Data and Digital Rights: More Questions Than Answers – But Enumerating the Questions is Essential

Abstract

Unpacking the policy implications of the digital transformation is rightly generating more questions than answers at this stage in the conversation. At a time when governments are looking for direction from citizens on how to manage digital rights, the digital economy, and more, questions are important prompts for people to respond to and engage with — posing the right questions is at least a step towards a solution. To that end, this note sets out some of the questions about the digital transformation that need to be addressed to ensure that democratic processes determine the social license for the next round of regulatory and legal evolution.

Keywords: digital transformation, open data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, regulation, data-driven economy, data trusts, smart cities, privacy, surveillance

JEL Classification: 032, 035