The international community is about to have its first-ever global instrument on digitalisation, which is expected to be adopted at the Summit for the Future in September 2024. The instrument, called the Global Digital Compact (GDC), will guide countries to maximise digital cooperation by bringing the benefits of digital technologies for all without leaving one behind.
The GDC will feature timely and pressing topics on digital society and digital future, ranging from connectivity and internet fragmentation, data protection, online human rights, content moderation, artificial intelligence (AI) regulation, and digital commons as the global public good. It is expected to outline shared principles for an open, free, inclusive, and secure digital future.
Recently, as the commissioned authority providing oversight to the development of the compact, the UN Secretary-General's Tech Envoy Amandeep Singh Gill, along with appointed country co-facilitators Rwanda and Sweden, started a round of consultations to gather feedback from member states and key stakeholders towards the GDC negotiation.
However, it is a pity the current chair of Asean, Indonesia, was absent from the first consultation on digital inclusion and connectivity held on March 27, and that it failed to deliver a regional stance on the subject given the region's maturity in digitalisation.
Southeast Asia's digital transformation trajectory has been remarkable with flourishing socially-driven startups and super-apps. In Thailand, a study prepared by DAI Global, a US-based private development company, revealed that 63% of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) reported that digital tools were essential to keeping their business running during Covid-19, while 82% reported digital payment tools helped them strive in that environment. Meanwhile, Indonesia's Ministry of Health is partnering with health super-apps to offer telemedicine services for its citizens, from online doctor consultations to medicine delivery.
While the general nuance of technology has always been positive, it is also important to note the dark side of its unintended consequences. With the internet penetration rate reaching 75,6% in Southeast Asia and 125,000 new users coming online every day, social problems such as scams, misinformation, adultery, and exploitation have also migrated from offline to online.
Indonesia's Centre for Digital Society Universitas Gadjah Mada revealed 74,8% of Indonesian citizens had been exposed to illegal online loans service through social media and chat applications. At Zoom, the region's widely used web conferencing app, adult content and child sexual exploitation, for instance, have formed 47.1% of the total public reports actioned by the company worldwide.
This is worrying, especially given Southeast Asia's platform economy is predicted to reach US$1 trillion by 2030 and needs serious commitment from governments and tech companies.
Through a benchmarking of the 200 most influential tech companies worldwide like Microsoft, Telefonica, Google and Meta, the World Benchmarking Alliance's Digital Inclusion Benchmark 2023 revealed that most companies are lagging on their commitment to digital inclusion. In fact, only 14% of these global tech companies have a clear commitment spanning digital access, use, skill, and innovation.
Moreover, as our world transitions to the post-pandemic phase, many tech companies are also discontinuing their "giving back to communities" initiatives, resulting in underprivileged communities losing access to digital devices and internet connectivity, further widening the digital divide.
To narrow these infrastructure and literacy gaps in the digital space, Asean governments should take the opportunity to negotiate for corporate accountability norms to be installed the anticipated Global Digital Compact to encourage the private sector to have a role to play in the compact's implementation and is incentivised for actions such as through introducing tax breaks, technology subsidies, and other relief options.
One key model from the region is drawing from Singapore's recently passed Online Safety Bill, which instructs tech companies to go beyond issuing Community Guideless on Safety. The bill obliges online communication services to block access by Singapore users to egregious content as required by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDsA). Failure to do so is considered an offence and may result in a fine of up to 1 million Singapore dollars (25.65 million baht).
With Indonesia putting the digitalisation agenda at the core of its G20 presidency priorities last year, the country must also ensure its digital transformation policy approaches are carried forward at its other leadership avenues at the regional and global levels.
As the 2023 Asean chair, Indonesia may consider conducting stocktaking and mobilise actions for an Asean standpoint on the Global Digital Compact and ensure that the realisation of its theme -- Asean Matters: Epicentrum of Growth -- does not jeopardise the region's growth of digital economy and society but ensures that everyone has a say in an age of technological revolution.
Dio Herdiawan Tobing is the Head of Public Policy, Asia at World Benchmarking Alliance. A global organization that ranks corporate actions in their pathways to sustainable development.
