Addis Ababa, 8 May 2024 | 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Conference Room 3, UNECA Conference Center
Two seismic shifts will shape the twenty-first century: the climate crisis and digital transformation. The United Nations has responded by proposing the development of a Global Digital Compact (GDC), which will outline shared principles for an open, free, and secure digital future. The African Union is simultaneously developing a regional response, the African Digital Compact.
These Compacts are an opportunity to reflect on the efficacy of existing approaches to digital governance, explore gaps in digital cooperation, and commit to principles and actions that align with the Sustainable
Development Goals, while promoting greater coordination in the digital sphere. They can help fundamentally re-think and re-shape existing approaches to our shared digital future.
The President of the United Nations General Assembly appointed the Ambassadors of the Permanent Missions of Sweden and Zambia to be co-facilitators of the GDC development process, which will culminate in the launch of the Compact in September 2024 at the 79th session of the General Assembly.
The Addis Ababa deep dive will bring the co-facilitators together with leading Africa data experts to reflect on the GDC’s data topics.
Data is the bedrock of new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, and critical to decision-making, sustainable development, and modern economies. The first draft of the GDC (Zero Draft), published on 1 April 2024, calls for strengthened data governance frameworks which protect privacy and secure data, the development of agreed definitions and standards, and the promotion of responsible cross-border data flows.
We invite you to join us for a structured half-day consultation on these and complementary themes. You will hear from regional experts on the opportunities the GDC can unlock and how it can support the African Digital Compact. Experts will highlight critical topics the GDC must not miss to meet the ambition of transformative change at the 2024 Summit of the Future.
This interactive conversation will be held as a small meeting format under the Chatham House rule with a diverse group of expert participants.
The deep dive will be divided into two sessions. The first session will include reflections on data dimensions within the current draft of the GDC (Zero Draft), with a specific focus on the African context. The second session will invite reflections on the effective implementation of the GDC in Africa, exploring what will be required to turn ideas into action.
The draft GDC builds on past consultations with UN Member States, civil society, the private sector, technical communities, academia, and other stakeholders. Member State negotiations on the GDC Zero Draft are currently underway in New York.
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