Digitalisation at the G20 Argentina Presidency

April 16, 2017

The Civil Society G7/G20 Digitalisation Task Force welcomes the proposal of the G20 Ministers to continue the work on digitalisation, during the forthcoming Argentina Presidency.

The task force acknowledges the explicit recognition in that G20 Ministerial Declaration about the importance of data protection and privacy, human rights and freedom of expression, as well as the emphasis on inclusion. In particular, the task force acknowledges the recognition by the G20 Ministers of the importance of affordability to ensure universal access to the Internet, as expressed in the Civil Society G7/G20 position. The reference to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and more specifically, the OECD 2016 Ministerial Declaration on the Digital Economy sets a favorable context for the development of digitalisation, in the conditions outlined by the Civil Society Issues Statement in Cancún.

However much work remains to do. The respect for privacy globally as a fundamental human right, the protection of strong encryption able to be turned on by default, concrete plans and commitments to ensure the affordability of internet connections, or the establishment of accountability mechanisms and compensation structures for digital disruptions, which range from job losses to intentional network shutdowns, are some of the tasks that need further work by the G20. In particular, the G20 multi-stakeholder model has showed severe limitations to facilitate the coordination of non governmental participants and their engagement in the G20 interaction. The G7/ G20 Digitalisation Task Force notes the exclusion of the C20 (the civil society stakeholder of the G20) from the list of stakeholders contributing to the exchange on digitalisation, as in the G20 Digitalisation Ministers Declaration.

In order to continue contributing constructively to this process, the G7/ G20 Digitalisation Task Force is starting to plan the engagement towards the next G20 presidency by Argentina. Civil society participants interested in taking part in this process are invited to join the work of the task force, in the context of the OECD-G20 dialogue at CSISAC. To learn more about the CSISAC and how to engage in our work, you can visit the CSISAC Website or directly write to the CSISAC Liaison .

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