The last couple of weeks have been busy with summit diplomacy. Areas of cooperation span from public health to economic recovery.

The round of summits began with the meeting of G7. From a digital perspective, at the Group of Seven meeting, leaders reiterated that digital transformation plays an important role in increasing productivity, creating new decent and quality jobs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the post-COVID-19 era. The parties also agreed to work together towards a value-driven digital ecosystem that, among other things, will help improve internet safety and counter practices like online human rights violations.

The communique also features information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, and cooperation on encouraging competition and supporting innovation in digital markets.

Three days later, on 16 June, presidents Biden and Putin met for their first, much-anticipated summit. Among other things, the parties focused on nuclear disarmament, human rights issues, and cybersecurity.

On human rights violations, the USA and Russia discussed the case of the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as well as the consequences that Russia would face if Navalny were to die in prison.

Cybersecurity came into the spotlight following several cyberattacks, including those targeting one of USA’s largest meat producers, as well as the Colonial Pipeline, conducted by Russian groups against the USA. President Biden is said to have defined 16 types of critical infrastructure that are ‘off-limits’ to cyberattacks. After long resistance from the USA, the two countries agreed to start bilateral talks in order to prevent further cyberattacks. Clarifying further, Biden stated ‘we agreed to task experts in […] both our countries to work on specific understandings about what’s off limits and to follow up on specific cases that originate in other countries — either of our countries’.

To learn more about the USA-Russia discussions on cybersecurity, please consult our latest trend on cyber detente.

The Digital Silk Road leads to Africa

The 47th G7 summit was recently concluded in Cornwall, UK, where the leaders of world’s most advanced economies agreed, among other things, to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative with investments to help developing countries address infrastructure, supply chain, and climate challenges. But what about digitalisation?

African countries are increasingly turning to China in order to improve their digital infrastructure. Launched in 2015, as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese Digital Silk Road aims to promote the development of the digital sector, including the roll-out of 4G, laying of fiber-optic cable, and the emergence of e-commerce platforms. Chinese investments are the most important in Ethiopia where they amount to US$2.4 billion. Nigeria and Zimbabwe have, so far, received the same amount of investment estimated at US$1.8 billion. China and Chinese companies are equally involved in the construction of data centers and smart cities across the African continent. Data centers have been built in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, to name but a few.

Keep an eye on: HLPF 2021

From 6 July to 15 July, the annual meeting of the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held under the theme of ‘Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that promotes the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development: building an inclusive and effective path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development’. This year’s meeting will be particularly dedicated to 9 of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), including no poverty (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2), and reduced inequalities (SDG 10). In addition to voluntary national reviews and numerous side events that often cover specific digital issues such as big data and internet access, a high-level session will be held on technology and innovation where questions on digital literacy, internet affordability and access to ICT infrastructure are expected to be addressed.

Tune in for our coverage of digital topics at the HLPF.