OECD Ministerial Declaration on the Digital Economy: Innovation, Growth and Social Prosperity | WPN World People News

Ministers and high-level representatives from 41 countries and the European Union committed on 23 June at the closure of the OECD’s 2016 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, to work together to preserve an open Internet, close digital divides, promote digital skills and generally do more to seize the potential of the digital economy.

The signatory countries – OECD member countries plus Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Latvia and Lithuania – vowed in a Ministerial Declaration to:

● Increase access to broadband Internet and services to bridge digital divides.

● Reduce barriers to investment in and adoption of digital technology in all sectors.

● Work to develop global technical standards that enable interoperability and a secure, stable, open and accessible Internet.

● Develop privacy and data protection strategies at the highest level of government, while also encouraging the availability and use of data, including public sector data.

● Adopt technologically neutral frameworks that promote competition.

● Use open, transparent and inclusive processes to shape global Internet governance.

● Reduce impediments to e-commerce within and across borders with policies that strengthen consumer trust and product safety.

● Improve education and lifelong training to respond to the demand for general and specialist digital skills.

Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development