THEMATIC SESSION 2
Norms and Standards for Trusted Connectivity

Organised by Carnegie India, New Delhi

Governments around the world are racing to keep up with the rapid development in digital technologies and working on ways to regulate and organize the digital sphere which has operated in a relatively less regulated space so far.  

When it comes to data governance, countries are creating regulatory architectures based on their national priorities. The European Union (EU) has tried to manage cross-border data flows to protect its citizens against malicious actions of third parties in other jurisdictions. Many countries in Asia, including India, Japan and South Korea, are also either in the process of legislating or have already put in place data protection laws, which also include measures such as data localization requirements. These initiatives exist alongside other efforts to strengthen governance of the digital domain, including in digital trade and ethical AI.

A lack of trust between jurisdictions in data governance has resulted in a competition of norms and values that underpin the digital domain. Debates on ‘trusted connectivity’ are on the rise as awareness grows that digital infrastructure and data are not only an economic opportunity but also crucial to social stability and security.  

This session will scrutinize digital governance as an enabler of trusted connectivity.  How can we bring about interoperability across different data governance regimes? Can we achieve some semblance of convergence on data governance standards across these different regimes while making room for local imperatives and approaches?