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Digital Economy and Labour

EFTA is an intergovernmental organisation composed of four member states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Established in 1960 by the EFTA Convention, EFTA promotes free trade and economic integration between its members. Since its foundation, relations with the European Union (EU) have been at the heart of EFTA’s activities. In 1992, three EFTA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) signed the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) with the EU, extending the EU’s Internal market to the three EEA EFTA states. Since the early 1990s, EFTA has been actively engaged in trade relations with non-EU countries both inside and outside Europe.

Digital activities

EFTA’s activities in the context of digital issues pertain to electronic communication such as the exchange of information via telecommunications and the internet, audiovisual services, and information society, including the free movement of information society services as well as data protection.

Digital policy issues

E-commerce and trade

EFTA’s Working Group on Electronic Communication, Audiovisual Services, and Information Society (WG ECASIS) deals with legal provisions pertaining to the EU’s digital strategy: Fit for the Digital Age. As per the EEA Agreement, the EFTA states (excluding Switzerland) participate in the EU’s internal market and as such must apply EU rules on electronic communication, audiovisual services, and information society. Among other things, these rules include acts on radio spectrum management, roaming, privacy protection in electronic networks, net neutrality, and the deployment of very-high-capacity networks. Initiatives regarding information society tackle legal frameworks on the free movement of information society services and apply to a wide range of economic activities taking place online. These include rules on e-commerce, cross-border data flows, the reuse of public sector information, and cybersecurity, as well as electronic identification and signatures.

In its trade relations with partners outside the EU, EFTA facilitates and provides basic rules for trade enabled by electronic means. In 2021, EFTA finalised its internal work on a new e-commerce model chapter, which it now employs in the context of negotiations on free trade agreements (FTAs) across the globe. The chapter includes provisions on paperless trade administration, open internet access, online consumer trust, electronic payments and invoicing, and cross-border data transfers, among others. EFTA is further negotiating a Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore.

Future of work

EFTA is also tackling the implications of digitalisation for the future of work. A resolution and report titled Digitalisation and its Impact on Jobs and Skills published by the EEA Consultative Committee highlights the importance of investments in information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and new learning methods, including apprenticeships and workplace training. Moreover, they underline the need to examine whether and to what extent workers’ private lives require additional protection in an era of ubiquitous digital mobile communication.

More recently, the EEA Consultative Committee adopted a resolution and report on the challenges and opportunities of greater use of AI in working life, in which it underlines the importance of addressing issues raised by the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) in work-life in a systematic and comprehensive manner in the EEA, while following the principles of transparency and human monitoring.

Data governance and liability of intermediaries

In the context of the EEA Agreement, WG ECASIS works with the EU on policies for creating a single market for data, as well as the conditions for use and access to data for businesses and governments within the EEA. The Working Group also engages with the EU to develop a common regulatory framework for AI. In the area of online intermediaries, the EEA EFTA states have issued common position papers (EEA EFTA Comments) on the proposed European Media Freedom Act and the new EU rules for internet platforms: the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. The EEA EFTA states advocate for additional safeguards regarding the use of recommender systems, consumer profiling, and micro-targeted advertising, in particular when directed at minors and vulnerable groups. WG ECASIS works to implement EU content rules affecting trade in the EU’s internal market, particularly with regard to the dissemination of terrorist content and child sexual abuse material online.

Privacy and data protection

EFTA’s Expert Group on Data Protection keeps track of EU initiatives in the domain of data protection, which has become particularly relevant in the fast-changing digital environment. The Expert Group contributes to the development of EU policies and legislation in the field of data protection by advising the European Commission, or by participating in the Commission’s committees, in accordance with the EEA Agreement. The EEA Agreement covers EU legislation such as the e-Privacy Directive and Regulation 611/2013 on notifications of data breaches and is therefore applicable to three EFTA states. The Expert Group is coordinating with the European Commission on new EU data adequacy decisions allowing the international transfer of personal data with counterparties located outside the EEA.

Digital tools

Resources

The EFTA trade statistics tool is an interactive tool that provides data on trade relations with EFTA’s partners over time and by type of merchandise. An interactive Free Trade Map illustrates EFTA’s preferential trade relations with partners worldwide. In August 2023, EFTA updated its FTA Monitor, originally published in June 2022, which provides fine-grained data on preference utilisation rates under EFTA’s existing FTAs, including the EFTA Convention. The FTA Monitor is updated annually. EFTA has also created a web tool containing visual presentations explaining how EU law becomes EEA law.

Conferencing technologies

In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, EFTA turned to virtual meetings, for instance in the case of the EEA Joint Committee, interaction with the EFTA Advisory Bodies, and FTA negotiations with partners across the globe. EFTA continues to leverage the benefits of virtual and hybrid meetings and corollary online platforms, striking a balance with physical meetings on a needs basis.

Workers more likely to divulge company secrets to AI than friends

A study by CybSafe has found that workers are more likely to divulge company secrets to workplace AI tools than to their friends.

The report reveals that a third of US and UK workers would continue using AI tools even if their company banned them, and 69% of all respondents believe the benefits of such tools outweigh the security risks. However, CybSafe warns that businesses are not properly alerting employees to the dangers of using AI tools, and that employees may be unknowingly sharing confidential information with AI.

The report also highlights concerns about the inability of workers to distinguish between content created by humans and AI, with 60% of respondents claiming they could do so accurately.

CybSafe argues that without immediate action, companies will face unprecedented cybersecurity risks as cybercriminals use AI to craft convincing phishing lures. The report comes as the uptake of AI at work is increasing rapidly, with nearly 80% of respondents in a McKinsey survey claiming to have had some exposure to the technology at home or at work.

UN Secretary-General issues policy brief for Global Digital Compact

As part of the process towards developing a Global Digital Compact (GDC), the UN Secretary-General has issued a policy brief outlining areas in which ‘the need for multistakeholder digital cooperation is urgent’: closing the digital divide and advancing sustainable development goals (SDGs), making the online space open and safe for everyone, and governing artificial intelligence (AI) for humanity.

