RIA’s G20 engagements and participation within the T20 Task Force on Inclusive Digital Transformation are coming to fruition with several newly published policy briefs. The T20 (Think20) is a G20 engagement group that brings together think tanks and research centres from G20 members and guest countries and organisations. With Executive Director, Alison Gillwald, coordinating sub-track 1 on Digital Inclusion and Meaningful Universal Connectivity alongside representatives from CETIC.br and the Global South Initiative, RIA leveraged the multistakeholder environment to drive an inclusive agenda that ensures nobody is left behind in the digital era.
These policy briefs along with the recently endorsed UN Global Digital Compact, converge to inform the G20’s digital agenda. RIA’s T20 policy brief contributions cover a wide scope of influence, putting forth recommendations on equitable data governance; demand-side data collection; governance of digital public infrastructure; and conditions to create just AI economies. These evidence-based research outputs aim to facilitate digital transformation, bringing humanity closer to the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. These pieces were produced alongside valued partners, who continue to push for human rights-based change and development. Find the titles for the policy briefs below, and access the full list of downloadable items here.
Data governance for inclusive development
This piece focuses on adopting inclusive policies and corporate practices to prevent the exploitation of digital and platform workers in a context where the Digitally Deliverable Services (DDS) sector is experiencing the most significant economic increase for lower and middle to high-income countries. It argues that policies are needed to fill social protection gaps for informal workers who rely on the digital market for their livelihoods. Similarly, more work is also needed to enhance internet access and facilitate entrance to the digital economy, especially in the Global South. Using case studies such as Uber, this research shows, for example, that in Brazil, more than half (52.2%) of the total digital workers use platform work as their primary source of income. Yet, more is needed to protect and represent workers among multinational enterprises.
Author(s)
Isabel Rocha de Siqueira, Researcher/Director, BRICS Policy Center/International Relations Institute (IRI), PUC-Rio (Brazil); Alison Gillwald, Research ICT Africa (South Africa); Casey Weston, LinkedIn (United States); Silvia Marina Pinheiro, Researcher, BRICS Policy Center/International Relations Institute (IRI), PUC-Rio (Brazil); Beatriz Nazareth de S. Teixeira, BRICS Policy Center/international Relations Institute (IRI), PUC-Rio (Brazil); Renan Guimarães Canellas de Oliveira, Research Assistant, BRICS Policy Center/International Relations Institute (IRI), PUC-Rio (Brazil); Bernardo Beiriz Marques Barbosa Research Assistant, BRICS Policy Center/International Relations Institute (IRI), PUC-Rio (Brazil).
Equitable Data Governance in the Age of AI: A Data Justice Perspective
Current frameworks for AI focus primarily on preserving first-generation human rights, using a negative regulatory approach that utilises penalties and non-compliance measures. However, given the current amass of power by big tech corporations — that hold the bulk of public data resources, to their market advantage — it is necessary to consider how we can not only ensure privacy and security, but also redress historical economic injustices and planetary problems. This calls for policy addressing second- and third-generation rights such as access to education and healthcare and a quality standard of living. This brief argues that to do this, data must be treated as the non-excludable, non-rivalrous resource it is. This would allow for greater digital inclusion, public value creation, and progress towards the creation of DPI and other digital public services.
Author(s)
Alison Gillwald, Executive Director, Research ICT Africa (SA); Carla Rodrigues, Research Coordinator, Data Privacy Brasil (BR); Jai Vipra Researcher, IT4Change (IN); Jamie Fuller, Researcher, Research ICT Africa (SA); Mariana Rielli, Director, Data Privacy Brasil (BR).
Governing Digital Public Infrastructure as a Commons
Given the New Delhi Leader’s Declaration, which identifies (DPI) as a vital technological basis to deliver public services, this brief considers the common governance principles needed to ensure “safe, secure, trusted, accountable and inclusive DPI, respectful of human rights, personal data and privacy.” This piece contends that for DPI models to be deployed effectively, they must be governed in a people-centric way and locally adapted to community needs and preferences. Using a commons-based approach founded on openness and multistakeholderism, new DPI models can prevent the concentration of power and democratic deficits that occur when the private sector controls vital public services.
Author(s)
Renata Avila, Open Knowledge Foundation (UK-Guatemala); Ramya Chandrasekhar, Center for Internet and Society, CNRS (France-India); Melanie Dulong de Rosnay, Center for Internet and Society, CNRS (France); Andrew Rens, Research ICT Africa, (South Africa).
Governing Computational Infrastructure for Strong and Just AI Economies
Vertical integration, export controls and concentrated cloud markets have led to the centralisation of AI compute power and development in the Global North. AI startups are thus increasingly dependent on big tech leadership and infratsructure from the likes of Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Alibaba, Tencent and Hauwei, as well as chip giants from Nvidia, Intel and TSMC. This has resulted in unilateral decision-making on issues of global importance, including AI’s applications and associated risks, particularly job loss, environmental damage and rights violations such as surveillance and security breaches. To promote better competition, this brief recommends material support for open compute paradigms as well as international AI agreements on AI that can assess the positive and negative externalities of AI development and distribution.
Author(s)
Jai Vipra, Researcher, IT for Change (India); Carla Rodrigues, Digital Platforms and Markets Coordinator, Data Privacy Brasil (Brazil); Bruno Bioni, Founder and Director, Data Privacy Brasil (Brazil); Rafael Zanatta, Executive Director, Data Privacy Brasil (Brazil); Alison Gillwald, Executive Director, Research ICT Africa (South Africa); Boxi Wu, Graduate Research Student, Oxford Internet Institute (United Kingdom); Tanvi Lall, Director, Strategy, people+ai (India); Swaroop Rajagopalan, Volunteer, people+ai (India).
Strategies for collecting demand-side data on digital technologies for informed policies in the Global South
To accurately measure progress towards achieving SDGs such as digitalisation and universal ICT access, it is necessary to mitigate the data paucity that constrains effective policymaking. Public data is needed to measure and address barriers to digital inclusion and adequately stimulate digital technology adoption. Research and surveys that focus specifically on demand-side constraints beyond simple infrastructural provision can have a major impact on the policy that is employed to bring developing countries, households and small, medium and microenterprises into the digital economy. This piece conceptualises reliable digital statistics as a global public good, demonstrating the need for data that is 1) disaggregable 2) protected 3) representative of those without access 4) focused on meaningful connectivity and 5) representative of demand-side constraints.
Author(s)
Andrew Partridge, Senior Economist, Research ICT Africa (South Africa); Graziela Castello, Coordinator of Sectoral Studies and Qualitative Methods, Cetic.br/Nic.br (Brazil).
These papers were originally published by T20 Brasil in 2024.
