Open Forum #60 Cooperating for Digital Resilience and Prosperity

Summary

This discussion was hosted by the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) at the Internet Governance Forum, focusing on “Cooperation for Digital Resilience and Prosperity” and how to operationalize trust, resilience, and equity in digital spaces. The session brought together experts from various international organizations, governments, and regions to explore moving from theoretical frameworks to practical implementation of digital cooperation initiatives.

Hassan Nasser, DCO’s Special Envoy for Multilateral Affairs, opened by highlighting the organization’s mission to accelerate inclusive digital economic growth across its 16 member states spanning Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He emphasized the challenge of fragmentation in the current multilateral system and introduced DCO’s Digital Economy Navigator as a tool to provide common assessment and understanding of digital economy priorities across 50 countries globally.

The panelists shared diverse regional perspectives and experiences. Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi from Nigeria discussed Africa’s priorities in diversifying from resource-dependent economies to digital-focused growth, emphasizing the need for continental cooperation and leveraging the Global Digital Compact. Representatives from WIPO, ERIA, and other organizations highlighted the importance of intellectual property frameworks, innovation ecosystems, and regional integration models in fostering digital transformation.

A key theme throughout the discussion was the critical need for better coordination between existing mechanisms like the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and the newly adopted Global Digital Compact (GDC). Speakers emphasized avoiding duplication while building on established foundations and ensuring that global frameworks translate into concrete local implementation.

The conversation underscored significant digital divides that persist globally, with examples showing vast differences in digital adoption rates between developed and developing regions. Panelists stressed that successful digital transformation requires not just technological adoption but also cultural and organizational evolution, supported by capacity building and multi-stakeholder cooperation. The discussion concluded with calls for continued collaboration beyond formal forums to ensure that digital prosperity benefits all regions and populations.

Keypoints

## Major Discussion Points:

– **Digital Cooperation and Multilateral Frameworks**: The session focused on operationalizing cooperation between international organizations, governments, and stakeholders to build digital resilience and prosperity, with emphasis on moving from theoretical discussions to practical implementation of frameworks like the Global Digital Compact (GDC) and World Summit on Information Society (WSIS).

– **Regional Digital Transformation Priorities**: Panelists shared diverse regional perspectives on digital economy development, including Nigeria’s shift from oil-dependent economy to digital diversification, ASEAN’s transnational AI innovation ecosystems, and the need for unified African positioning in global digital governance.

– **Innovation Ecosystems and Intellectual Property**: Discussion of how organizations like WIPO support digital innovation through IP frameworks, infrastructure, and global databases, while balancing protection for creators with access to information and fostering startup-friendly environments across different regions.

– **Implementation Challenges and Digital Divides**: Recognition of significant gaps between policy development and practical implementation, highlighting disparities in digital adoption (e.g., 80% online shopping in Norway vs. less than 5% in Africa) and the need for capacity building, infrastructure development, and culturally-adapted solutions.

– **Integration of Existing Mechanisms**: Strong emphasis on avoiding duplication by building upon established frameworks like WSIS and IGF, with National and Regional Initiatives (NRIs) serving as key vehicles for implementing GDC principles at local levels and ensuring multi-stakeholder participation.

## Overall Purpose:

The discussion aimed to explore practical pathways for international digital cooperation, focusing on how to translate global digital governance frameworks into concrete actions that promote inclusive, sustainable digital transformation across different regions and development levels.

## Overall Tone:

The discussion maintained a consistently collaborative and constructive tone throughout. It was professional yet engaging, with participants demonstrating mutual respect and genuine interest in learning from each other’s experiences. The tone remained optimistic about the potential for cooperation despite acknowledging significant challenges, and there was a clear sense of urgency about moving from discussion to implementation. The moderator effectively maintained momentum while allowing for substantive exchanges, and the session concluded on an encouraging note with invitations for continued dialogue.

Speakers

**Speakers from the provided list:**

– **Sameem Ghaffar** – Multilateral Engagements Senior Manager at DCO (Digital Cooperation Organization), session facilitator

– **Giulia Ajmone Marsan** – Head of Startup and Digital Inclusion at ERIA (Economic Research Institute for ASEAN), former innovation economist at OECD

– **Liz Giener** – Strategist at Nortel, based in the US

– **Helen McGowan** – Senior Business Partnership Manager at DCO, online moderator based in Riyadh

– **Ryszard Frelek** – Representative from WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)

– **Hassan Nasser** – Special Envoy for Multilateral Affairs at DCO

– **Concertina Tossa** – Head of International Affairs at the Italian Agency for Digital, expert in digital governance and IT policies

– **Torbjorn Fredriksson** – Head of the E-Commerce and Digital Economy Branch of UNCTAD, based in Geneva

– **Audience** – Various audience members asking questions

– **Luca Belli** – Professor of Digital Governance and Regulation at the FGV Law School in Brazil

– **Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi** – Director of Corporate Planning and Strategy at the National IT Development Agency of Nigeria

**Additional speakers:**

– **Edwin Chung** – From DotAsia, serves as secretariat for the Asia Pacific Regional IGF

# Comprehensive Report: Cooperation for Digital Resilience and Prosperity

## Executive Summary

This session, hosted by the Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO) at the Internet Governance Forum, brought together international experts to explore practical pathways for operationalizing trust, resilience, and equity in digital spaces. Facilitated by Sameem Ghaffar with online moderation by Helen McGowan from Riyadh, the discussion focused on moving “from pledges to policies, from theory to practice” in digital cooperation initiatives.

The conversation featured diverse regional perspectives from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America, examining how to integrate the newly adopted Global Digital Compact (GDC) with existing mechanisms such as the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Participants emphasized the need for enhanced collaboration in an increasingly fragmented world while addressing persistent digital divides and implementation challenges.

## Opening Context and Framework

Hassan Nasser, DCO’s Special Envoy for Multilateral Affairs, established the foundational context by highlighting the challenges facing digital cooperation efforts in “a more fragmented world.” He explained that “this is, of course, the reason why DCO was established, addressing those barriers, but also leveraging the opportunities coming from digital economy.”

DCO’s positioning as an intergovernmental organisation spanning 16 member states across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia was presented as a response to fragmentation across agendas, mandates, and resources. Nasser introduced the Digital Economy Navigator as a practical tool providing common assessment and understanding of digital economy priorities across 50 countries globally, with plans for a second edition incorporating stakeholder feedback.

He also referenced DCO’s four-year agenda adopted in Jordan and the Cotonou Declaration from May 2024, emphasizing the organization’s commitment to moving beyond theoretical frameworks toward concrete implementation.

## Regional Perspectives on Digital Transformation

### African Economic Diversification

Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi from Nigeria’s National IT Development Agency highlighted Africa’s strategic shift from resource-dependent economies toward digital diversification. He explained that Nigeria “has had a monolistic economy, that is we are very dependent on mineral resources. And recently there has been a marked deviation from only depending on that.”

He emphasized the accessibility of digital opportunities and their potential to leverage Africa’s human resources, particularly its youthful population. However, he acknowledged that “local infrastructure availability and understanding implementation paths remain difficult terrain requiring international cooperation.”

### ASEAN Innovation Ecosystems

Giulia Ajmone Marsan from the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN (ERIA) presented insights on transnational innovation ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific region. Her organization focuses on developing AI innovation ecosystems through strategic partnerships and skills transfer programmes that transcend national boundaries.

Marsan emphasized breaking traditional regional boundaries, arguing that “organisations should break regional boundaries and learn across continents rather than limiting themselves to geographic labels.” This approach has enabled ASEAN countries to develop sophisticated digital innovation capabilities through collaborative frameworks combining technological advancement with sustainable development goals.

### Latin American Implementation Gaps

Luca Belli from FGV Law School in Brazil highlighted the gap between policy development and practical implementation, noting that “Latin America has comprehensive data protection laws but lacks regional framework for unified digital market,” despite having multiple regional organisations and 19 countries with data protection legislation.

He emphasized that “political momentum is always a very difficult element to guess,” identifying political will as often the missing ingredient in digital cooperation initiatives. Interestingly, he noted that “BRICS countries successfully achieved enhanced cooperation in cybersecurity and AI governance despite being informal club governance system.”

## Intellectual Property and Innovation Frameworks

Ryszard Frelek from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) provided insights into IP ecosystems supporting digital innovation. He emphasized that effective IP frameworks require a “comprehensive approach including legal framework, infrastructure, industry-academia collaboration, and financing access.”

