Du kan registrere deg her (innen 29 april).
1. Monday, 25 April, 16h00 CEST (UTC +2)
State of Play: How Will Current Proposals for International E-Commerce Rules Governing Data Flows Affect Digitalization for Development?
Some rules proposed on E-Commerce at the WTO would constrain governments from restricting cross border data transfers or localizing data. But many local governments in proponent countries are using digital industrialization strategies that may conflict with these same rules. Some are also taking actions to reduce data concentration, using anti-monopoly measures to promote competition in the digital economy. What is the real economic value of cross-border data flows? What are the best practices for developing countries to use data flows for development, especially for MSMEs? What international rules on data governance would support developing countries’ use of data flows for development?
Speakers include Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Mission of the Republic of South Africa to the WTO and Rashmi Banga, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, UNCTAD, among others.
2. Mardi 26 avril, à 12h00 CEST (UTC +2)
Numérisation et flux de données en Afrique francophone de l'Ouest et du Centre: Impacts des règles commerciales numériques discutées à l'OMC sur l'industrialisation et le développement numériques
La possibilité de faire un bond en avant dans le développement en tirant parti de la numérisation pour réaliser une transformation structurelle des pays francophones d'Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre est très prometteuse. Mais seulement en mobilisant la bonne approche politique, notamment en termes de réglementation des flux de données transfrontaliers. Alors que la plupart des pays africains ne participent pas aux négociations plurilatérales de l'initiative de déclaration conjointe (JSI) sur le commerce numérique à l’OMC, quelles considérations politiques ces pays devraient-ils prendre en compte pour évaluer les avantages et les inconvénients d'une participation aux négociations ?
En français avec interprétation en anglaise * In French with English interpretation
Tuesday 26th of April, at 12pm Digitalization and data flows in Francophone West and Central Africa: Impacts of Potential Digital Trade Rules in the WTO on Digital Industrialization and Development
The potential of being able to leapfrog development by leveraging digitalization for structural transformation in Francophone West and Central African countries holds great promise, if we have the right policy approach, notably in terms of regulating cross-borders data flows. While most African countries are not participating in the plurilateral negotiations in the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on digital trade, what policy considerations should these countries take into account when evaluating the pros and cons of participating in the negotiations?
3. Tuesday, 26 April, 14h00 CEST (UTC +2)
There's no app for that! -- What it takes to leverage the promise of data for MSMEs and cooperatives in the digital economy
Leveraging the promise of data for inclusive digital economies post-pandemic requires us to move beyond the fashionable buzzwords of platform and data cooperativism. Building on empirical experiences in India, Kenya and other countries from the global South of what it takes for MSMEs, social enterprises and cooperatives to embrace the promise of digital data for sustainable futures, this session will explore the following questions:
What kind of institutional support do MSMEs and cooperatives in the global South require for the platform economy?
What kind of macro-economic and data governance frameworks will help MSMEs and cooperatives take advantage of the data opportunity?
4. Wednesday, 27 April, 17h00 CEST (UTC +2)
Data regulation: Implications for the digitization of the economy and development
Digital data is of essence for e-commerce and development. How data is normatively characterized and governed is key to define e-commerce and broader digitization policies. The determination of whether data is owned under new or existing rights (such as intellectual property), subject to sovereign rights, or a public good may have key implications for data governance and the digitization of the economy. The session will discuss these issues from the perspective of developing countries, including how to develop frameworks that promote equity and support development.
5. Thursday, 28 April, 11h00 CEST (UTC +2)
Impact of data governance & cross-border data flows on digital industrialisation, agriculture and indigenous data sovereignty
Due to servicification and the shift online from COVID-19, data governance and the impact of cross-border data flows is even more important. This session will analyse the impact of data governance and cross-border data flows on agriculture and digital industrialisation in developing and least developed countries. Since the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy has encouraged governments to recognise the sovereignty of indigenous peoples over their data, the session will also examine the implications of these data flows for indigenous data governance and sovereignty. The session will note challenges to harnessing data for value creation and highlight concrete actionable policy options.
6. Thursday, 28 April, 14h00 CEST (UTC +2)
Data flows and global trade regimes: Issues of inclusive development
At the centre of global digital trade regimes is the issue of cross-border data flows. While some countries, especially the US, see free data flows as a prerequisite for development and economic growth, opponents of unregulated global data flow make the point that it is only resulting in near absolute concentration of data and digital power with a few digital corporations, in the US and China.
This workshop will discuss what free data flows, or alternatively, data flow regulation regimes, are meant to achieve, and how these work. How can the legal and regulatory remit of any country be ensured to apply to data of its citizens, artefacts and natural resources, when it flows across the border?
7. Thursday, 28 April, 15h00 CEST (UTC+2)
The value of data in the information economy
The key events that have marked the course of history are the agricultural revolution, which led to the development of private property governance regimes, and the industrial revolution, which led to the development of intellectual property governance regimes. It appears that the information revolution is another key even that will mark the course of history, and that there is a need to develop data governance regimes, in particular to ensure the equitable allocation of the value added of aggregated individual data, and equitable allocation of the value added of artificial intelligence based on aggregated data. This session will explore those issues, in particular the current regimes of data governance, including data privacy or lack thereof, and recent legal and regulatory developments related to ensuring equity in the allocation of the value of data.
8. Thursday, 28 April, 17h00 CEST (UTC+2)
Exploring a global framework for data governance
UNCTAD’s Digital Economy Report, 2021, considers the current impasse between dramatically opposing positions of ‘data localization’ and ‘free flow of data’ holding up the immense potential of data for development. It recommends that breaking this impasse requires developing a global framework for data governance, that addresses both non-economic and economic aspects of data. The session will gather views on how this can be achieved, especially at best addressing developing countries’ interests.
9. Friday, 29 April, 14h00 CEST (UTC+2)
E-commerce and tax justice: Re-thinking sustainable tax policies
Given the nature of eCommerce, digital platforms earn revenues in market jurisdictions - including from mining - utilizing and selling data sourced from those countries, without the need for physical presence, thus avoiding taxes. The session seeks to revisit the 100-year old framework of international taxation, including concepts such as “permanent establishment”, and discuss proposed solutions through lens of developing countries: OECD/G20 BEPS Pillar 1 proposal on taxing eCommerce, customs duties on e-transmission, Art. 12B- Income from Automated Digital Service of the UN Tax Treaty, and Digital Sales Tax. We’ll also discuss the interface between FTAs and tax rules proposed by OECD/G20.
10. Friday, 29 April, 15h00 CEST (UTC+2)
E-signatures and e-transactions: What works, and what more is needed to facilitate digitalization for development?
We are seeing increasing interest in the use of e-signatures and e-transactions to facilitate Digitalization for Development. There are well established UNCITRAL Model Laws on these topics, and they have been widely transposed into national law. Yet many transactions still require paper.
The session will explain what works and what doesn't work, in particular in developing countries, and explore ways and means to ensure further progress in the use of e-signatures and e-transactions to facilitate Digitalization for Development. In particular, the session will address the following questions:
What e-signature/e-transaction laws, rules, mechanisms are needed for developing countries to create and capture more value in the digital economy?
What are the rules of the game with respect to e-signatures/e-transactions that governments, in particular in developing countries, need to formulate at the national and international level?