The policy brief also suggests objectives and actions to advance such cooperation and ‘safeguard and advance our digital future’. These are structured around the following topics:

Digital connectivity and capacity building. The overarching objectives here are to close the digital divide and empower people to participate fully in the digital economy. Proposed actions range from common targets for universal and meaningful connectivity to putting in place or strengthening public education for digital literacy.
Digital cooperation to accelerate progress on the SDGs. Objectives include making targeted investments in digital public infrastructure and services, making data representative, interoperable, and accessible, and developing globally harmonised digital sustainability standards. Among the proposed actions are the development of definitions of safe, inclusive, and sustainable digital public infrastructures, fostering open and accessible data ecosystems, and developing a common blueprint on digital transformation (something the UN would do).
Upholding human rights. Putting human rights at the centre of the digital future, ending the gender digital divide, and protecting workers are the outlined objectives in this area. One key proposed action is the establishment of a digital human rights advisory mechanism, facilitated by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to provide guidance on human rights and technology issues.
An inclusive, open, secure, and shared internet. There are two objectives: safeguarding the free and shared nature of the internet, and reinforcing accountable multistakeholder governance. Some of the proposed actions include commitments from governments to avoid blanket internet shutdowns and refrain from actions disrupting critical infrastructures.
Digital trust and security. Objectives range from strengthening multistakeholder cooperation to elaborate norms, guidelines, and principles on the responsible use of digital technologies, to building capacity and expanding the global cybersecurity workforce. The proposed overarching action is for stakeholders to commit to developing common standards and industry codes of conduct to address harmful content on digital platforms.
Data protection and empowerment. Ensuring that data are governed for the benefit of all, empowering people to control their personal data, and developing interoperable standards for data quality as envisioned as key objectives. Among the proposed actions are an invitation for countries to consider adopting a declaration on data rights and seeking convergence on principles for data governance through a potential Global Data Compact.
Agile governance of AI and other emerging technologies. The proposed objectives relate to ensuring transparency, reliability, safety, and human control in the design and use of AI; putting transparency, fairness, and accountability at the core of AI governance; and combining existing norms, regulations, and standards into a framework for agile governance of AI. Actions envisioned range from establishing a high-level advisory body for AI to building regulatory capacity in the public sector.
Global digital commons. Objectives include ensuring inclusive digital cooperation, enabling regular and sustained exchanges across states, regions, and industry sectors, and developing and governing technologies in ways that enable sustainable development, empower people, and address harms.

The document further notes that ‘the success of a GDC will rest on its implementation’. This implementation would be done by different stakeholders at the national, regional, and sectoral level, and be supported by spaces such as the Internet Governance Forum and the World Summit on the Information Society Forum. One suggested way to support multistakeholder participation is through a trust fund that could sponsor a Digital Cooperation Fellowship Programme.

As a mechanism to follow up on the implementation of the GDC, the policy brief suggests that the Secretary-General could be tasked to convene an annual Digital Cooperation Forum (DCF). The mandate of the forum would also include, among other things, facilitating collaboration across digital multistakeholder frameworks and reducing duplication; promoting cross-border learning in digital governance; and identifying and promoting policy solutions to emerging digital challenges and governance gaps.

NIST issues the second draft of its practice guide for mobile device security

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a second draft of the practice guide, Mobile Device Security: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), for public consultation. The guide offers possible solutions to organisations that deal with security and privacy needs when enabling their employees to bring their own mobile devices. The deadline for comments is 13 January 2023.

World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a not-for-profit foundation whose membership is composed of large corporations from around the world. We engage political, business, academic, and other leaders of society in collaborative efforts to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. Together with other stakeholders, we work to define challenges, solutions, and actions in the spirit of global citizenship. The Forum also serves and builds sustained communities through an integrated concept of high-level meetings, research networks, task forces, and digital collaboration.

Digital activities

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is one of the Forum’s key areas of work. Under this focus, we carry out a wide range of activities covering digital policy issues, from telecom infrastructure and cybersecurity to the digital economy and the future of work. We have set up multiple platforms and global forums focused on bringing together various stakeholders and initiatives to advance debates and foster cooperation on the issues explored. We also publish reports, studies, and white papers on our focus areas, and feature discussions on the policy implications of digital technologies in the framework of the Forum’s annual meeting in Davos and other events organised around the world.

The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is one of the Forum’s key centres of thematic work, with digital technologies as a core priority. Building on this focus area, we lead a diverse set of initiatives spanning digital governance, AI, digital safety, and the broader implications of technological advancements on society and the economy. We convene global stakeholders through dedicated platforms and partnerships to shape discussions, build consensus, and drive responsible innovation. Our work includes publishing reports, insights, and policy frameworks on key technology topics, as well as curating discussions on their societal and economic impact at the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos and other global events.

Digital policy issues

Telecommunications infrastructure

The Forum’s work in the area of telecom/digital infrastructure is broadly dedicated to shedding light on the need to advance connectivity and evolve towards new network technologies as a way to support the transition to the fourth industrial revolution and support the growth of digital economies. For instance, the Global Future Council of New Network Technologies, active between 2018 and 2020, explored, among others, incentives for network development and the role of new network systems in driving value and innovation. The Forum also promotes the role of digital public infrastructures in enabling digital inclusion and advancing sustainable development.

A specific focus area for the Forum is 5G. We have identified 5G as an issue of global importance and work on analysing the impacts of 5G on industry and society. In our report titled The impact of 5G: Creating new value across industries and society, we note that 5G will be critical because it will enable unprecedented levels of connectivity, allowing for superfast broadband, ultra-reliable low latency communication, massive machine-type communications, and high reliability/availability and efficient energy usage, all of which will transform many sectors, such as manufacturing, transportation, public services, and health. In another example, the 5G Outlook Series: Enabling inclusive long-term opportunities looks at what can be done to ensure that 5G is a technology that benefits people, businesses, and society. The role of satellites in delivering connectivity and the challenges associated with growing competition in Earth orbit are other areas explored by the Forum. The Global Future Council on the Future of Space explores ways in which international cooperation and public-private partnerships can drive sustainable and inclusive use of space resources.

