Shaping the Global Data Economy: Trade rules, policy space, and development

About the Event

Data has become a key driver of the global economy, powering digital trade, artificial intelligence, and innovation. At the same time, complex policy debates have emerged around privacy, security, and economic development in the digital age. Governments now face a central challenge of how to enable trusted cross-border data flows to harness the benefits of the digital economy while preserving the regulatory space needed to pursue domestic priorities. 

These debates are also shaped by geopolitics. Digital services are highly concentrated in a few large companies based in the United States and China, and governments are seeking greater control over the technologies and platforms driving global digital transformation. Trade agreements are increasingly at the forefront of this debate, as they shape the evolving rules and norms of the global data landscape. 

This webinar explored the interplay between data governance and trade policy, focusing on emerging trade rules for cross-border data flows. It highlighted the perspectives of developing countries, exploring structural challenges such as value-capture imbalances, capacity constraints, and how to navigate an increasingly complex geopolitical environment. Participants gained insights into policy approaches that can help ensure that data governance frameworks support inclusive and sustainable development.

Panel

Moderator:  

• Alice Tipping, Director, Trade and Sustainable Development, IISD  

Speaker:

• Marília Maciel, Director, Digital Trade and Economic Security, Diplo  

Discussants:

• Henry Gao, Professor of Law, Singapore Management University
• Neha Mishra, Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute Geneva