The co-facilitators leading the intergovernmental process on the Global Digital Compact, as part of the preparatory process for the Summit of the Future (SoF), have made available a revised draft of the Global Digital Compact. Section-by-section reading of the draft will take place from 6-7 June 2024, with further meetings scheduled from 20-21 June.
In their letter dated 15 May 2024, Permanent Representative of Sweden Anna Karin Eneström and Permanent Representative of Zambia Chola Milambo inform delegations that the revised version of the Global Digital Compact draws on oral and written inputs provided by Member States and observers in writing as well as during the first reading, held from 2-3 May 2024.
The revised draft, which the co-facilitators presented to Member States and observers on 16 May, acknowledges digital technologies’ “immense potential benefits for the wellbeing and advancement of people, societies, and for our planet.” It notes that international cooperation is essential to realize those opportunities and “close the digital divides between and within countries.”
The draft outlines objectives and principles, along with actions and commitments to:
- Close all digital divides and accelerate progress across the SDGs through: connectivity; digital literacy, skills, and capacities; and digital public goods and infrastructure;
- Expand inclusion in and benefits from the digital economy for all through access to digital technologies;
- Foster an inclusive, open, safe, and secure digital space that respects, protects and promotes human rights through internet governance that promotes digital trust and safety, and information integrity;
- Advance responsible and equitable international data governance through data privacy and security, data exchanges and standards, data for development, and cross-border data flows; and
- Govern emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), for humanity.
The draft includes provisions for follow-up and review.
The UN Secretary-General’s ‘Our Common Agenda’ called for a Global Digital Compact to be agreed at the Summit of the Future in September 2024. If intergovernmentally agreed, the Global Digital Compact will be annexed to the Pact for the Future, along with a Declaration on Future Generations. [Global Digital Compact Website] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Zero Draft of Global Digital Compact]