Data Policy
Data, a key enabler of advanced technologies, is now produced in an unfathomable volume at an unthinkable rate. Our growing reliance on data has ushered in a range of policy issues from data’s effects on personal freedom and security to the economy.
Leading up to the 2020 UN World Data Forum, DiploFoundation (Diplo) held six ‘Road to Bern via Geneva’ dialogues to facilitate data cooperation and introduced a mapping of Geneva actors’ data activities in the SDGs, security, privacy, data commons, health, and environment. To benefit from the economic values of data, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) produces guidelines on managing cross-border data flow, while the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) works with the EU on implementing a single data market. Actors like the Group on Earth Observations, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the World Health Organization (WHO) discuss domain-specific data issues, be it environmental, humanitarian, or health.