Artificial intelligence

WEF is shaping the future of AI through initiatives focused on responsible governance, collaborative development, and cross-sector engagement. At the core of these efforts is the AI Governance Alliance (AIGA), a flagship initiative of the Forum. With over 600 members from more than 460 organisations worldwide, AIGA fosters a trustworthy, equitable, and responsible AI ecosystem, bringing together leaders from industry, government, academia, and civil society. The Alliance provides a global platform to develop policy frameworks, enhance AI safety measures, and promote innovative approaches to ensure AI’s positive societal and economic impact aligns with evolving regulatory environments.

To achieve its mission, AIGA focuses on several key areas:

Resilient Governance and Regulation – Supports policymakers in shaping AI regulatory frameworks and fostering global regulatory alignment. This includes engagement with key regulatory frameworks such as the European Union’s AI Act and evolving AI strategies in the US, Canada, Brazil, the African Union, Japan, and China. The initiative is focused on creating actionable solutions to bridge the gap between AI governance ideals and their practical implementation. This includes developing best practices for AI policy adoption and fostering international cooperation on AI governance.
Safe Systems and Technologies – Brings together Chief Science Officers and AI producers to advance technical governance solutions, particularly in areas such as AI agents, safety mechanisms, and standardised best practices. This initiative fosters a consensus on AI development safety, ensuring that AI systems align with ethical and operational best practices.
AI Transformation of Industries – In collaboration with multiple Forum centers, this initiative explores AI’s impact across sectors including healthcare, financial services, energy, and manufacturing. In 2025, AIGA will focus on empowering global and regional AI leadership by providing a platform for country and regional leaders to develop AI capabilities, share insights, and adopt global best practices. This initiative aims to strengthen AI strategies, ecosystems, and coordination to ensure equitable AI access. AIGA will also support cross-industry collaborations that leverage AI to drive innovation, efficiency, and sustainability across sectors.
AI Competitiveness through Regional Collaboration – Focuses on strengthening AI capabilities at the regional level by addressing infrastructure disparities, fostering AI talent development, and ensuring responsible AI adoption in different economic contexts. This work is supported by regional AI activation networks that provide tailored strategies for AI implementation in emerging economies.

In addition to convening stakeholders, the Forum produces influential thought leadership on AI governance, ethics, and applications. Recent publications include the AI Governance Alliance’s Briefing Paper Series, which establishes foundational focus areas for steering AI’s development, adoption, and governance. Additionally, the ‘Governance in the Age of Generative AI: A 360° Approach for Resilient Policy and Regulation’ white paper equips policymakers and regulators with implementable strategies for resilient generative AI governance within a comprehensive framework. Navigating the AI Frontier: A Primer on the Evolution and Impact of AI Agents examines AI agents – autonomous systems powered by advances in large language and multimodal models – and their transformative impact across industries.

At the Annual Meeting 2025, the Forum released ‘Blueprint for Intelligent Economies’, a white paper outlining AI’s role in sustainable growth and inclusive prosperity. Additionally, the ‘Industries in the Intelligent Age White Paper Series’ explored AI’s transformative impact across multiple industries, providing a roadmap for responsible and innovative AI integration.

In 2025, MINDS (Meaningful, Intelligent, Novel, Deployable Solutions) program was launched to identify and scale high-impact AI solutions that address global challenges. This initiative fosters collaboration, drives innovation, and shares success stories, guiding the adoption of transformative AI applications. The first cohort of MINDS will be announced at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2025, with a focus on AI-driven solutions for equitable healthcare access, climate change mitigation, sustainable energy transitions, resilient supply chains, and workforce transformation. By scaling replicable, high-impact AI use cases, the MINDS program exemplifies the Forum’s commitment to harnessing AI’s transformative potential for societal and economic progress.

As AI continues to evolve, the AI Governance Alliance remains committed to ensuring its responsible and transformative development. By uniting industry, government, academia, and civil society, AIGA drives innovation, strengthens governance, and maximises AI’s benefits while mitigating risks.

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies

The Forum works on governance issues related to the equity, interoperability, security, transparency, and trust of blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT). We also analyse the relationship between blockchain and cybersecurity and international security, as well as the future of computing. We publish papers on issues such as blockchain data storage, the challenges blockchain faces and its role in security, as well as guides such as the Blockchain Development Toolkit to guide organisations through the development and deployment of blockchain solutions.

Internet of things

The Forum’s Centre for Urban Transformation explores various issues related to the implications of connected devices and smart technologies. For example, the Council on the Connected World focuses on strengthening innovation and the global governance of connected technologies to maximise the positive benefits and minimise harm for all. One specific area of work for the Council is the security of IoT devices; in 2022, the Forum facilitated a joint Statement of Support on consumer IoT device security outlining key security requirements for consumer-facing devices. In 2023, the Council published the State of the Connected World report, which tracks governance gaps related to IoT.

The Global New Mobility Coalition explores issues related to sustainable mobility, including when it comes to the governance of shared, electric, and automated mobility.

Other IoT-related issues that the Forum has been exploring through various publications and initiatives include the industrial internet, the safety of smart home products, and challenges associated with the concept of the internet of bodies. In cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), we published a report on Realizing the Internet of Things – a Framework for Collective Action, outlining five pillars for the development of IoT: architecture and standards, security and privacy, shared value creation, organisational development, and ecosystem governance.
We also lead the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance on Technology Governance, dedicated to promoting the responsible and ethical use of smart city technologies.

Emerging technologies

Virtual/augmented reality

The Forum’s Global Future Council on Virtual and Augmented Reality focuses on raising awareness of the positive and negative aspects of the widespread adoption of VR/AR technologies. We carry out policy research and analysis related to the impact of VR/AR on society and its security implications in publications on issues such as immersive media technologies, AR innovation in manufacturing, and privacy in the context of VR use.