Frelek highlighted the growing importance of intangible assets, noting that their value reached significant levels in 2023, becoming increasingly important for SMEs and local businesses globally. WIPO’s support encompasses national IP strategy design, research and data provision through global databases, and capacity building programmes tailored to different development levels.

## Implementation Challenges and Digital Divides

### Quantifying Global Disparities

Torbjörn Fredriksson from UNCTAD provided stark evidence of persistent digital divides, observing that “in Norway, for instance, more than 80% of people are shopping online on a daily basis. In Africa, it’s typically less than 5%.” This disparity illustrated that while advanced economies debate AI governance, vast populations remain excluded from basic digital economic opportunities.

Fredriksson emphasized that “basic digital challenges remain despite AI advancement, requiring attention to fundamental access and opportunity issues.” He also highlighted coordination inefficiencies, noting “there are still too many examples of duplications of work, something that we need to minimize, especially in these times of shrinking resources for technical assistance and capacity building.”

### Practical Implementation Solutions

Liz Giener from Nortel challenged conventional assumptions about digital transformation requirements, arguing that “many governments overestimate or maybe oversold the need for a heavy legacy IT investment.” She provided examples from Estonia and Finland demonstrating how “lean modular architecture, trusted digital identity, and public-private partnerships” enable countries to leapfrog traditional infrastructure development stages.

Giener emphasized that “citizen-centric service design more effective than technology-first approaches” and announced Nortel’s upcoming entry into the LATAM market, providing practical frameworks for addressing digital inclusion challenges while building sustainable digital governance capabilities.

## Framework Integration and Governance Mechanisms

### Global Digital Compact and WSIS Integration

Concertina Tossa from Italy’s Agency for Digital emphasized that the “Global Digital Compact marks significant milestone in digital governance evolution, building on existing WSIS foundations.” She advocated for “effective integration between GDC and existing mechanisms like WSIS to avoid duplication and maximize resources.”

Tossa suggested that the upcoming WSIS+20 review process presents an opportunity to integrate GDC objectives systematically rather than creating separate implementation mechanisms. She explained that “National and Regional Initiatives (NRIs) can serve as operational mechanisms for translating GDC implementation at local levels.”

### Interactive Discussion on NRI Implementation

Edwin Chung from DotAsia, representing the Asia Pacific Regional IGF secretariat, raised practical questions about how NRIs can concretely implement GDC components at local levels. This inquiry sparked discussion about clearer guidance and support mechanisms to help regional and national IGF communities translate global commitments into actionable local programmes.

The discussion highlighted the potential for over 180 NRIs worldwide to “incorporate GDC objectives into agenda setting and report outcomes back to global frameworks,” leveraging existing multi-stakeholder participation mechanisms and local contextual knowledge.

## Cross-Regional Learning and Collaboration Models

Hassan Nasser emphasized the importance of “South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation essential for achieving global digital transformation goals.” This approach recognizes that developing countries often face similar challenges and can learn effectively from each other’s experiences.

Fredriksson highlighted the E-Trade for All partnership as demonstrating an “effective model for bringing 35 organisations together with common vision,” showing how multiple international organizations can coordinate around shared objectives while maintaining distinct mandates and expertise areas.

## Future Directions and Commitments

The discussion concluded with concrete commitments for continued collaboration. DCO committed to maintaining multi-stakeholder dialogue beyond the session, including at upcoming conferences, and developing a second edition of the Digital Economy Navigator incorporating stakeholder feedback.

Participants agreed that NRIs should systematically incorporate GDC objectives into their agenda setting and report outcomes back to global frameworks. The emphasis on continued informal dialogue and networking highlighted recognition that formal sessions alone cannot address complex coordination challenges.

## Conclusion

This session demonstrated both the potential and challenges of international digital cooperation in an increasingly complex global environment. The strong consensus around multi-stakeholder cooperation, building upon existing frameworks, and comprehensive ecosystem approaches provides a foundation for continued collaboration.

The diversity of regional perspectives highlighted the value of inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogue while illustrating the complexity of developing cooperation frameworks that can address vastly different development contexts simultaneously. The emphasis on moving from theoretical frameworks to practical implementation reflects growing maturity in digital governance discussions, with recognition that effective cooperation requires sustained commitment, innovative partnership models, and adaptive approaches that can evolve with rapidly changing technological and geopolitical contexts.

Sameem Ghaffar: This is, I think, one of the first sessions. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the session hosted by DCO, Digital Cooperation Organization. We’re very, very pleased to have you here in the room and to have our participants online with us. I’m Samim Ghaffar, I’m Multilateral Engagements Senior Manager at DCO, and it’s my honor and pleasure to facilitate this session here today. We have with us online our colleagues from back in Riyadh, Helen McGowan, Senior Business Partnership Manager, who will be moderating online as well. We’ll be taking questions in the second segment of this session. The first session will be a panel discussion. We have with us a very distinguished panel of experts that have been assembled from various areas of expertise, and we’re very happy to have you in the room today. We thank you very warmly and would like also to thank the organizers of the IGF and warm thanks to the Norwegian government for their hospitality. Today the session entitled Cooperation for Digital Resilience and Prosperity, we don’t aim for it to be just a theoretical discussion. It’s about operationalizing trust, resilience, and equity in digital space. It’s about moving from pledges to policies, from theory to practice. We’ll be looking at the USIS and IGF discussions and also how the GDC adds to that very important equation. We have with us our Special Envoy for Multilateral Affairs, Hassan Nassar, and I will be giving him the floor for his opening remarks. Over to you, Hassan.

Hassan Nasser: Thank you very much, Samim. Thank you, everyone. Good morning in Oslo. This is, I think, one of the first sessions, so thank you for joining early. I really want to thank, of course, the organizers, the host country, the IGF Secretariat and all the stakeholders involved in this forum. For DCO, this is the second participation to IGF, and I know some of the participants here have a long experience in this forum. DCO was founded only four years ago as a unique intergovernmental organization mandated to accelerate inclusive and sustainable growth of the digital economy. With this mandate, we are supporting 16 member states across Africa, Europe, Middle East and Asia. And this mandate is mainly focusing on this aspect of digital enablers, digital business and digital society. Last year, during the IGF hosted in Riyadh, which is also the headquarter of the DCO, we had a first forum to explore the areas of digital cooperation, because, again, we think that this is the way forward to build digital prosperity and to ensure resilience of the digital economy. We are facing today a more fragmented world, and this is, of course, the reason why DCO was established, addressing those barriers, but also leveraging the opportunities coming from digital economy in terms of creation of jobs, creating of new opportunities and innovation. For today’s discussion, as mentioned by Samin, we really want to look and explore new cooperation. That’s why we have made sure that we have with us partners from member states, from other international organizations and from other governments. There is a space for all stakeholders, and the IGF is the good example of a multi-stakeholder process when it comes to digital cooperation and building a more safe, open and sustainable and inclusive digital future for all. In the DCO General Assembly hosted in February by the government of Jordan, the 16-member state adopted the four-year agenda for the organization. This four-year agenda focuses on specific elements which have been designed to really cover and ensure joint efforts. When we look at the current multilateral system, we can see, I think we can all see, the main challenge in terms of fragmentation, fragmentation of agendas, fragmentation of mandates, fragmentation of resources, and in DCO, we really want to address this issue of fragmentation by providing a common assessment, a common understanding of what is the situation today when it comes to digital economy. That’s why DCO, during the Summit of the Future hosted in the UN headquarters in New York September 24, launched the Digital Economy Navigator. The Digital Economy Navigator has been designed as a joint solution shared with all stakeholders to understand what are the priorities today, what is the situation today when it comes to digital economy, looking at the different aspects from digital enablers, digital society and digital business. This Digital Economy Navigator today covers not only the 16 DCO member states, but it covers a total of 50 countries around the world. We have shared the findings, the data of this Navigator, and we are currently working on a new edition of this Navigator. To work on this second edition of the Navigator, we will of course engage with all stakeholders to get their feedback, their input, and also to see how to activate and implement the findings coming from this tool. So today’s discussion for us is really an opportunity to start this multi-stakeholder dialogue when it comes to understanding better the digital economy. With the Digital Economy Navigator, we also hope to identify the right priorities for the member states, for all stakeholders, to then define where to invest and where to concentrate and coordinate efforts to build a more inclusive and sustainable digital economy. This cooperation will also help us to define and to ensure resilience of the digital economy, which as we’ve seen over the last years is a key issue and a key challenge for developing countries, but also for industrialized countries. So I’m really looking forward to the discussion today. We really want this to be an open discussion. We want to hear from other partners, other stakeholders. We really also invite you to connect beyond this session to make sure that we can continue this dialogue during IGF and beyond. We will be also attending the FFD4 next week in Sevilla, looking at financing development for digital economy, and we really continue to open this conversation for a more inclusive digital future. Thank you very much, and back to you, Sami.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you very much, Hassan, for these very interesting and clarifying remarks. We have with us today in the room five panelists, experts, but also two online. We have Oktat and Nortel. I will go a bit further later on into the introduction. But let me turn my first question of this panel to Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi. He’s a Director of Corporate Planning and Strategy at the National IT Development Agency of Nigeria. Nigeria is one of the member states of DCO, a very active member state and is championing a lot of digital transformation, and we’re very happy to have him in the room to clarify the priorities of the government of Nigeria, especially in light of the Cotonou Declaration that was adopted in May 2025 last month on the Worcester Review for Africa. So Dr., good morning, and I’m very happy to have you. What would be the priorities of Nigeria going forward? And we will keep this question three minutes, so we can give chance to everybody in the first part of this discussion. What would be the priorities and how does the multi-stakeholder approach support the priorities of the Nigerian government in the digital economy? Okay. Thank you very much, Moderator.

Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi: I’m very happy to be amongst you today for this discussion. The priorities of Nigeria in the area of digital cooperation as well as the WSIS Declaration in Cotonou, I think the digital economy, it’s vastly gaining ground in all that we do, it’s like as you all know. The digital economy of Nigeria has had a monolistic economy, that is we are very dependent on mineral resources. And recently there has been a marked deviation from only depending on that. So we take the digital economy as a priority area now because of the accessibility, because of its lack of critical investments, quite unlike the exploration of oil and all that. Here we are going to tap our vast human resources as well as harness the youthful age that we have in the country. So our priorities are shifting to this so that we can diversify our economy. And I’m sure most African countries as well are setting up policies as well as framework strategies to ensure that they tap from this digital economy offerings that are available to all of us. So going forward from that, answering your question directly, the Nigerian government has taken strategic steps to make sure that we tap from the multistakeholderism that’s proposed by the WSIS plus 20. And judging from the Cotonou Declaration, talking from the African perspective, we’ve decided that this time around the African nations should come together in unison and in an inclusive manner to position themselves to uphold leadership roles in the information society. The implication is that we must have a means of working together, tap from the strengths of others and then utilize, uplift the weaknesses that are found amongst us because it’s obvious that there are various levels of proficiency as well as capacity to utilize the digital offerings that we have. Most importantly, some countries are not at the forefront of the digital technology while others are much higher. So for us to be able to leverage on this availability and carry on the leadership role, there needs to be that inclusivity and more like an averaging effect. Those who have the strength will pull up those who are weak in the areas of providing policy assistance and all that. So that positions us in a very good position to see how we can benefit from the DCO arrangement and all strategies that are being formulated and planned for. So we intend to do that, passing through a unified African position in such a way that whatever we can benefit from the offerings of the DCO, we are going to key into it. The Global Digital Compact as well, which provides for some citizen-centric digital economy provisions will all tap into that. So we look forward to actually working with the DCO to make sure that the digital economy, all the provisions we’ve made and even the digital economy, all provisions that are made are tapped from and we’re going to benefit from all of that. Thank you very much.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you very much, Doctor. This collaboration at national, regional, continental level cannot happen without innovation. So I’ll turn my gaze to Richard from WIPO and I’d like to ask him, how is WIPO supporting and fostering innovation through their digital IP standards and how do they balance creativity and openness with standards? Over to you, Richard.

Ryszard Frelek: Thanks so much, Samin. And thank you, of course, to DCO and Hassan and all your colleagues for inviting WIPO to join this very interesting panel. Allow me first to perhaps highlight that when thinking about intellectual property, of course, there is the legal framework, which is important, but other aspects are equally important that shape this conducive IP ecosystem. This includes, of course, the infrastructure that helps the innovators and creators more easily to protect and manage their IP. This is about collaboration between the industry and the academia. This is about accessing the financing by startups and SMEs. And finally, of course, this is also about making sure that everyone everywhere is aware of how they can benefit from the IP system. And all of these elements and many, many more should be really taken into account when creating a national IP ecosystem that fosters innovation, creativity, and allows all entrepreneurs, including, of course, the digital ones, to thrive. This system is, of course, built to provide both the protection for our amazing innovators and creators through copyright, trademarks, patents, and many other IP rights, but also it gives them access to all the information contained, for example, in the patent information systems. So, of course, WIPO provides all entrepreneurs with services to more easily and cost-effectively protect their IP rights across borders, but also through, for example, the patent scope, we provide them with free-to-use global databases, which include, for example, in this case of patent scope, 122 million patent documents available, of course, for everyone to use. And as you know, WIPO, of course, works with our member states on many different areas and we support them in many different ways. Let me maybe just focus here on and mention three of them. So, first, we support our member states to design their national IP strategy, which take into account all these many different elements of the IP ecosystem, the legal provisions, the infrastructure, the financing, the awareness, so that we can help together work with our member states to tailor their IP ecosystem to help their local innovators and creators. Second, of course, we provide research and data that guide the policymakers world over, whether on an international or local level. So, for example, we have the Global Innovation Index, which is one of our flagship publications that ranks 130 economies and also specifies their innovation weaknesses and strengths. We have the IP statistic reports or, of course, we have the patent insight reports on the future of technologies. The third element, which is, of course, also very close to our heart, is that through a range of programs and initiatives, such as the IP management clinics or the work of our WIPO Academy, we want to help the local innovators understand how they can benefit from the IP system so that in the end of the day, they can successfully run their business, their initiative using this system. Of course, being here allowed me to also mention that we have the WIPO Conversation, which is this open, inclusive, also multi-stakeholder platform, where we provide everyone with a leading global setting to discuss the impacts on frontier technologies on all the relevant IP rights and, of course, to bridge that existing gap. So, over the past five years, 12,000 people, experts from the global experts, many of them attending, by the way, IGF, but also local innovators have been participating, and sessions focus on such areas as data, the metaverse in the past, but also, of course, as everywhere, AI. But what is also important following these conversations is that we launch a range of tools and underground projects. So, for example, we have the AI and IP Policy Toolkit or the upcoming AI Infrastructure Interchange. And this is the part where I can, of course, say so much more, and I love talking about these things, but I see the clock ticking. So, let me perhaps just mention as well that, of course, WIPO, in 2024, the Member States of WIPO have approved two international treaties, which is something we’re, of course, very proud of. Let me say by ending that, of course, as WIPO, we are here to serve the digital innovators, the creators, the entrepreneurs, and across the world, and we look forward to working with DCEO and all the many partners attending IGF and beyond to make sure that all our innovators and creators can benefit from IP.

Sameem Ghaffar: Many thanks, Samim, and over to you. Thank you very much, Richard. We hear a lot, and DCEO also subscribes to the notion of data-based policymaking. Let me turn to Julia Ajmon-Mossan, who is the Head of Startup and Digital Inclusion at IRIA, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN. What insights can you offer us from the global frameworks, like the GDC and regional integration models from the ASEAN countries? You are also a former innovation economist at the OECD, you have a wide range of experience. So what would be the insights you can give us on building interoperability and resilience into digital economies?

