Data is Different: Why the World Needs a New Approach to Governing Cross-Border Data Flows
CIGI Papers No. 197 — November 2018
Posted: 1 Jul 2020
Date Written: 2018
Abstract
This paper begins with an overview of data as a traded good or service. I think describe how trade in data is different from trade in other goods or services. I then examine analogues used to describe data as an input — data is the new oil, data is infrastructure, which can help us understand how data could be regulated. Next the paper discusses how trade policymakers are regulating trade in data and how these efforts have created a patchwork. Finally I suggest an alternative approach to governing trade in data.
Keywords: Data, Digital Trade, E-Commerce, AI, Personal Data, WTO, Interoperability
JEL Classification: 038, 032, F52, F53, F68
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation