Revisiting Digital Governance

As part of its EU Council Presidency, Germany has set itself the goal of actively shaping current social and economic transformation processes. Digital transformation and its design for the common good and consumer-oriention in accordance with the sustainability goals of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 is an essential focus topic. In the area of justice and consumer protection, digitization and access to law, consumer policy and data economy as well as AI and intellectual property are among the main focuses. The public debate surrounding the protection of personal data during digitization was also reignited by the Corona crisis, making clear the extent to which consumers are concerned about the use of their personal data. In this context, the Global Solutions Initiative together with the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection has initiated the Solution Sessions on Revisiting Digital Governance. In this online event series, decision-makers from politics, business, research and civil society discuss innovative concepts for pressing issues in the field of digital consumer protection, necessary consumer policies, new legal regulations and education initiatives to strengthen the protection of personal data.

The Second Solution Session continues the debate that was initiated through the first session, incorporating the valuable input received through the Online Exchange. Federal Minister for Justice and Consumer Protection Christine Lambrecht, State Secretary Christian Kastrop, Portuguese Secretary of State for Trade, Services and Consumer Protection João Torres, Global Solutions President Dennis J. Snower, Anna Byhovskaya, Senior Policy Adviser to the Trade Union Advisory Committee at the OECD (TUAC) and Brigitte Acoca, Head of the Consumer Policy Unit at the OECD, discuss consumer protection and consumer rights in the digital world, new European Commission rules on data governance, the role of trade unions and other agencies in strengthening digital property rights and the responsibility of companies to protect consumers in the digital space.

This session, the third in a series of sessions discussing the challenges of current data ownership regulation and possible solutions to these challenges, explores the road from theory to practice. Having outlined the proposal for strengthening data ownership, we discuss implications for business in terms of positive effects for innovation and fair competition, as well as possible challenges created by the proposed regulation of data ownership. The panel discussion provides the basis for a first political resumé with regard to political action on the international level.