Giulia Ajmone Marsan: Thank you Samim. It’s a great pleasure to be here with all my fellow panelists. Thank you DCO, Hassan, for this kind invitation. So cooperations when it comes to digital innovation, it’s very much at the core of what we do. We are an international organization of 16 member countries based in Indonesia, in Jakarta. Our member countries are the 10 Southeast Asian economies, ASEAN, plus Korea, China, Japan, India, New Zealand and Australia. So we are very much at the center of the Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific. And we have recently established, thanks to the generous contribution of the government of Japan, our Digital Innovation and Sustainable Economy Center, IDISC. We are very interested, through the activity of the center, to explore the relationship between digital innovation and the Sustainable Development Goals, DSDGs. And that’s because through our activities we want to develop insights, but also policy dialogue, capacity building, to support a digital transformation that is compatible and conducive to the SDG framework, which is very much what the UN Global Digital Compact is about at the end, and I think also very much what many of my colleagues on the panel are working on. Let me give you a couple of examples. For instance, we are now currently very active in developing both local innovation ecosystem within Southeast Asia, but also in some cases transnational ones. And this is when our conversation today about international and global cooperation becomes so important. We are active in developing a strategic document called ASEAN-Japan AI Innovation Co-Creation Roadmap that will go directly to Ministers for Economic Development of ASEAN and Japan, where we are really looking at, on one hand, the strengths and areas of improvement of these 11 countries, but also ways to really develop a multinational AI innovation ecosystem based on connections of people, based on skills transfers between different areas of the world. Some countries of these 11 countries are benefiting from very young, tech-savvy, dynamic population. In other cases, aging economies, they may need to think about how to develop a very effective relationship with these young entrepreneurs that are developing fantastic start-ups, but also digital innovations. So this is one example of something that is very much in relation to our discussion today. We also know that, you know, just looking at our region is not enough in a globalized world. As Hassan was telling us earlier today, that global collaboration is becoming more difficult, but nevertheless, we need to keep trying and keep developing our relationships. And that’s because there is so much to be learned. So we are very active in certain G20 work, notably, and this is something I personally very much committed to, the work of a new engagement group of the G20 called Startup20 that is currently led by South Africa, the G20 Chair this year. But we had the pleasure to work also very, very well with India and Brazil last year. And this is again, you know, a global group that is pushing for the development of a global innovation ecosystem, looking at the strengths of different countries and also complementarities. And the idea is also to basically build a global dialogue. We are just at the beginning of this adventure. It’s a working group that was established under India three years ago, but nevertheless, it’s something very interesting because on one hand, we can share the very good lessons that we see in our region and learn from other regions in the world. We had a very, very interesting number of exchanges last year under Brazil, lots of, you know, interesting developments that could be pushed forward in terms of collaboration between Indonesia and Brazil, for instance, because of the size of the economy, certain sectoral specialization, including in digital innovation and so on and so forth. Coming back, you know, to the Pacific area, we are also very pleased to collaborate with APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, this year under Korea. We are in touch with the Korean Ministry for Startup and SMEs, you know, and we will actively contribute to something that is called Global Eco-Innovation Forum. It will take place under the APEC Ministerial Week on MSMEs. And there, we will look at how to combine the digital transformation with the green transformation. So once again, you know, this idea to connect different SDGs, both at local level and international level. And maybe, you know, because we are probably short in time, let me just conclude by saying that even our collaboration with GCC countries is becoming more important than ever, especially after the two summits, ASEAN-GCC. So this is also another area where I really look forward to staying in touch with DCO, the countries in the Gulf, and you know, all the panelists that are present here today, because there is a lot that we can do. Thank you very much.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you, Giulia. I know there is a lot of nuggets and experiences from the areas of work that each of us are doing. And let’s keep it under two to three minutes, and in the second part of the panel, you can maybe share a bit more on your experience. We have next Concertina Tossa, the Head of International Affairs at the Italian Agency for Digital. Concertina is a very distinguished expert in digital governance and IT policies globally and also now at national level. We would like to have your experience regarding the GDC process and existing mechanisms like WSIS, IGF, and national and regional initiatives. How do they contribute to address challenges in the digital economy, based on your experience both at the transnational levels and local levels? How does GDC and those platforms have to solve these problems?

Concertina Tossa: Okay, so thank you for this invitation, it’s a pleasure to be a speaker in such an important panel. So the Global Digital Compact marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the global digital governance, and this is a result that began several years ago with the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, continuing with the Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, and also was further shaped by our Common Agenda. And the GDC seeks to respond to complex challenges of digital transformation through coordinated global efforts aimed to building an inclusive, open, secure, and equitable and sustainable digital future for everyone. But in this context, it’s essential to foster synergy between the GDC and existing processes, and in particular, with the World Summit on Information Society, which has been active for more than 20 years, and even if in the last 20 years the digital landscape has evolved significantly with new priorities such as data governance, artificial intelligence, and biosecurity, the foundational principles of the WSIS remain relevant and complementary to those of the GDC. So the upcoming WSIS Plus 20 review process, it’s an important moment, it’s a key opportunity to strengthen and update the WSIS framework, incorporating the GDC objectives and priorities, and to avoid redundancy and duplication. So it’s an important moment to discuss which mechanism could facilitate this integration. And in this scenario, the IGF continues to serve as a primary platform for an inclusive dialogue among all digital stakeholders. Since its inception in 2006, the IGF has grown from a discussion forum to a structured ecosystem, including dynamic coalition, best practice forum, policy network, and especially the network of national and regional initiatives that now are comprising over 180 initiatives worldwide. The NRIs could play a strategic role in the local implementation of the GDC. Their multi-stakeholder structure and their close connection to the local context make them particularly well-suited to monitor the implementation of GDC principles at local level, to promote inclusive participation in digital policy development, to collect and transmit local needs, recommendations, best practice to the local level. So the NRI can act as an operational mechanism for translating and tracking the GDC implementation at the national and regional level, to ensure that the principles are not confined to the diplomatic or theoretical sphere, but are concretely reflected in public policies and local practices. So in conclusion, I think that the success of the GDC will depend heavily on the international community’s ability to build on and reinforce existing participatory frameworks. The IGF and the NRIs must be seen not just as a forum for dialogue, but as essential players in monitoring, implementing, and aligning Global Digital Policy with National and Local Realities. Thank you.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you very much, Cantatina. We have with us online Torbjörn Fredriksson, Head of the E-Commerce and Digital Economy Branch of OCTAD. Tobjörn?

Torbjorn Fredriksson: Well, thank you very much, moderator, and greetings here from Geneva. I wish I was there with you in Norway to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of IGF. The fast pace, I think we see on the digital landscape change, represents a huge challenge for governments when it comes to developing adequate policy responses. You know, this challenge is not made easier by the fact that governing digitalization cuts across so many different policy domains. And in order for the global community, including multilateral organizations like UNCTAD, WIPO, ITU, and others, to serve the needs of our member states in this context, it’s really important that we also manage to connect the dots between what every different organization is doing. And I think this can be achieved in multiple ways. We have already mentioned the key processes like the WSIS, GDC, etc. And the WSIS, for example, it was extremely important to help clarify which organizations that should take the lead in various areas. For example, UNCTAD, ITC, and the Universal Postal Union lead together in the area of e-business. It is also clarified that the IGF would be housed under UNDESA, even if it’s a very multi-stakeholder forum. The GDC, meanwhile, it helped to highlight certain areas that deserve more attention than what was previously noted in the WSIS outcome documents and in the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. So, for example, we have the area of inclusivity and sustainability aspects of the digital economy. We have the human rights online. You have the data governance and the artificial intelligence that were given added impetus through the GDC. If I go to the area of UNCTAD, in the area of e-commerce and the digital economy, we have also taken an initiative to create what we call E-Trade for All, which is a partnership with a common vision to support developing countries that are trailing behind in what we call e-trade readiness. And by bringing 35 partners together, including AREA, WIPO, and DCO, it helps us to better understand what different organizations are doing and how we can find better ways to work together to achieve common goals. Unfortunately, there are still too many examples of duplications of work, something that we need to minimize, especially in these times of shrinking resources for technical assistance and capacity building, as well as for dialogue. When new initiatives are developed, we also need to ensure effective integration with existing mechanisms. So I agree there very much with Conchitina. That’s why it’s so important that when it comes to the GDC, that we make full use of the existing mechanisms that were born out of the WSIS process. And this is also what member states agreed upon in the most recent session of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for develop full integration of efforts between the GDC and WSIS is what we need. I’ll stop there. Thank you so much again.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you very much for these enlightening remarks, Torbjörn. I’ll shift my focus to Professor Luca Belli, Professor of Digital Governance and Regulation at the FGV Law School in Brazil. He has a lot more responsibilities and titles, but in the interest of time, let me just cut to the question. You’ve done a lot of research, Professor, in LATAM and BRICS countries. What lessons can you share that can accelerate the multilateral digital prosperity and bridge the gap for Global South?

