Appointment of T20 Task Force leaders
The Think Twenty (T20) formally got underway this week, with the first meeting of the five task forces bringing together an established network of eminent academic and policy experts from global research institutes and think tanks. These Task Forces will support the Group of Twenty (G20), a forum for international cooperation that shapes the governance of major social and economic issues.
Executive Director, Dr Alison Gillwald, has been appointed Co-Chair of the (T20) Task Force 02 on Digital Transformation together with Teki Akuetteh of the Africa Digital Rights Hub and Stephanie Diepeveen from ODI. Eager to get the Task Force underway, Alison expressed that she was honoured to be appointed in this important leadership role, and was looking forward to working with internationally recognised experts and African specialists on the different aspects of Digital Transformation.
“It is a privilege to be able to take forward the integrated Global South digital transformation agenda, initiated under the Indian G20 Presidency on the back of the Indonesian Presidency. This agenda was really elevated in a progressive agenda under the Brazilian Presidency, and South Africa is committed to taking it forward,” she said.
South Africa faces pressure given that this will be the first time the G20 is held in Africa, with the African Union only formally being included as an organisational member in 2024. In line with its theme of solidarity, equality and sustainability, the South African Presidency has committed itself to an African G20 focus.
As an African think tank, and with active engagements and partnerships with the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Research ICT Africa is particularly eager to harness our evidence base and global partnerships to support Digital Transformation’s primary working group, the Digital Economy Working Group, led by the Department of Communications and Digital Technology, as well as the High-Level Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Governance Task Force, which were identified as a priority for the Presidency.
Having worked collaboratively in digital justice alliances across the Global South, supporting emerging economies and regional democracies to bring Majority World interests to forums of global governance, Alison notes that South Africa is expected to consolidate this progressive policy and governance agenda.
“I am very pleased to be able to drive and extend the work done with colleagues on India and Brazil’s T20 Inclusive Digital Transformation Tracks, as part of the South African agenda. We intend to extend Africa’s marginal inclusion in the digital economy and society, and global digital governance, to ensure that digital development is not only inclusive but more equitable and more just.”
Unpacking T20 and G20 processes
In 2025, the T20 South Africa Vision focuses on “facilitating a deeper policy engagement between the task forces, the Advisory Council and the official G20 track, thus optimising the participation of experts in the T20 from around the world.” It will do this by continuing its focus on developing impactful policy briefs that 1) shape the G20 Agenda, 2) Foster collaboration across think tanks and 3) inform the final T20 Communiqué which will eventually be submitted to the Sherpa and Finance Tracks.
These engagements will culminate at the G20 Johannesburg Summit on 22-23 November 2025, the first G20 Summit hosted on the African continent. South Africa’s leadership provides an opportune moment to shape the global digital agenda in a way that reflects the needs of the Global South, drawing on inputs shared at the 2024 Global Digital Compact and the Summit of the Future, and looking forward to the deadline for the fulfillment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
With over two decades of experience in digital technology policy, RIA stands well-positioned to contribute to these global processes by championing the importance of redressing long-standing issues such as the lack of demand-side data to measure progress towards meaningful connectivity; the call for just and equitable AI governance; data policy and data access to underscore Information Integrity efforts across media and elections; and the strategic implementation of equitable, interoperable digital public infrastructure as a public-interest mechanism. In alignment with T20’s vision to ‘consolidate and sustain’, these contributions will follow on from T20 Policy Brief inputs made in 2024.
T20 Call for Abstracts
Stakeholder participation in the T20 processes under South Africa’s G20 presidency is crucial to ensuring inclusive, evidence-based policy recommendations—particularly on digital transformation—that reflect diverse global perspectives and advance equitable development. The T2O is calling for abstracts for policy briefs on the following focus areas:
- Trade and Investment
- Digital Transformation
- Financing for Sustainable Development
- Solidarity for the Achievement of the SDGs
- Accelerating Climate Action and the Just Energy Transition
Deadline: Friday, 10 February 2025 (Extended)