The Forum also pays attention to developments related to the metaverse and issues various publications on this topic. For instance, Exploring the Industrial Metaverse: A Roadmap to the Future provides a framework for discussing steps towards a valuable ecosystem for the industrial metaverse, while the reports on Social Implications of the Metaverse and Privacy and Safety in the Metaverse explore the implications of metaverse adoptions for individuals and society at large. These and similar publications are issued in the context of the Defining and Building the Metaverse Initiative, whose focus is on ‘guiding the development of a safe, interoperable, and economically viable metaverse’.

Quantum computing

Within the Centre of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Quantum Economy Network is an initiative and global platform that brings together governments, businesses, and academia to explore the potential of quantum technologies, shape their development, and prepare for their integration into the quantum economy. It focuses on identifying, deploying, and advancing near-term quantum applications for business and sustainability while developing tools to ensure a secure transition. The Network operates through two key workstreams: the Quantum Economy Blueprint, which democratizes access to quantum resources and guides policymakers in building a responsible quantum ecosystem, and the Quantum Application Hub, an experiential platform showcasing societal and industry applications of quantum technologies.

The Forum publishes regularly on matters related to quantum computing and quantum technologies. A few examples include the Quantum Technologies:Key Strategies and Opportunities for ICT Leaders, Embracing the Quantum Economy: A Pathway for Business Leaders, and Quantum Computing Governance Principles.

Cybercrime

Under its Centre for Cybersecurity, the Forum runs the Partnership against Cybercrime project, focused on advancing public-private partnerships (e.g. between law enforcement agencies, international organisations, cybersecurity companies, and other actors) to combat cybercrime. Outputs of the partnership include, for instance, the Recommendations for Public-Private Partnership against Cybercrime and the Cybercrime Prevention Principles for Internet Service Providers.

We host a Cybercrime Atlas Initiative dedicated to strengthening coordination between the private sector and law enforcement in fighting cybercrime.

Cybercrime also constitutes the focus of various studies and articles we have published, which delve into issues such as emerging threats and ways to tackle them.

Network security/critical infrastructure/cybersecurity

The Forum has launched a Centre for Cybersecurity dedicated to ‘fostering international dialogues and collaboration between the global cybersecurity community both in the public and private sectors’. Multiple projects are run under this platform, such as the Cybersecurity Learning Hub and the Digital Trust initiative. The cyber resilience of critical sectors, such as electricity and the oil and gas industry, is also a focus area for us.

The Centre also issues reports and other publications covering various cybersecurity topics. Examples include the Global Cybersecurity Outlook; the insight report on Cybersecurity, Emerging Technology, and Systemic Risks; and the Principles for Board Governance of Cyber Risk.

The Forum hosts a Global Future Council on the Future of Cybersecurity, which explores modalities for strengthening cyber risk management across economies and societies. Quantum security and digital trust are among the Council’s focus areas.

Every year, we bring together actors from the public and private sectors to foster collaboration on making cyberspace safer and more resilient, in the framework of the Annual Meeting on Cybersecurity.

Data governance

The Forum has established a Data Policy Platform under our Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, dedicated to developing innovative approaches to enable the responsible use of data. Within this platform, the Data for Common Purpose Initiative aims to support the creation of flexible data governance models, oriented around common purposes. Examples of white papers published by the initiative include Data for Common Purpose: Leveraging Consent to Build Trust and Towards a Data Economy: An Enabling Framework.

The Cross-Border Data Flows project under the Forum’s Digital Trade Initiative looks at how policymakers can advance data transfer governance arrangements while ensuring policy interoperability for data flows.

The Forum regularly publishes reports and papers on data governance issues such as restoring trust in data, cross-border data flows, data protection and security, among others.

E-commerce and trade and digital business models

Several activities and projects run by the Forum focus on e-commerce and broader digital economy-related issues. Under our Digital Trade initiative (part of the Centre for Regions, Trade and Geopolitics), we have been exploring opportunities and challenges associated with digital trade, while also engaging in the shaping of global, regional, and industry agendas on digital trade. Projects run within the initiative include, among others, the Digital Economy Agreement Leadership Group – which aims to contribute to the growth of inclusive and sustainable digital economies, and the TradeTech project – which facilitates dialogue on public policy and regulatory practices related to digital trade. The Digital Payments for Trade and Commerce Advisory Committee – also part of the Digital Trade initiative – is dedicated to fostering interoperability, inclusivity, and coherent regulatory reforms for digital payments.

E-commerce is also tackled in studies, white papers, and events we produce, which address issues such as e-commerce in emerging markets, the impact of e-commerce on prices, and digital currencies.

Under the Centre for the New Economy and Society, we bring together various stakeholders to promote new approaches to competitiveness in the digital economy, with a focus on issues such as education and skills, equality and inclusion, and improved economic opportunities for people.

Future of work

The future of work is a topic that spans multiple Forum activities. For instance, under the Centre for the New Economy and Society, several projects focus on issues such as education, skills, upskilling and reskilling, and equality and inclusion in the world of work. We have also launched a Reskilling Revolution Initiative, aimed at contributing to providing better jobs, education, and skills to one billion people by 2030. Projects under this platform include, among others, Education 4.0 (focused on mapping needed reforms to primary and secondary education systems), Education and Skills Country Accelerators (dedicated to advancing gender parity, promoting upskilling and reskilling, and improving education systems), and Skills-first (focused on transforming adult education and workforce skills). Also part of the Reskilling Revolution is the Future Skills Alliance, whose main objective is to facilitate the adoption of skills-first management practices and give workers a fair and equal opportunity to excel in the labour market.
The Forum publishes regular reports on the Future of Jobs, exploring the evolution of jobs and skills and how technology and socioeconomic trends shape the workplace of the future. Other notable publications and tools developed by the Forum include the white paper on Putting Skills First: A Framework for Action and the Global Skills Taxonomy.