Luca Belli: Thank you very much, Samim, and also Hassan for organizing this very timely discussion. And so as Samim was mentioning, we do a lot of research at the Center for Technology and Society on various issues that are very much of interest for DCO and its members and also for the participants here, especially data governance, digital transformation, AI, cybersecurity. And so I wanted to share a little bit of findings of two of our flagship projects, one dedicated to digital policies in the BRICS grouping, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and the six more that have joined last year, including some DCO members. And then the other one called CPDP LATAM, which is an annual conference we organize on data governance in LATAM and includes also a lot of research and research and policy proposals also to increase convergence of data governance in LATAM. So first of all, I think that from what emerges from our research is that to trigger digital transformation, to facilitate it, there are multiple levers, right? First of all, policy frameworks that must be coherent, especially when you want to share them amongst multiple organizations or members of an organization. Then you have to have a sort of agile governance system because digital technologies are evolving and also the threats. So we also focus a lot on cybersecurity and the evolving landscape of digital threats is something extremely important to take care. And the only way to do it is to having a very agile multi-stakeholder governance to continuously cooperate with also non-governmental stakeholders that have their hands on cybersecurity. And then strategic investments. So it’s not only about policy priorities, but also having the funds to translate this into concrete actions. And this is not only through hardware and software, it’s also through capacity building for humans, which is the most important part. Now, how these elements play out in the two very different groupings that we work on, which are the BRICS and LATAM. Let me provide you two very telling examples to illustrate how this may work more or less successfully depending on the maturity of the mechanism, on the alignment of the priorities, but also I think one of the most important elements that we frequently forget is the political impetus and support that there is to achieve the results. BRICS, it has not been created as a club governance mechanism specifically for digital policies, but it sort of became one, at least digital policies, especially cybersecurity, cybercrime, AI have emerged as priorities, especially since the Snowden revelation in 2013, when then it was created a specific working group on ICT security. And it’s very interesting because it has triggered a sort of what in intergovernance jargon we call enhanced cooperation process, which is not common, but in practice, it worked over the past 10 years. And a case in point is the adoption of the UN Convention Against Cybercrime, which was an initiative basically of Russia and China supported by BRICS and their allied countries and brokered thanks to the very skillful work of the Brazilian diplomacy that managed to achieve this result. And again, we can criticize the text as any convention, but for me, what is relevant is to see the concrete result of this mechanism, which is not even in IGO and intergovernmental organization, is a club governance system like the G7 or the G20. Now, a counter example in the last 30 seconds I have at my disposal about LATAM, which is a very interesting example. We do a lot of research on data governance in LATAM. And 19 countries already have data protection laws in LATAM, all very similar because they all copy and paste from Europe, but diverse because they all have to adapt them to the national idiosyncrasies in cultural and legal terms. There are already several organizations that work supposedly effectively at the regional level from the Organization of American States, the Union of South American Nations, the Mercosur and all the partners. But despite already having all adopted laws and having organizations, there is no regional framework which would be extremely valuable not only to harmonize the policy, but also to allow a unique data market and fostering more cooperation at the regional level. So as one of the results of our conference last year, we produced also not only a study on these frameworks, but also a suggestion of what would be a regional framework. I know that DCO does not have Latin American members, but maybe in the future they will have. And so we already prepared the work for you if you want to use it. It is in open access. And also we have shared it with Brazilian colleagues that are chairing the Mercosur in December. So I don’t know. I mean, political momentum is always a very difficult element to guess, but maybe there might be now some political momentum to put in practice these ideas. Thank you very much.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you, Professor. Liz Giener is a very experienced strategist at Nortel and they have developed a lot of solutions. And what is very interesting is the collaboration and support to both public and private sector. Liz, what will be the lessons that you can share with us from Global North, but also extrapolating to Global South? What will be the experience of implementing digital solutions so that all these talks we’re having at the global level can be translated into action?

Liz Giener: Thank you. And thank you for the invitation to join you all today. And hello from the US where I am currently sitting. Nortel’s global headquarters is in Estonia and we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary this year. And I am in the US. and soon to be announcing as well, our entry into LATAM. So very thrilled for this news. Previously from Nortel’s experience, deploying digital solutions across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America, I wanted to speak to some of the underestimated enablers that can accelerate readiness and resilience for governments that may have a limited infrastructure. So the first one of four is having a lean modular digital architecture. Many governments overestimate or maybe oversold the need for a heavy legacy IT investment. So one example that we can reference is our work in Botswana where we helped the Botswana Unified Revenue Service leapfrog to a modern API based tax system running in the cloud and integrated with existing systems. This was without the need for major infrastructure upgrades. Secondly, I would focus on looking at trusted digital identity. This probably seems like a no brainer, but some governments often deprioritize digital identity, yet it is foundational for trusted scalable services. In both Estonia and Finland, Nortel helped implement national digital ID platforms that now enable seamless access to services across health, finance, government, and this dramatically increases both reach and resilience. And touching more directly your question on cross-sector partnerships, public-private collaboration accelerates resilience. In Oman, Nortel brought together government, telecommunications operators and banks to co-create citizen services, expanding access farther and faster than the government could do acting alone. Probably the most important, especially when you want to make sure that you are focused on trust and the trust of your citizens, is citizen-centric service design. Many programs focus on technology first, and it’s very easy to think this way rather than focusing on users. In both Lithuania and in Oman, Nortel led with user-centered design, ensuring that services were accessible across mobile-first channels. And this was a critical factor in markets that have a patchy infrastructure. So I want to enforce that with the right enablers, which include modular architecture, trusted identity, public-private collaboration, and human-centered design, many governments can leapfrog constraints, not just work around them. Nortel’s experience shows that even in limited infrastructure settings, it’s possible to build digital ecosystems that drive real resilience, inclusion, and in the end, and ideally, long-term prosperity. Thank you very much for including me today.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you very much, Lisa. I’m happy to have your perspectives. And I’d like to give the floor very quickly to Hassan again, just to synthesize a little bit. There’s a lot of angles, a lot of perspectives here. What do you make out of this, Hassan?

Hassan Nasser: Yeah, that’s, before we open probably for discussion, I think this is amazing. We have been from Asia to Latin America, passing by Africa and Europe in a few minutes. We’ve heard private sector, UN agencies, government entities. I think what we get from that is, first of all, there is a huge potential of digital economy to really help prosperity, to really help human development, as long as we make sure that this transformation, this digital transformation, this new economy, which is now becoming probably the economy, is also aligned with SDGs and with principle that we are all caring about. To do that, I think the other takeaway from me so far is we need cooperation. And that’s easy to say, that’s not easy to do. Because to have this cooperation, we need to share principle. We need to have also a common language. We need to have respect as well, which sometimes seems to be difficult in this world today. In terms of common principle and common ambition, we believe that the GDC was a big achievement to define, let’s say, direction of travel. And of course, we need to build with existing foundation, as mentioned by the panelists. We have very strong foundation, 20 years ago, defined to help us. So now we have, let’s say, this political commitment coming out of the summit of the future. We have an existing mechanism that we need to reinvent and refresh and support. We need also to really ensure that there is an openness when it comes to listening to different perspective. Today, we have on this panel, so this global South perspective, South-South cooperation, triangular cooperation will remain an essential part of what we are trying to achieve. So from DCO perspective, and I’m really curious, of course, to hear from the participants, from the audience as well, our commitment is to really support the consolidation of this mechanism to foster cooperation based on openness, based on shared knowledge, based on common language and common principles. But again, we have limited time. We hope that after this forum, we have a lot of coffees that will help us to continue the conversation.

Sameem Ghaffar: So back to you, Samim, and I hope we have some questions as well. Thank you very much, Hasan. We would really like to apologize to our audience because we couldn’t keep the interactive session as long as we wanted to be. But we open the floor for questions in the room, and then we’ll have time to take questions online as well. Helen is assisting online. The floor is open. If you don’t have questions from the room, and let me see if we can take a question from our live audience. Helen, over to you.

Helen McGowan: Hello, Samim. Hello, everybody in Norway. There aren’t any questions online yet to take forward. So hopefully somebody in the room will participate and have a question there.

Sameem Ghaffar: Well, in that case, I will- Torbjörn has a question. Yes, Torbjörn, please go ahead.

