The age of digitalisation requires innovation and change. Diplomacy and foreign policy are adapting and evolving to accommodate these new realities. Taking into consideration the emergence of foreign policy strategies dedicated to digital issues, 2021 promises to be the year where we will see digital foreign policy emerge fully.

While some countries included digital issues in the broader context of their foreign policy strategies, others have drafted comprehensive digital foreign policy strategies. i.e. strategic documents that set out a country’s priorities and approaches to digital issues such as security, infrastructure, and trade. Development cooperation also features amongst the topics tackled. To illustrate, ‘digitalisation for development’ is defined as one of the four priority areas in the Dutch Digital Agenda for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. Norway’s white paper titled Digital Transformation and Development Policy, built entirely around development, endorses the employment of user-centric digital tools which correspond to existing data-driven sustainable ecosystems and contexts.

Despite not being specifically dedicated to development cooperation, the recently adopted Swiss Digital Foreign Policy Strategy 2021–24 emphasises that  new technologies can shape our future and drive sustainable development and prosperity. Along the same lines, the French digital foreign policy strategy highlights France’s dedication to assist developing countries in acquiring universal access to digital services.

To learn more about digital foreign policy and how development cooperation comes into play, please consult Diplo’s policy brief 2021: The Emergence of Digital Foreign Policy.

In  2018, the Digital Society Index assessed whether digital technologies could help solve the world’s most pressing issues such as global poverty and climate change. Despite their potential use in monitoring progress on the sustainable development goals (SDGs), improving access to healthcare, or fighting food waste, 42% of the world’s population thinks that digital technologies can serve as a game changer for combatting challenges. That said, according to the survey, Chinese nationals (71%) are the most optimistic when it comes to the benefits of digital technologies, followed by Russians (49%). Despite ranking fifth in terms of information and communications technology (ICT) adoption, Japanese citizens (22%) are the least optimistic when it comes to addressing socio-economic disadvantages, while the British (37%) are more optimistic.

Enabling e-governance through e-voting?

Last year, more than 70 presidential and parliamentary elections took place worldwide. In 2021, voters are expected to ‘take to the polls’ in some 80 presidential and parliamentary elections across the globe.

The positive contributions of digital technology in voting are far from negligible. While they give a voice to marginalised groups and extend their reach to diasporas, there are also serious challenges that cannot be overlooked.

One of the main issues concerning digitalising elections is ensuring that technology remains opaque enough for those attempting to disrupt the security of the election process and sufficiently transparent for voters to foster trust.

According to Freedom House, between June 2018 and May 2020, digital interference during elections occurred in 28 out of 32 survey countries.

Despite being potentially beneficial in matching voters with the best electoral candidates, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can also be misused for generating deepfakes and spreading disinformation. To illustrate, in Gabon, a coup attempt was triggered following a supposed deepfake video suggesting the poor health of Gabonese President Ali Bongo.

Social media are also rife with disinformation during election time. In order to curb the spread of fake news, social networking companies are increasingly taking action. In the lead-up to the 2020 US presidential election, Twitter attached warning labels to posts – or deleted tweets entirely – while messaging apps WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger limited the number of messages which could be forwarded.

To find more information about elections in the digital age, please consult our dedicated Elections in the Digital Age page.

6th Geneva Engage Awards

On 18 February 2021, the sixth edition of the Geneva Engage Awards was organised in recognition of International Geneva actors and their social media outreach and online engagement. Launched in 2016,  and delivered on the basis of a comparative analysis, the Awards explore how international organisations, non-governmental organisations and associations, and permanent representations to the UN in Geneva, perform on multiplatform activity, engaging content, and online growth, to name but a few.

Moving beyond social media presence, since 2020, the Awards have also been awarded to Geneva-based actors for their efforts in conducting remote meetings in an effective and innovative way.

The winners of the 2020 Geneva Engages Awards are:

  • UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the International Organisations category
  • New Humanitarian in the Non-Governmental Organisations and Non-Profit Organisations category
  • Delegation of the EU to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva in the Permanent Representations category