Digital inclusion

The EDISON Alliance, launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, drives a holistic, ecosystem-led approach to digital inclusion. Part of the Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Alliance launched the 1 Billion Lives Challenge, an ambitious goal to enhance the lives of 1 billion people by 2025 through affordable and accessible digital solutions in education, financial services, and healthcare. Since its launch in 2021, the Alliance has mobilised over 350 initiatives across 130 countries, successfully impacting 1 billion lives. However, as global focus shifts to emerging technologies like AI, there is a growing risk of declining investment in digital inclusion, potentially widening the digital divide. Tools developed by the Alliance include principles for digital health inclusion, a guidebook for digital inclusion bond financing, and a Digital Inclusion Navigator that provides access to case studies and best practices related to bridging digital divides.

Cryptocurrencies

The Forum is also active on issues related to digital currencies and their policy implications. For instance, its Digital Currency Governance Consortium focuses on exploring the macroeconomic impacts of digital currencies and informing approaches to regulating digital currencies. The Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Policy-Makers Toolkit, published in 2020, is intended to serve as a possible framework to ensure that the deployment of CBDCs takes into account potential costs and benefits. Various publications have been issued that explore topics such as the macroeconomic impact of cryptocurrency and stablecoins, cryptocurrency regulation, and the links between stablecoins and financial inclusion.

Digital tools

Digital platforms

Strategic Intelligence: The Forum’s platform provides access to transformation maps – mappings of ‘hundreds of global issues and their interdependencies’.

International Labour Organization

The ILO is the UN agency for the world of work. It was founded on the conviction that universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based on social justice.

The ILO brings together governments, employers, and workers from its 187 member states in a human-centred approach to the future of work based on decent employment creation, rights at work, social protection, and social dialogue.

The ILO’s tripartite membership drafts, adopts, and monitors the implementation of international labour standards on key world of work issues – ILO Conventions and Recommendations.

The ILO undertakes research and data collection across the range of world of work topics. It publishes flagship reports and a wide range of publications and working papers. Its globally renowned set of statistical databases is maintained and updated with nationally sourced labour market data.

The ILO manages a wide range of development cooperation projects in all regions of the world. Realised in partnership with donor countries and organisations, these projects aim to create the conditions for the delivery of the ILO’s decent work agenda.

Three initiatives are central to the ILO’s current work: the establishment of a global coalition to promote social justice, advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, and its four priority action programmes. The latter focuses on the transition from the informal to the formal economy, just transitions towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies, decent work in supply chains, and decent work in crises and post-crisis situations.

Digital activities

As the ILO covers the full scope of the world of work, digital issues are present across the organisation’s work. The ILO addresses digitalisation through a wide range of topics including digital labour platforms, digital skills knowledge, employability, artificial intelligence (AI), automation, algorithmic management and data governance – and more broadly, the future of work. The ILO Observatory on AI and Work in the Digital Economy showcases the Office’s work in these areas.

The ILO also tracks the effects of digitalisation on specific work sectors, for instance, the postal and telecommunication services sector.

Digital policy issues

Access to data

The ILO has long been a leading resource for policymakers, researchers, and other users of data on the labour markets and all aspects of the world of work. ILOSTAT (a portal to its comprehensive labour statistics) and the ILO Knowledge Portal (offering access to country information and data on labour laws, standards, policies, and statistics) make real-time data available to users around the world. The World Employment and Social Outlook Data Finder provides customised datasets on request for measures such as the global labour force, unemployment, and employment by sector. The ILO also has the Development Cooperation Dashboard with data on labour-related policy areas and the organisation’s field projects, funding, and expenditures. All materials published by the ILO are collected and freely available in Labordoc, the organisation’s digital repository. The ILO’s new Research Repository allows users to easily access our knowledge products by topic and author.

The ILO maintains the World Social Protection Database, the leading global source of in-depth country-level statistics on social protection systems. This database includes key indicators used by policymakers, officials of international organisations, and researchers, and is used for the United Nations’ SDG monitoring. The ILO collects data through the Social Security Inquiry, an administrative survey submitted to governments that dates back to the 1940s. In 2020, the ILO launched the Social Security Inquiry online platform to improve the data compilation process globally.

The ILO also maintains the Employment Policy Gateway, which serves as a comprehensive repository of national employment policy documentation from around the world. As of mid-2024, the Gateway contained 75 national employment policy documents, with 24 undergoing revision at the time of data extraction. The Gateway includes pre-processed variables to facilitate cross-country comparisons of employment policies.

Future of work

The future of work has been a key unifying digital issue in the ILO’s activities for many years. In 2015, the ILO Director-General presented a report to the International Labour Conference proposing a special initiative on the future of work. Since that time, much of the research undertaken by the ILO and many of the published reports have fallen under this rubric. In 2019, the ILO established the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work as part of our Future of Work Initiative. The Commission was composed of representatives from government, civil society, academia, and business and worker representatives.

The Commission published a landmark report, Work for a brighter future, that called for a human-centred agenda for the future of work and explored the impacts of technological progress in the fields of AI and robotics and on issues such as the gender labour gap and the automation of work. That same year, the ILO issued the ILO Centenary Declaration, which advocated ‘full and productive employment and decent work’ in the context of the digital transformation of work, including platform work. Examining the future of work in its myriad implications remains a primary focus for the organisation to this day.

The ILO has established the ’Global Coalition for Social Justice’ initiative that brings together international bodies and stakeholders to promote coordinated responses at national, regional and global levels. The Coalition aims to implement a human-centred approach to ensure social justice is recognised as key to sustainable global recovery.

In 2024, the ILO co-authored a report with the United Nations titled ‘Mind the AI Divide: Shaping a Global Perspective on the Future of Work’, which addresses the uneven adoption of AI globally and its implications for equity, fairness, and social justice. The report highlights how disparities in digital infrastructure, technology access, education, and training are deepening existing inequalities. The ILO is concerned about an emerging ‘AI ivide’ between high-income nations and low/medium-income countries, particularly in Africa, and advocates for concerted action to foster international cooperation to support developing countries in AI adoption.

