User blogs

The second edition of the course ‘Artificial Intelligence: Technology, Governance and Policy Frameworks’ offered by DiploFoundation took place from 4 October to 13 December 2019. One of the goals of the course was to combine sound theoretical knowledge with a hands-on approach. This was achieved by proposing practical exercises. An example was the final assignment, in which participants were given the choice to write a blog post on an AI-related topic. The authors of the best blog posts have been offered the opportunity to publish their texts.

UNCTAD eCommerce Week took place from 1-5 April in Geneva, focusing on the theme ‘From Digitalization to Development’. Discussions emphasised the need to break down silos among different groups of actors and to foster collaboration in order for e-commerce to effectively contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Geneva Internet Platform and DiploFoundation provided just-in-time reporting from most e-commerce week sessions.

Issues related to the digital economy have gained prominance in the last few years. The volume of e-commerce is soaring, and the impact of cross-border data flows on gross domestic product (GDP) growth is now larger than the impact of the traditional flow of goods. Policy discussions at the national level, in regional trade agreements, and at the World Trade Organization (WTO), reveal a growing interplay between trade and digital policy agendas.

Liberal trade has been challenged by a surge of protectionist measures in many parts of the world, including the United States and Europe.

In recent years the e-commerce agenda has become more complex and has revealed a growing convergence between the areas of trade and digital policy. Diplomats involved in e-commerce talks at the WTO, for example, have been required to discuss the trade implications of a broad range of issues, such as paperless trade, e-payments, data localisation, cybersecurity, encryption and network neutrality.

The 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will take place in December, in Buenos Aires. As discussed in a previous blog post, one of the main topics under consideration in preparation for MC11 is e-commerce.

DiploFoundation has become a member of the eTrade for All initiative, launched during the 2017 UNCTAD E-commerce Week. The initiative aims to expand the positive impact of e-commerce on development. It provides a hub for actors to find information, offer resources, build partnerships and receive the support they need to strengthen digital trade.

Member countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are preparing for the next Ministerial Conference (MC11) to take place in December, in Buenos Aires. E-commerce is high on the organisation’s thematic priorities. Member states have started producing draft texts, despite the lack of a unified view on how to move discussions forward, aiming to shape the agenda for the Ministerial.

Preparatory discussions for the WTO MC11

The 9th International Conference on Cyber Conflict (CyCon) took place from 30 May to 2 June, in Tallinn, Estonia. The conference is annually organised by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) and brings together decision-makers and experts from government, military and industry fields.

The 58th meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) took place from 11 to 16 March in Copenhagen, Denmark.