Torbjorn Fredriksson: Just to break the ice. Thank you so much. Let me just comment on one thing that Hasan said here. We’re talking about the digital economy now becoming the economy. I wish that was the case in all parts of the world, but I think it’s so important to keep in mind that we still have very huge divide, especially in the digital economy. Just to give one example, in Norway, for instance, more than 80% of people are shopping online on a daily basis. In Africa, it’s typically less than 5%. So I think it’s so important to keep this in mind, although we are carried away sometimes by all the amazing things that are happening with AI and so on and so forth. Many of the basic challenges still remain if we’re gonna make sure that the digital revolution brings value and opportunities full-scale in many parts of the development world.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you, Torbjörn. If any of the participants and speakers would like also to share, maybe they didn’t have a chance to complete their thoughts earlier, I’m happy to do that. Richard, we’ll go from left to right.

Ryszard Frelek: Thanks so much. I mean, I can reconfirm absolutely that cooperation is extremely important and DCEO, UNCTAD, thank you, of course, for having us as well as the partner for E-Trade. For all, we’re always very happily contributing with our IP expertise in E-Trade for all, but also in many different forums, including DCEO here in IGF and so forth. It’s just to perhaps using that opportunity for a quick conclusion is that just to perhaps say that the value of intangibles has been growing rapidly over these 25 years and it reached the 62 trillion US dollars worth in 2023 and intangibles, which are, of course, many of them protected by intellectual property are not only increasingly becoming important for some of the biggest companies, but even more especially it’s becoming important for the SMEs, the local businesses or innovative and creative individuals in every corner of the world. And WIPO together with all the partners is there to serve them.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you, Richard. We’ll go back to the room. We have a question from the audience, please, sir.

Audience: Thank you. This Edwin Chung from DotAsia. We actually serve as the secretariat for the Asia Pacific Regional IGF. I heard, I forgot who mentioned this from the panel, but about kind of the success of the GDC and implementing it into the NRIs. I think that’s a very interesting direction and something that is really important for the NRI community to understand. But how is that envisioned? What components of the GDC would you see more concretely being both promoted, advocated and implemented in the NRIs? I guess that’s sort of my question. I forgot who- It’ll be addressed to Concettina. Thank you very much.

Concertina Tossa: So as you know, I mean, the NRI as the national and regional expression of the IGF worldwide and there, there are so many issues that are part of GDC objectives that are discussed, managed and also directed. I was speaking about artificial intelligence, data governance, digital divide. I mean, all those issues are discussed at the NRIs level. So I think that’s an important space where, I mean, coming from this discussion, it could also monitor. This vision should be reported to the GDC but also to the other UN entities. I think this is an important process that should start after each IGF ends and after each national and regional initiative ends. It’s important to communicate, to spread results and to create these linkages that now are I think a little bit weak, this is what I think.

Audience: That’s a very good clarification, if I understand correctly then really what you’re suggesting is NRIs take the GDC as part of the input to their agenda setting as well as look at how the outcomes or outputs or the reporting could tie in back to the GDC. I think that makes a lot of sense. Thank you very much.

Giulia Ajmone Marsan: Giulia, do you have any comments on that question because the question was addressed from the region of your concern? No specific comment. I think that Conchettina has already addressed the question very well. Let me just add that I think she mentioned the UN system but of course there are also organizations beyond the UN system. We work a lot and very happily with the UN system but nevertheless this is a global effort. So I see the Global Digital Compact as a kind of vision. I mentioned at the beginning of my intervention that even us are very interested in this relationship between digital transformation and sustainable development goals. So it is something that is going to inspire a lot of organizations and stakeholders around the world. Again, multi-stakeholder approach, I think that some other speakers mentioned this before me. So whether we are private, multilateral, local, this is something that we need to work together and we also need to learn how to work together and in some cases we need to also learn our respective portfolios and mandates. But let me just add something before we move on. I think it’s also very important to be open to learn across regions. So before I was based in Paris, you mentioned I was working for another very big multilateral organization. Then I moved to Asia and I just realized that now that I’m based in Asia, not everybody of course, we had a wonderful conversation with Luca just before this panel, but don’t look at us as just an Asian organization. Of course we have expertise on Asia but we want to learn from Europe, the Americas, Africa, everywhere in the world. We also have lessons to share. So I think this is very important to try to break a little bit these boundaries, think outside the box and learn from different regions without just labeling institutions, this is Asia, this is Africa, it has nothing to do with me so it’s not interesting. Because every day, even through G20 South Africa, I’m learning so much about the continent and so many lessons that are so relevant for the economic development and prosperity of our member states.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you. We have time just for 30 seconds to Professor Luca, a doctor, and Liz.

Luca Belli: Luca. Yeah, I will use my 30 seconds wisely. So just to reiterate a couple of points that I think are key here, which is the fact that again, when we’re speaking about the GDC or any kind of other effort aimed at transforming digitally a nation, a company, a society, this is not only about adoption of technology, it’s not only a technological shift, it’s also an evolution, a cultural evolution and an organizational evolution, right? And so I think sometimes amongst academics we are a little bit frustrated because there are a lot of very nice declarations, policies, and even regulation at the national level that sounds fantastic in theory, but then the practice is very far. And so I think that the challenge here and how multi-stakeholder interaction could be explored more is to translate these excellent sometimes policy objectives into concrete actions. So to make it percolate from policy level, concrete change, capacity building is essential. And to let simply public servants know that the policy exists or capacity building is essential to make people understand they have an opportunity. And I mean, cyber security is a very good example. People consider it a cost, but if you make them understand that it’s an opportunity for business, they will consider it a business as an opportunity to invest money and time in it. I’m speaking too much, I’m seeing from your glance, so I will stop here. We have one minute to go. But just to conclude, let me tell you something that I think the DCO has a very good role in it because many regions in the world do not have a player like DCO that could help articulating this.

Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi: Thank you very much. I think you wrapped it up for us, but I would like to still give the floor to Dr. Ford. Last comment. My comments will go in the area of disparities between the whole system, globally and then regionally as well as nationally. As the professor said, there are beautiful policies and regulations and all that are out there, but the implementation is difficult. Now how do we address these differences? Local levels, infrastructure availability, as well as understanding the nitty-gritty of the implementation path that these things will take is a difficult terrain. I think the people in Africa will stand to benefit from these international corporations, but our peculiar issues will have to be put in the picture as well. So that is my final words for this. Thank you.

Sameem Ghaffar: Thank you very much. That’s a beautiful statement. Unfortunately, we cannot go further along this very, very exciting discussion, and we’ve come to an end of it, unfortunately, and we’re getting queues that I have to wrap up. Thank you very, very much. Everybody in the room, our panelists, online audience, and the organizers and everybody else involved from DCO’s side to support this. We’ve been in a very, very engaging session, and we hope that you’ve learned from this, and like Hassan said, we have time for coffee after for any other further discussion. Thank you. Thank you very, very much, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Agreement points

Need for effective integration between GDC and existing mechanisms like WSIS to avoid duplication

Speakers

– Hassan Nasser
– Concertina Tossa
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

DCO serves as unique intergovernmental organization addressing fragmentation in digital economy through common assessment and understanding

Global Digital Compact marks significant milestone in digital governance evolution, building on existing WSIS foundations

Need for effective integration between GDC and existing mechanisms like WSIS to avoid duplication and maximize resources

Summary

All three speakers emphasize the importance of building on existing frameworks like WSIS rather than creating parallel systems, with focus on addressing fragmentation and maximizing limited resources

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Multi-stakeholder cooperation essential for successful digital transformation

Speakers

– Hassan Nasser
– Concertina Tossa
– Giulia Ajmone Marsan
– Luca Belli

Arguments

South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation essential for achieving global digital transformation goals

Multi-stakeholder cooperation essential for translating global digital policies into local realities

Organizations should break regional boundaries and learn across continents rather than limiting themselves to geographic labels

Implementation challenges exist between excellent policies and practical application, requiring focus on capacity building and cultural change

Summary

Speakers unanimously agree that multi-stakeholder approaches involving different regions, sectors, and levels of governance are crucial for effective digital transformation

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory

Digital transformation requires comprehensive ecosystem approach beyond just technology

Speakers

– Ryszard Frelek
– Luca Belli
– Liz Giener

Arguments

IP ecosystem requires comprehensive approach including legal framework, infrastructure, industry-academia collaboration, and financing access

Implementation challenges exist between excellent policies and practical application, requiring focus on capacity building and cultural change

Citizen-centric service design more effective than technology-first approaches for building accessible digital services

Summary

All speakers agree that successful digital transformation requires holistic approaches that consider legal, cultural, organizational, and human factors, not just technological solutions

