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Tech Industry Groups Unite Ahead of G20 Summit to Boost Global Economy through Digital Technologies and Innovation.

Yesterday, techUK joined 10 leading technology trade groups from Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America joined in launching their recommendations to G20 Leaders and Ministers on policies the countries should pursue to best utilise innovation to unleash economic growth that will benefit their citizens. techUK Policy Director Charlotte Holloway is this week in Berlin to promote the formal launch of the recommendations at an event with G20 digital policy-makers on 1 March 2017.

“Digital technologies are vital to the growth and development of the global economy” the groups say in their recommendations to policy-makers. “The G20 is a critically important setting for the world’s leading governments to outline approaches to managing 21st century technology policy challenges... and growing the global economy in ways that benefit all countries and people.” 

Commenting on the industry collaboration and recommendations, Charlotte Holloway, Policy Director at techUK, commented “Now more than ever does UK tech need to work with our international partners on achieving better models and policy-making for inclusive growth and innovation that are driven by digital technologies. Many new technological advancements are inherently global, and will require industry and policy-makers alike to work together in meeting the challenges of our age.”

She added, “In many ways, UK tech is the model on which the future for Global Britain can be based. But that can only happen with aligned policy environments in other countries, in tandem with favourable trade agreements. That’s why working with the G20 on these principles will be key for UK tech and UK Government alike.”

The tech industry is looking to ensure that any outcomes from the April meeting in Düsseldorf of G20 ministers responsible for digital issues and early July meeting in Hamburg of G20 Leaders reflect these recommendations. The recommendations come as leaders and policymakers across the globe debate national and global policies that could potentially hinder the job creation and economic growth that countries have enjoyed, in part, thanks to the rapid development of the tech sector in recent years.

Specifically, the tech industry is calling on G20 leaders to address privacy protections; enhance national security and data security; and ensure that online data can freely travel across borders because of the critical role data plays to power growth, job creation, and innovation. Among their recommendations, the tech industry groups recommend that G20 leaders commit their governments to:

Promote the principle that economies should facilitate the free flow of data across borders and refrain from imposing measures requiring local storage.Acknowledge that privacy is a fundamental right and commit to pursuing privacy and data protection policies that draw on multi-stakeholder frameworks.Ensure that measures governments take to enhance cybersecurity reflect the global nature of cyberspace.Commit to resolving outstanding questions of cross-border taxation in multilateral settings, on the basis of the principles of certainty, predictability, and the rule of law.

The recommendations build on the tech industry’s work last year for G7 leaders to adopt similar policy approaches and which culminated in two agreements to emerge last May from the G7. They are endorsed by the Alliance Francaise des Industries du Numerique (AFNUM), Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), Associazione Nazionale Industrie Informatica, Telecomunicazioni ed Elettronica di Consumo (ANITEC), bitkom, DIGITALEUROPE, Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA), Syndicat de l’Industrie des Technologies de l’information (SFIB), Tech’In France, and techUK.