The ILO has established the ‘Observatory on Artificial Intelligence and Work in the Digital Economy’, which serves as the leading international knowledge hub on world-of-work dimensions of AI and the digital economy. Launched on 25 September 2024, the Observatory aims to support governments and social partners in understanding and managing the digital transformation of work. The Observatory focuses on four key areas: artificial intelligence, algorithmic management, digital labour platforms, workers’ personal data and digital skills and AI.

The ILO-led AI for Good webinars on AI and work (with ITU) have involved some of the leading thinkers and experts in this area, including the most recent Nobel Prize winner, Prof. Daron Acemoglu.

Automation and AI

The ILO is paying close attention to how automation and AI are changing the labour markets and the ways we work. We have examined the impacts of automation in many publications, for instance, Robotics and Reshoring, Automation and its Employment Effects: A Literature Review of Automotive and Garment Sectors, and the research brief, Who Moves and Who Stays? A number of recent studies have focused on the labour impacts of generative AI and the growing use of AI in specific sectors. Examples include the working papers, Generative AI and Jobs: A Global Analysis of Potential Effects on Job Quantity and Quality and Artificial Intelligence in Human Resource Management: A Challenge for the Human-centred Agenda? AI has been the topic of recent editions of the ILO’s Future of Work Podcast series.

Digital labour platforms and algorhitmic management

A key focus of the ILO research is the effects of digitalisation on labour market evolution and new forms of work. The organisation has been closely tracking the implications of digital labour platforms and algorithmic management for decent work.

The ILO has published some essential references on these new subjects, including the World Employment and Social Outlook report on digital labour platforms. Most other ILO studies also reflect digital issues. For example, recent Global Employment Trends for Youth reports cover inequalities in youth labour markets arising from digital transformation, as well as investment in young people’s skills.

The ILO is working on instruments related to digital platform workers, including developing definitions for terms like ‘digital labour platform’, ‘digital platform worker’, and ‘remuneration’ in the context of digital platforms. The ILO is preparing for a discussion on ‘Realizing decent work in the platform economy’ as the fifth item on the agenda for the 113th Session of the International Labour Conference in 2025.

The ILO is conducting research on the ‘human-in-the-loop’ model in AI systems and AI supply chains, examining how invisible workers power automated systems that are often presented as fully automated. ILO researchers have studied how AI-enabled business models rely on workers with decent work deficits, particularly crowdworkers on digital labour platforms that support AI systems. A survey of these workers revealed that many are highly educated with bachelor’s or postgraduate degrees, often in STEM fields, yet primarily employed in routine data work that does not use their specialised knowledge, with median earnings in developing countries of about USD 2 per hour.

Sustainable development

The ILO is playing a pivotal role in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, most specifically sustainable development goal (SDG) 8 (decent work and economic growth). The ILO is one of the main actors supporting the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions initiative, the UN system’s collective response for addressing the multiple challenges that threaten to erase development progress. The Global Accelerator aims to direct investments to help create at least 400 million decent jobs, primarily in the green, digital, and care economies, and to extend social protection coverage to the over 4 billion people currently excluded. The ILO has also created the Decent Work for Sustainable Development (DW4SD) Resource Platform, which maps the interplay between sustainable development and decent work. The platform provides guidance and working resources to ILO staff, development partners, UN country teams, and other stakeholders. A recent ILO report, Transformative Change and SDG 8, outlines an integrated policy approach that countries can follow to achieve SDG 8.

Capacity development

Capacity development is another digital-related issue at the core of the ILO’s activities. As part of our skills, knowledge, and employability initiatives, the ILO helps governments develop education and training systems to take advantage of new educational technologies and give greater attention to digital skills. We support enterprises and employers in making investments to expand education and training programmes, and workers in proactively upgrading their skills or acquiring new ones.

Examples of the many resources the ILO has produced are Digital Employment Diagnostic Guidelines, Digitalization of National TVET and Skills Systems and Digitalise Your Business: Digital Strategies for Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. These and many more resources are available from the ILO’s Skills and Lifelong Learning knowledge-sharing platform.

The International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO) offers a range of training programmes, master classes and specialised courses that focus on AI implications and applications in the workplace, public policy, and development cooperation. Key training activities include a new master’s degree on technology and public policy with the Politecnico di Torino and an AI Forum. ITCILO also partners with the UN Innovation Network to share practices and approaches to capacity building in these areas.

Together with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ILO has developed the SKILL-UP Programme, which assists developing countries in building capacity and improving their digital skills systems, as well as the Skills Innovation Facility. The Facility focuses on identifying and testing innovative ideas and solutions to address current and future skills challenges. In addition, the ILO’s Skills Innovation Network provides a platform for innovators to collaborate and share experiences on developing innovations for skills development.

The ILO also has a Helpdesk for Business on International Labour Standards that provides assistance to businesses on how to align their business operations with labour standards.

Privacy and data protection

In regard to privacy and data protection, the ILO has published a set of principles on the protection of workers’ personal data, which explores trends, principles, and good practices related to the protection of personal data.

The International Training Centre, established by the ILO, provides online courses on a variety of labour issues. The ILO also organises webinars and uses a number of social media accounts.

Digital tools

The following digital tools are available:

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva Graduate Institute)

The Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva Graduate Institute) is an institution of research and higher education at the postgraduate level dedicated to the study of world affairs, with a particular emphasis on the cross-cutting fields of international relations and development issues.

Through its core activities, the Institute promotes international cooperation and contributes to the progress of developing societies. More broadly, it endeavours to develop creative thinking on the major challenges of our time, foster global responsibility, and advance respect for diversity.

By intensely engaging with international organisations, NGOs, governments, and multinational companies, the Institute participates in global discussions and prepares future policymakers to lead tomorrow’s world.

In 2022, the Institute launched a new Competence Hub on digital technologies. The Tech Hub brings together a diversity of internal and external expertise to explore technologies from a human-centred and human-biotype-centred perspective. The focus will be the exploration of current and future technological innovations from a social science perspective, with an interest in the socio-political, governance, and geopolitical consequences of the current technological revolution. It will progressively structure different kinds of activities as well as welcome and foster research projects.