Topics

Development | Infrastructure | Intellectual property rights

Importance of addressing digital divide and ensuring inclusive participation

Speakers

– Torbjorn Fredriksson
– Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi
– Giulia Ajmone Marsan

Arguments

Significant digital economy participation gaps exist between developed and developing regions, with Africa at less than 5% online shopping versus Norway’s 80%

African nations need unified continental approach to leverage digital opportunities and address capacity gaps

Digital transformation requires combining with green transformation and sustainable development goals

Summary

Speakers acknowledge significant disparities in digital participation and emphasize the need for inclusive approaches that address capacity gaps and ensure equitable access

Topics

Development | Economic | Sustainable development

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasize the importance of cross-regional learning and cooperation, moving beyond traditional geographic boundaries to foster global digital development

Speakers

– Hassan Nasser
– Giulia Ajmone Marsan

Arguments

South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation essential for achieving global digital transformation goals

Organizations should break regional boundaries and learn across continents rather than limiting themselves to geographic labels

Topics

Development | Economic

Both speakers advocate for building upon existing WSIS mechanisms rather than creating new parallel systems, emphasizing the need to strengthen and update current frameworks

Speakers

– Concertina Tossa
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

Global Digital Compact marks significant milestone in digital governance evolution, building on existing WSIS foundations

Need for effective integration between GDC and existing mechanisms like WSIS to avoid duplication and maximize resources

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Both speakers highlight the gap between policy formulation and practical implementation, emphasizing the need for capacity building and addressing local contextual challenges

Speakers

– Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi
– Luca Belli

Arguments

Local infrastructure availability and understanding implementation paths remain difficult terrain requiring international cooperation

Implementation challenges exist between excellent policies and practical application, requiring focus on capacity building and cultural change

Topics

Development | Infrastructure

Unexpected consensus

Political momentum as crucial factor for digital governance success

Speakers

– Luca Belli
– Hassan Nasser

Arguments

Political momentum and support crucial for successful implementation of digital governance frameworks

South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation essential for achieving global digital transformation goals

Explanation

While technical and policy aspects are often emphasized in digital governance discussions, both speakers unexpectedly converged on the critical importance of political will and momentum for translating frameworks into concrete results

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Value of informal governance mechanisms alongside formal institutions

Speakers

– Luca Belli
– Concertina Tossa

Arguments

BRICS countries successfully achieved enhanced cooperation in cybersecurity and AI governance despite being informal club governance system

National and Regional Initiatives (NRIs) can serve as operational mechanisms for translating GDC implementation at local levels

Explanation

Both speakers recognize that informal or semi-formal mechanisms (BRICS club governance and NRIs) can be as effective as formal intergovernmental organizations in achieving digital governance objectives

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Cybersecurity

Overall assessment

Summary

Strong consensus emerged around the need for multi-stakeholder cooperation, building on existing frameworks rather than creating new ones, addressing digital divides, and taking comprehensive ecosystem approaches to digital transformation. Speakers consistently emphasized the importance of translating global policies into local realities through capacity building and inclusive participation.

Consensus level

High level of consensus with complementary perspectives rather than conflicting viewpoints. The agreement suggests a mature understanding of digital governance challenges and a shared commitment to collaborative, inclusive approaches. This consensus provides a strong foundation for implementing initiatives like the Global Digital Compact and strengthening existing mechanisms like WSIS and IGF.

Different viewpoints

Scope and urgency of digital divide challenges

Speakers

– Hassan Nasser
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

DCO serves as unique intergovernmental organization addressing fragmentation in digital economy through common assessment and understanding

Significant digital economy participation gaps exist between developed and developing regions, with Africa at less than 5% online shopping versus Norway’s 80%

Summary

Hassan presents an optimistic view suggesting digital economy is becoming ‘the economy’ and focuses on coordination mechanisms, while Torbjorn challenges this notion by highlighting massive participation gaps and emphasizing that basic challenges remain unaddressed despite technological advances

Topics

Development | Economic

Effectiveness of existing versus new frameworks

Speakers

– Concertina Tossa
– Luca Belli

Arguments

Global Digital Compact marks significant milestone in digital governance evolution, building on existing WSIS foundations

Implementation challenges exist between excellent policies and practical application, requiring focus on capacity building and cultural change

Summary

Concertina emphasizes building on existing frameworks like WSIS and integrating them with GDC, while Luca expresses frustration that excellent policies exist but implementation remains poor, suggesting structural problems with current approaches

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Unexpected differences

Regional cooperation effectiveness

Speakers

– Luca Belli
– Giulia Ajmone Marsan

Arguments

Latin America has comprehensive data protection laws but lacks regional framework for unified digital market

ASEAN region developing transnational AI innovation ecosystems through strategic partnerships and skills transfer

Explanation

Unexpectedly, two regions with similar organizational structures show contrasting results – LATAM has laws but lacks coordination despite multiple regional organizations, while ASEAN successfully develops transnational innovation ecosystems. This highlights that institutional presence doesn’t guarantee effective cooperation

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Economic

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion revealed subtle but significant disagreements on the urgency of digital divide challenges, the effectiveness of current policy frameworks, and approaches to regional cooperation. While speakers generally agreed on goals like digital inclusion and cooperation, they differed on assessment of current progress and optimal strategies.

Disagreement level

Moderate disagreement with significant implications – the differences in perspective on whether digital transformation is progressing adequately versus facing fundamental implementation challenges could lead to very different policy priorities and resource allocation decisions. The contrast between optimistic coordination-focused approaches and more critical implementation-focused perspectives suggests underlying tensions about the effectiveness of current multilateral digital governance approaches.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasize the importance of cross-regional learning and cooperation, moving beyond traditional geographic boundaries to foster global digital development

Speakers

– Hassan Nasser
– Giulia Ajmone Marsan

Arguments

South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation essential for achieving global digital transformation goals

Organizations should break regional boundaries and learn across continents rather than limiting themselves to geographic labels

Topics

Development | Economic

Both speakers advocate for building upon existing WSIS mechanisms rather than creating new parallel systems, emphasizing the need to strengthen and update current frameworks

Speakers

– Concertina Tossa
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

Global Digital Compact marks significant milestone in digital governance evolution, building on existing WSIS foundations

Need for effective integration between GDC and existing mechanisms like WSIS to avoid duplication and maximize resources

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Both speakers highlight the gap between policy formulation and practical implementation, emphasizing the need for capacity building and addressing local contextual challenges

Speakers

– Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi
– Luca Belli

Arguments

Local infrastructure availability and understanding implementation paths remain difficult terrain requiring international cooperation

Implementation challenges exist between excellent policies and practical application, requiring focus on capacity building and cultural change

Topics

Development | Infrastructure

Key takeaways

Digital cooperation requires moving from theoretical frameworks to practical implementation, with emphasis on translating global policies into local realities

The Global Digital Compact (GDC) should build upon existing mechanisms like WSIS and IGF rather than creating duplicative structures, with effective integration being crucial for success

Multi-stakeholder cooperation is essential for digital transformation, requiring collaboration between governments, international organizations, private sector, and civil society

Significant digital divides persist globally, with developing regions like Africa having less than 5% online shopping participation compared to 80% in developed countries like Norway

Regional approaches to digital transformation vary significantly, with successful models emerging from ASEAN, BRICS, and other regional groupings that can provide lessons for cross-regional learning

Digital transformation is not just technological but requires cultural and organizational evolution, with capacity building being fundamental to success

National and Regional IGF Initiatives (NRIs) can serve as operational mechanisms for implementing GDC principles at local levels, bridging global frameworks with national realities

Intellectual property ecosystems require comprehensive approaches including legal frameworks, infrastructure, financing access, and capacity building to support innovation

Governments can leapfrog infrastructure constraints through lean modular architecture, trusted digital identity systems, and strategic public-private partnerships

Resolutions and action items

DCO committed to continue multi-stakeholder dialogue beyond the session and at upcoming FFD4 conference in Sevilla

DCO to work on second edition of Digital Economy Navigator with stakeholder input and feedback

NRIs should incorporate GDC objectives into their agenda setting and report outcomes back to global frameworks

Participants encouraged to continue conversations through informal networking and coffee meetings after the session

Organizations should strengthen coordination to minimize duplication of work, especially given shrinking resources for technical assistance

WIPO to continue collaboration with DCO and other partners through E-Trade for All partnership and other initiatives

