Minister of Communication and Information, Johnny G. Plate, officially opened the fourth session of the G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) in Bali on Monday (August 29, 2022).
The DEWG is one of the working groups of the G20 that focuses on issues related to the digital economy and highlights the role of digital transformation on economic and social growth.
The fourth meeting of the DEWG continued to discuss a draft declaration of the G20 Digital Ministers, which will be called “The Bali Package.”
The DEWG discussed three priority issues—digital connectivity, digital skills and literacy, and cross-country data flow.
Regarding the first priority issue, Indonesia reached a conclusion on a people-focused concept as an extension of human-centric digital connectivity during a recent discussion on digital connectivity and recovery after COVID-19.
"With regard to the second priority issue, the (DEWG) delegates gave a positive response to the efforts of the Indonesian government for improving the people's digital skills and digital literacy," Plate noted.
G20 member countries responded positively to the proposed toolkit to measure digital skills and digital literacy as well as sharing of experiences to encourage the participation of vulnerable groups in the digital economy. This includes policy exchanges with advanced digital literacy skills.
Speaking in connection with the third priority issue pertaining to free and cross-border data flow, the minister asked G20 member countries to understand the importance of unifying principles in data flow management.
"The Indonesian government proposes a discussion on established principles, such as compliance with the law, fairness, transparency, and to some extent, emphasizing the issue of reciprocity," he remarked.
Stakeholders met to hold detailed discussions on future measures for enabling free data flow and cross-border data flow based on trust.
"Moreover, in the discussion, we also highlighted the very important key enabler in the application of digital identity that is relevant to digital transactions involving personal data," the minister pointed out.
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Minister Plate expressed gratitude that the DEWG forum had discussed and resolved three priority issues, with the discussions on each issue manifesting in tangible and meaningful results over almost a year.
"I am grateful that we have discussed the three priority issues of the Digital Economy Working Group. I am grateful that we will conclude the discussion on the Bali Package document soon," he said.
Plate then urged DEWG delegates to agree on discussing issues brought up by the Indonesian G20 Presidency to formulate the Bali Package document as a collective agreement.
In response to this, Iyad Dakka, a DEWG delegate from Canada, pushed for a collective agreement at the fourth session of the DEWG G20.
Dakka said that the matter of personal data security was one of the issues discussed intensively during the fourth G20 DEWG.
Personal data security, which is part of the issue of cross-border data flow, was one of the priorities for discussion.
Another problem was digital transformation, wherein the level of digital transformation experienced by each country is different, and this has become a challenge. In addition, people in each country have different levels of ability in using digital technology, he noted.
Therefore, Dakka deemed equality in digital transformation among G20 members as one of the important goals that are expected to be achieved through the DEWG forum.
"In my opinion, one of the big goals that we will achieve here (at DEWG) is how we can work together collectively to ensure that all communities and countries benefit (from digital transformation)," said Dakka, who serves as director of international affairs and trade policy at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
However, he argued that some good progress was made during the discussion on priority issues for preparing the “The Bali Package” document during the two-day DEWG meeting held on August 29–30 in Bali.
"I don't think it will be easy to reach a mutual agreement, but we are doing everything we can from Canada's opinion to push for a deal," he said.
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Furthermore, the draft declaration of the Bali Package will be discussed again and finalized by the G20 digital ministers at the Digital Economy Ministers’ Meeting (DEMM) on September 1.
The 4th DEWG meeting in Bali was attended by participants from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Argentinian participant joined the meeting virtually.
The two-day meeting also invited Spain, the Netherlands, Singapore, Rwanda, Cambodia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as observers.
Representatives from international organizations, such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) also joined the meeting.
The meeting was also participated by national knowledge partners from Padjadjaran University (Unpad), the University of Indonesia (UI), and Gadjah Mada University (UGM).
Representatives from the Indonesian government's ministries and institutions, such as the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), also attended the meeting.
The Group 20 or G20 member countries comprise Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Spain is invited as a permanent guest to G20 meetings.
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