This transdisciplinary and horizontal initiative enables the Institute to forge and express its own unique voice on the digital turn and its consequences. It has indeed a particular role to play in the exploration of all those questions that need a transdisciplinary social science and humanities perspective and are by nature profoundly inter-transnational. The reality is that the Institute is already producing research and knowledge on those questions and diffusing them through teaching and events.

Digital activities

As part of its main strategy, the Institute seeks to develop digitally driven innovation in teaching and research, as well as IT services. At the same time, as a research institution focusing on global challenges and their impacts, the digital turn has become one of its fundamental and policy-oriented research areas.

In terms of research, a growing number of researchers and PhD candidates analyse the impact of digitalisation on international relations and development issues. A few examples of research topics are cybersecurity, hybrid threats and warfare, surveillance technologies, internet governance, digital diplomacy, digital health, digital rights, digital trust, digital economy, the future of work, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, AI and humanitarian law, and AI and peace negotiations, among others. The Institute has also developed expertise in using digital technologies as new research methods, including computational social scientific methods and big data analytics.

In terms of teaching, its Master’s, PhD, and executive education courses are increasingly focused on the effects of digitalisation on society and the economy, and more generally, the global system. Some examples of courses are Digital Approaches to Conflict Prevention, Digital Innovation in Nature Conservation, Internet, Technology and International Law, Introduction to Digital Social Science Research, Technology, Society and Decision-making, The Politics of Digital Design, AI and Politics, Internet Governance and Economics, Technology and Development, and Digital Diplomacy and Power Relations on Cyberspace. Digital skills workshops are also organised for students to provide them with basic digital competence for their future professional or academic life, including big data analysis, introduction to programming with R and Python, and data analysis in various contexts.

Over the years, the Institute has developed a performing IT infrastructure with secured data storage space and digital platforms (e.g. Campus, Moodle, TurntIn, Zoom, MyHR, Salesforces, Converis) to provide seamless services as well as dematerialised/paperless processes (e.g. student applications, course registration) for students, staff, and professors.

The Institute has developed digital tools (e.g. app for students, responsive website) and used digital services (e.g. social media, Facebook, Google ads) for many years in its student recruitment and communication campaigns.

Digital tools are also part of the pedagogical methods to improve learning. Flipped classrooms, MOOCs, SPOCs, and podcasts, to name a few, are used by professors in Master’s and PhD programmes, as well as in executive education. The Institute also supports professors in developing pedagogical skills and in using digital tools. Workshops are offered to all faculty members at the end of the summer to prepare them for hybrid teaching and the use of new technological tools in the classroom.

The Institute also organises workshops, seminars, film screenings, and other events on the digital turn, ranging from the digital divide and the governance and regulatory aspects of data to cybersecurity.

Digital policy issues

Some of the Institute’s prominent research initiatives are listed under the respective digital policy issues sections.

Artificial intelligence

Conflict and peacebuilding

The faculty carries out a number of digital policy-related research projects, some of which focus on AI in particular. For example, the project titled Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) and War Crimes: Who is to Bear Responsibility? aims to clarify whether and to what extent the requirements for ascribing criminal responsibility for the commission of an act – and in particular, the key concepts of culpability theories – can be applied to the use of LAWS in combat operations. This analysis will serve to identify lacunae and inconsistencies in the current legal framework in the face of the advent of military robotics.

This project explores how the increasing digitalisation of peace processes affects international peace building efforts that take place in a global environment characterised by friction between liberal and authoritarian approaches. To make sense of these dynamics, the project draws on the concept of apomediation, to suggest that solutions to conflict are no longer simply supplied by human agents, but through a complex entanglement of human-machine networks.

The Intrepid Project aims to develop a general understanding of how policy announcements by state agencies are interpreted by journalists in ways that send signals, indicate intent, and otherwise provoke economic and political reactions. Machine learning (ML) techniques and the semantic and syntactic properties of announcement texts are then used to develop models of the announcement interpretation process.

Global Health

A number of projects carried out by the Institute’s members address the relationship between digital technologies and health. For instance, the Modelling Early Risk Indicators to Anticipate Malnutrition (MERIAM) project uses computer models to test and scale up cost effective means to improve the prediction and monitoring of undernutrition in difficult contexts.

The Institute hosted the new Digital Health and AI Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) (new HealthAI) directed by former Ambassador of India and Visiting Lecturer at the Institute Amandeep Gill. I-DAIR aims to create a platform to promote responsible and inclusive AI research and digital technology development for health. This platform is supported by the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA).

The project Governing Health Futures 2030: Growing up in a Digital World, hosted at the Global Health Centre (GHC), explores how to ensure that digital development helps improve the health and well-being of all, and especially among children and young people. It focuses on examining integrative policies for digital health, AI, and universal health coverage to support the attainment of the third sustainable development goal (SDG).

Interdisciplinary approaches

Questions about the potential impact of the internet are now routinely raised in relation to political events and elections in most places. The project on the Digital Infrastructuring of Democracy asks how the digital infrastructuring of democracy unfolds through regulatory and political processes, with a heuristic focus on both its transnational dimension and its specific reverberations in democracies of the Global South. The project concentrates on one thematic controversy related to each aspect of infrastructure: the accountability of algorithms for code, data protection for content, and encryption for circulation.

Taking stock of the centrality of AI in society and in the citizen-government relation, this project hosted at the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy seeks to engage with youth in Switzerland to explore the future role of AI in democracy through storytelling and narrative foresight. It will give a voice to the citizens of tomorrow and collaborate with art schools to design participatory AI art.

The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy at the Geneva Graduate Institute is running the ‘Stories of the Future’ project, an Agora project supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation that aims to foster knowledge and literacy about AI in Switzerland. The project has conducted nearly 150 workshops in schools across Switzerland, where approximately 80 students wrote stories set in 2050 about a world permeated by AI. The project also organised a fictitious trial of AI in Zurich and during Democracy Week in Geneva, exploring AI’s impact on democratic processes.
The Centre is also collaborating with the Kofi Annan Foundation on a project titled ‘Understanding the Links Between Multilateralism and Democracy to Tackle Global Challenges More Effectively,’ which included a roundtable mentioned above, focused on AI.

