work for developing countries – IGF 2019 Berlin

Data governance has been a key topic in the global agenda, but much of the debate has been driven by the interests of richer nations. The Pathways Commission was in Berlin in November for the 2019 edition of the Internet Governance Forum, where we presented findings of our paper Digital diplomacy: technology governance for developing countries.

The panellists Kamal Bhattacharya (Pathways for Prosperity Commissioner), Mariana Valente (Director of InternetLab), and Fabrizio Hochschild (UN Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination) discussed data governance priorities for developing countries and how to improve international cooperation mechanisms to better address the interests of low- and middle-income countries

Elizabeth Stuart, Executive Director of the Pathways for Prosperity Commission, who moderated the discussion said: “Effective data governance frameworks will be pivotal to ensure developing countries share in the benefits of the digital age, but there is still a very limited number of rich countries around the table when it comes to rules-setting. Governance of tech is the greatest knowledge gap we have identified during the lifetime of the commission and a topic we are excited to continue to work on at the Blavatnik School of Government”.

Missed the event? The recording of our panel discussion at the IGF 2019 is available here.