17 June 2020 – Data, the Global South and the NHS: risks from new digital trade rules

17th June 2020, 1-2pm

Our data is a valuable raw material. Could digital trade rules prevent us from claiming a fair share of the wealth it creates?

People all over the world, and especially young populations in the Global South, generate data every day through their lives and their work. Highly valuable data is also generated within publicly-owned institutions like the NHS.

This data is a raw material which generates big incomes for companies that make use of it. But are the rest of us getting fair value for the data we contribute? Could this become a new form of ‘extractivism’?

Alternative collective models for data ownership are out there, which could ensure that the Global South and public institutions get their fair share of the pie. But the policy space for these alternatives risks being shrunk down by digital trade rules in upcoming trade deals.

As our digital society evolves, we need the freedom to respond. This webinar explores what we might do with that freedom, and what kind of trade policy we’ll need to support it.

Annemarie Naylor, Director of Policy and Strategy at Future Care Capital spoke alongside Parminder Jeet Singh at IT for Change.