Open Net’s contribution to a Global Digital Compact consultation: data protection laws and net neutrality

Open Net participated through a virtual platform in a consultation hosted by the governments of India and Germany on March 21 and 22, 2023 on Global Digital Compact.  The Indian and German governments in cooperation with the Office of the UN Secretary- General’s Envoy on Technology held the regional multi- stakeholder consultations for Asia on the Global Digital Compact in New Delhi, India on the 21 and 22 March 2023.

These consultations, joined by the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology provided an opportunity to discuss suggestions on how the future Global Digital Compact can facilitate the use of digital technologies for the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and for enhancing digital access for societies across all regions of the globe.

At the same time, the consultations enabled discussions on suggestions about how risks and challenges associated with new technologies could be addressed by anchoring principles for responsible use inside the Global Digital Compact, which is scheduled to be finalized ahead of the UN Summit of the Future 2024.

Open Net focused on the importance of (1) data protection law both on its impact on privacy and on its potential conflicts with freedom of expression and technologies, and its broader relationship to the Global Digital Compact as digital public goods often involve personal data and (2) importance of net neutrality in developing open public digital infrastructure, a necessity for complying the Global Digital Compact.

Government participants were as follows:

• UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, Mr. Amandeep Singh Gill                        
• Joint Secretary (MEITY, India) 
• Joint Secretary (New Emerging & Strategic Technologies & Cyber Diplomacy) at Ministry of External Affairs, India, 
  Ms. Muanpuii Saiawi 
• German Ambassador to India, Dr. Philipp Ackermann / German Cyber Ambassador Dr. Regine Grienberger                         
• Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations, Ambassador Anna Karin Eneström 

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