International cooperation on digitization reaches common consensus
An employee from BYD Company Ltd. is designing a car model using digitization technology. Photo: FILE
As there are only ten years left from the time when the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030) adopted by the UN should be accomplished, the international community is actively exploring ways to accelerate movement toward these goals. Directly related to many sustainable development agendas, digitization provides tools for the realization of these goals. In recent years, more and more international consensus has been reached about strengthening cooperation on digitization. International organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Bank, all highly value the importance of cooperation in this field and are working to actively promote it.
Digitization is an important global trend. During the 21st century, the importance and demand of digitization rose to prominence. According to the report issued by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) entitled COVID-19 and Human Development: Assessing the Crisis, Envisioning the Recovery, without internet access, the decline in human development would be 2.5 times worse. With more equitable access to the internet—in countries seeking to close the development gap—the decline in human development due to COVID-19 could be halved.
In responding to the pandemic, developing countries have a stronger demand for digitization, namely for internet access, information sharing, data analysis, and service digitization. These provide a broad scope for international cooperation in the field of digitization, especially for South-South cooperation among developing countries.
Digitization is a double-edged sword. As an important development tool, it affects the imbalance of global economic and social development. According to the digitization strategy proposed by the UNDP in 2019, about 3.5 billion people around the world still do not have access to the internet. According to the Digital Economy Report 2019 issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in least developed countries, only one in five people has internet access, as compared with four out of five in developed countries. The report also points out that in developing countries especially in the least developed countries, many small business owners lack the capabilities, skills, and awareness to leverage digital connectivity for their business operations.
One of the most important technologies today, the application of digital technology has a profound impact on economic and social development. In the next 10 years, as advanced and cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and low-altitude satellite systems keep developing and being applied, digitization will bring more transformative effects in production, daily life, and other sectors. It is therefore of great significance to leverage this digital opportunity and accelerate the realization of global sustainable development.
In recent years, international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank have put forward strategies and initiatives concerning digitization, such as the UN Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, the UNDP's Digital Strategy, and an "eTrade for all" initiative led by UNCTAD. At the regional level, the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the African Union and the Asian Development Bank have also put forward medium- and long-term strategies for regional digitization. At the country level, Japan, the UK, the US, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with developed countries as the main member states, have proposed digital strategies for foreign aid in recent years. Digitization is not only an important area of international development and cooperation, but also constitutes a new international arena.
Given the growing need for digitization and increasing consensus on the importance of international cooperation, China should actively participate in and support international actions for digitization, form uniquely Chinese cooperative initiatives, and make digitization a new catalyst for boosting the "Belt and Road" initiative.
The digital foreign aid strategies put forward by Western developed countries and organizations have maintained "value-oriented" principles. Foreign aid launched by Western countries is focused on the spread of their values and concepts, while neglecting subjective initiatives within the recipient countries and the diversified development capacity needs of these countries. China should highlight ideas and digitization plans which differ from those of Western countries, and place premium on the actual needs and development capacities of the aided countries.
In addition, the global South-South cooperation platform should be further strengthened. According to the Buenos Aires Outcome Document of the 2nd High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, enhancing developing countries' ability to adopt new technologies and meet their own development needs is one of the key objectives of South-South cooperation. One of the distinctive features of South-South cooperation is a demand-oriented principle—developing countries independently define their development agendas, priorities, demands and challenges. This principle should be followed when China offers foreign aid, particularly in implementing digitization cooperation projects. Enterprises, think tanks and grass-root organizations can be encouraged to participate in the cooperation by aiding infrastructure building, experience sharing, knowledge sharing, training, and other means.
Wang Yongjie is an assistant professor from the Institute of Population and Labor Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Edited by BAI LE