Unresolved issues

How to effectively bridge the implementation gap between excellent policies and practical application at local levels

Specific mechanisms for integrating GDC with existing WSIS frameworks without creating redundancy

How to address infrastructure and capacity disparities between developed and developing regions

Concrete methods for translating global digital governance frameworks into actionable national policies

How to ensure adequate political momentum and support for sustained digital cooperation initiatives

Ways to address the fragmentation of agendas, mandates, and resources in the current multilateral system

How to balance regional peculiarities and local contexts with international standardization efforts

Suggested compromises

Use existing WSIS+20 review process as opportunity to integrate GDC objectives rather than creating separate mechanisms

Leverage NRIs as bridge between global frameworks and local implementation to avoid top-down approaches

Focus on South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation models to complement traditional North-South assistance

Combine digital transformation initiatives with green transformation and SDG alignment to maximize impact

Break regional boundaries in learning and collaboration while respecting local contexts and needs

Prioritize citizen-centric service design over technology-first approaches to ensure accessibility and adoption

We are facing today a more fragmented world, and this is, of course, the reason why DCO was established, addressing those barriers, but also leveraging the opportunities coming from digital economy… When we look at the current multilateral system, we can see, I think we can all see, the main challenge in terms of fragmentation, fragmentation of agendas, fragmentation of mandates, fragmentation of resources

Speaker

Hassan Nasser

Reason

This comment was insightful because it directly addressed one of the core challenges in global digital governance – the paradox of needing cooperation in an increasingly fragmented world. It reframed the discussion from theoretical cooperation to practical solutions for overcoming systemic fragmentation.

Impact

This set the foundational theme for the entire discussion, with subsequent speakers consistently returning to themes of cooperation, integration, and avoiding duplication. It established fragmentation as the central problem that all panelists would address from their respective domains.

The digital economy of Nigeria has had a monolistic economy, that is we are very dependent on mineral resources. And recently there has been a marked deviation from only depending on that. So we take the digital economy as a priority area now because of the accessibility, because of its lack of critical investments, quite unlike the exploration of oil and all that.

Speaker

Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi

Reason

This comment was thought-provoking because it highlighted how digital transformation can serve as economic diversification strategy for resource-dependent economies, offering a concrete example of digital economy as a development pathway that requires less capital investment than traditional industries.

Impact

This shifted the discussion from abstract policy frameworks to concrete national strategies, demonstrating how digital cooperation can address real economic challenges. It grounded the theoretical discussions in practical development needs.

Unfortunately, there are still too many examples of duplications of work, something that we need to minimize, especially in these times of shrinking resources for technical assistance and capacity building… When new initiatives are developed, we also need to ensure effective integration with existing mechanisms.

Speaker

Torbjörn Fredriksson

Reason

This comment was particularly insightful because it addressed the practical inefficiencies in the current system of digital cooperation, highlighting how resource constraints make coordination not just desirable but essential for effectiveness.

Impact

This comment reinforced Hassan’s earlier point about fragmentation but added the critical dimension of resource scarcity, leading other speakers to emphasize building on existing frameworks rather than creating new ones. It influenced the discussion toward practical integration strategies.

Despite already having all adopted laws and having organizations, there is no regional framework which would be extremely valuable not only to harmonize the policy, but also to allow a unique data market and fostering more cooperation at the regional level… political momentum is always a very difficult element to guess

Speaker

Luca Belli

Reason

This comment was thought-provoking because it illustrated the gap between having the technical and legal infrastructure for cooperation and actually achieving it, highlighting that political will is often the missing ingredient in digital cooperation initiatives.

Impact

This comment introduced a more nuanced understanding of cooperation challenges, moving beyond technical and policy issues to political economy factors. It prompted reflection on implementation gaps and the role of political leadership in digital transformation.

Many governments overestimate or maybe oversold the need for a heavy legacy IT investment… In both Estonia and Finland, Nortel helped implement national digital ID platforms that now enable seamless access to services across health, finance, government, and this dramatically increases both reach and resilience.

Speaker

Liz Giener

Reason

This comment was insightful because it challenged conventional wisdom about digital infrastructure requirements, suggesting that leapfrogging strategies could be more effective than traditional heavy infrastructure investments, particularly for developing countries.

Impact

This comment shifted the discussion toward practical implementation strategies and challenged assumptions about barriers to digital transformation. It provided concrete examples of how countries can achieve digital resilience without massive infrastructure investments.

We’re talking about the digital economy now becoming the economy. I wish that was the case in all parts of the world… Just to give one example, in Norway, for instance, more than 80% of people are shopping online on a daily basis. In Africa, it’s typically less than 5%.

Speaker

Torbjörn Fredriksson

Reason

This comment was particularly thought-provoking because it provided stark quantitative evidence of the digital divide, challenging the assumption that digital transformation is universally advanced and reminding participants of the fundamental inequalities that cooperation efforts must address.

Impact

This comment served as a reality check that grounded the discussion in the persistent challenges of digital inequality. It reinforced the urgency of the cooperation agenda and reminded participants that basic challenges remain alongside advanced AI and emerging technology discussions.

Overall assessment

These key comments fundamentally shaped the discussion by establishing a progression from problem identification to solution strategies. Hassan’s opening comment about fragmentation set the central challenge, which subsequent speakers addressed from their respective domains. The discussion evolved from abstract cooperation principles to concrete implementation strategies, with speakers building on each other’s insights about resource constraints, political challenges, and practical solutions. The comments created a comprehensive narrative arc: from recognizing systemic fragmentation, through understanding resource and political constraints, to identifying practical pathways for cooperation. Torbjörn’s reality check about digital divides served as an important anchor, ensuring the discussion remained grounded in the fundamental inequalities that make cooperation essential rather than optional. The interplay between these comments created a rich, multi-dimensional understanding of digital cooperation challenges and opportunities.

How can the Digital Economy Navigator be expanded and improved for its second edition to better serve stakeholders globally?

Speaker

Hassan Nasser

Explanation

Hassan mentioned they are working on a new edition of the Navigator and will engage with all stakeholders to get feedback and input, indicating a need for further research on how to enhance this tool

How can the fragmentation of multilateral agendas, mandates, and resources be effectively addressed?

Speaker

Hassan Nasser

Explanation

Hassan identified fragmentation as a main challenge in the current multilateral system that DCO wants to address, but the specific mechanisms for doing so require further exploration

What specific mechanisms can facilitate the integration between GDC and existing WSIS frameworks to avoid redundancy and duplication?

Speaker

Concertina Tossa

Explanation

She emphasized this as an important area needing discussion to ensure effective integration without creating overlapping efforts

How can National and Regional Initiatives (NRIs) effectively monitor and implement GDC principles at local levels?

Speaker

Concertina Tossa and Edwin Chung (audience)

Explanation

This was identified as a strategic role for NRIs, but the concrete mechanisms and components of GDC that should be promoted and implemented need further clarification

How can the huge digital divide in e-commerce adoption between developed and developing countries be bridged?

Speaker

Torbjorn Fredriksson

Explanation

He highlighted the stark contrast between Norway (80% online shopping) and Africa (less than 5%), indicating this gap requires targeted research and solutions

How can excellent policy objectives be effectively translated into concrete actions and capacity building?

Speaker

Luca Belli

Explanation

He expressed frustration about the gap between policy declarations and practical implementation, identifying this as a key challenge requiring further research

How can regional frameworks for data governance be developed and implemented, particularly in Latin America?

Speaker

Luca Belli

Explanation

Despite having 19 countries with data protection laws, LATAM lacks a regional framework, and Belli mentioned they have prepared suggestions that need political momentum for implementation

How can peculiar regional and local issues be effectively integrated into international digital cooperation frameworks?

Speaker

Dr. Wario Weh-Dimi

Explanation

He emphasized that while international cooperation is beneficial, local infrastructure availability and implementation challenges specific to regions like Africa need to be considered

How can duplication of work among international organizations be minimized, especially given shrinking resources?

Speaker

Torbjorn Fredriksson

Explanation

He identified this as an ongoing challenge that needs addressing to make better use of limited resources for technical assistance and capacity building

How can the relationship between digital innovation and Sustainable Development Goals be better explored and operationalized?

Speaker

Giulia Ajmone Marsan

Explanation

She mentioned this as a key area of interest for their Digital Innovation and Sustainable Economy Center, requiring further research and policy dialogue