Future of work

Focusing on the Global South, the project African Futures: Digital Labor and Blockchain Technology strengthened empirical knowledge on changing trends in employment in the region by way of a two-pronged approach to the increasingly interconnected global division of labour: (1) App-based work mediated by online service platforms and (2) the use of blockchain technology in mining sites for ethical sourcing, traceability, and proof of origin.

The emergence of AI and digitally mediated work represents a fundamental challenge for most developing economies. Coupled with jobless economic growth, rising human productivity, and the exponential increase of the available labour pool, few jobs can be said to be safe from automated labour. This project examines the impact of digital work and automation in the Global South, from blockchain technology to ride-sharing apps, to inform debates on automation, computerisation and non-standard forms of work.

Inclusive finance

Projects carried out by the Institute’s members also address the role of digital technologies in enhancing financial inclusion. The project Effects of Digital Economy on Banking and Finance studies digital innovations and how fintech extends financial services to firms and households, and improves credit allocation using loan-account level data, comparing fintech and traditional banking.

Digital tools

Digital collections that allow free access to historical documents, texts, and photographs on international relations from the sixteenth to the twentieth century.
Two free online courses (MOOCs) on globalisation and global governance.
Podcasts showcasing professors’ and guests’ expertise (What matters today, In conversation with, Parlons en).
Podcasts are also integrated into the curricula of several international history and interdisciplinary Master’s courses to encourage students to use social network platforms to popularise their findings.

The Institute has a facility called ‘The Fab’, which hosts events such as book launches on AI and technology topics.

The Centre for Digital Humanities and Multilateralism (CDHM) is involved in digitisation projects, including work on the archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and research on digital archival practices.

Social media channels

Facebook @graduateinstitute

Instagram @graduateinstitute

LinkedIn @geneva graduate institute

X @GVAGrad

YouTube @Geneva Graduate Institute

European Free Trade Association

EFTA is an intergovernmental organisation composed of four member states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Established in 1960 by the EFTA Convention, EFTA promotes free trade and economic integration between its members. Since its foundation, relations with the European Union have been at the heart of EFTA’s activities. In 1992, three of the EFTA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) and the EU signed the European Economic Area Agreement (EEA Agreement), extending the EU’s internal market to these three EEA EFTA States. In addition, since the early 1990s, EFTA has been actively engaged in trade relations with non-EU countries both inside and outside of Europe.

Digital activities

EFTA’s activities on digital issues pertain to the negotiation of e-commerce provisions in trade agreements and regulatory matters linked to the EEA. The latter relate, among others, to electronic communication such as the exchange of information via telecommunications and the internet, audiovisual services, and data protection.

Digital policy issues

E-commerce and trade

EFTA aims to include e-commerce provisions in its free trade agreements with partners across the globe. It has already successfully concluded such chapters with Chile, Moldova, and Ukraine. These chapters include provisions on paperless trade administration, open internet access, online consumer trust, electronic payments and invoicing, and cross-border data transfers, among others. EFTA is also negotiating a Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore, which will cover the mentioned core provisions, as well as forward-looking topics such as artificial intelligence, financial technology, and cybersecurity.

In the EEA context, EFTA’s Working Group on Electronic Communication, Audiovisual Services and Information Society (WG ECASIS) deals with legal provisions pertaining to the EU’s digital strategy: Shaping Europe’s digital future. As participants in the EU internal market, the EEA EFTA States must apply EU rules on electronic communication, audiovisual services, and the information society. In the domain of the information society, initiatives include rules on e-commerce, cross-border data flows, the reuse of public sector information, and cybersecurity, as well as electronic identification and signatures.

Future of work

EFTA is also tackling the implications of digitalisation for the future of work. In this context, the joint EFTA–EU body representing the social partners, the EEA Consultative Committee, has issued a resolution and report on digitalisation and its impact on jobs and skills and on the challenges and opportunities of greater use of AI in working life.

These documents, among others, highlight the importance of investing in ICT infrastructure and new learning methods, including apprenticeships and workplace training. They also stress that the increased use of AI in work life has to be addressed in a systematic and comprehensive manner in the EEA, while following the principles of transparency and human monitoring.

Data governance and liability of intermediaries

In the EEA context, WG ECASIS works with the EU on policies for creating a single market for data, as well as the conditions for the use of and access to data for businesses and governments within the EEA.

The working group also engages with the EU to develop a common regulatory framework for AI, for instance, through the European AI Board, in which the EEA EFTA states participate.

In the area of online intermediaries, the EEA EFTA states are in the process of extending the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act to the entire EEA and implementing these regulations in their respective markets. The EEA EFTA states are strong proponents of additional safeguards to create a secure and trustworthy online environment. In this context, they are actively following the work of the EU on age verification by online intermediaries and the EU toolbox for safe and sustainable e-commerce.

In 2024, the EEA EFTA states implemented several key EEA-relevant legal acts in the area of cybersecurity and are currently working to implement the Cyber Solidarity Act. Members of WG ECASIS participate actively in the NIS Cooperation Group and in standardisation groups to develop common European cybersecurity certification schemes.

Privacy and data protection

The EEA EFTA states’ Expert Group on Data Protection keeps track of EU initiatives in the domain of data protection, contributes to the development of EU policies and legislation, and coordinates with the European Commission on new EU data adequacy decisions for counterparties outside the EEA.
The group recently issued an EEA EFTA Comment on the proposed revisions to the enforcement rules on the General Data Protection Regulation, which is covered by the EEA Agreement.

Digital tools

Resources

EFTA offers a host of interactive tools, covering trade statistics, free trade agreements, the utilisation of tariff preferences, and business-relevant information for small and medium-sized enterprises. On the EEA side, EFTA has created a web tool that visualises how EU law becomes EEA law.