UNCTAD Ecommerce Week Opens, Development Dimensions, Data Protection

As regulation of data protection is high in the global news feed following Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony to the United States Congress, the fourth edition of Electronic Commerce Week of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) opened today.

This year’s theme is the development dimensions of digital platforms, and is set to explore the growing role of digital platforms and how the evolving technology can be harnessed for sustainable development.

UNCTAD’s E-Commerce Week is taking place from 16-20 April

According to a post written by Shamika Sirimanne, director of the UNCTAD Division on Technology and Logistics, the ecommerce week is expected to gather some 1,000 participants representing governments, the private sector, civil society, and international organisations from about 100 countries.

The programme of the week includes topics such as cross-border digital payments, digital transformation, consumer protection, the importance of ecommerce for micro and small and medium-sized enterprises, and inclusive ecommerce.

The week will also host the second session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Ecommerce and the Digital Economy. The first session of the group took place from 4-6 October.

According to Sirimanne, the digital economy is evolving fast, with the number of monthly Facebook users surging from 1 billion to 2.2 billion between 2012 and 2017. However, the digital divide “remain massive,” he said.

Some 90 percent of all new internet users over the past half-decade live in developing countries, he said. He also said most internet users in developing countries are quick to embrace social networks, but “far fewer use the Internet to make payments or buy goods or services.”

“Data privacy sits at the core of the debate,” he said, mentioning the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, to go into effect on 25 May. “Data privacy will become a growing concern also in developing countries, where the use of digital platforms is expanding fast.”

However, “almost 60 developing countries currently do not have any data protection legislation in place,” he added, calling for improvement “not only to protect the 418 million Facebook users in these countries, but also to ensure that enterprises in these countries are able to trade effectively with partners, such as the European Union, which are imposing stringent requirements in this area.”

Intellectual Property Watch will be reporting on the event this week.

 

Image Credits: UNCTAD