UN Appoints High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced Thursday the launch of a high-level panel on digital cooperation.

“The scale, spread and speed of change made possible by digital technologies is unprecedented, but the current means and levels of international cooperation are unequal to the challenge,” Mr. Guterres said.

Melinda Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, have been appointed by the Secretary-General as Co-Chairs of the Panel.

The Panel has a total of 20 members, representing a cross-section of expertise from Government, private industry, civil society, academia and the technical community.

The Secretary-General has asked the Panel to contribute to the broader public debate on the importance of cooperative and interdisciplinary approaches to ensure a safe and inclusive digital future for all taking into account relevant human rights norms.

The Panel is expected to identify policy, research and information gaps, and make proposals to strengthen international cooperation in the digital space.

The Panel will hold its first in-person meeting in late September 2018 and is expected to submit its final report to the Secretary-General within nine months.

In carrying out its work, the Panel will undertake a wide range of public consultations, including at least two public events and an open process inviting global inputs including through online engagement activities starting in September. It will be supported by a small Secretariat funded by donor resources, and based in New York and Geneva.

Members of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation:

Co-Chairs

• Melinda Gates (United States), Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Jack Ma (China), Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group

Members

• Mohammed Al Gergawi (United Arab Emirates), Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, United Arab Emirates
• Yuichiro Anzai (Japan), President of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
• Nikolai Astrup (Norway), Minister of International Development, Norway
• Vinton Cerf (United States), Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google
• Fadi Chehadé (United States), Partner at ABRY Partners
• Isabel Guerrero Pulgar (Chile), Director, IMAGO Global Grassroots and Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School
• Marina Kaljurand (Estonia), Chair of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace
• Bogolo Kenewendo (Botswana), Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Botswana
• Akaliza Keza Ntwari (Rwanda), ICT advocate and entrepreneur
• Marina Kolesnik (Russian Federation), senior executive, entrepreneur and WEF Young Global Leader
• Doris Leuthard (Switzerland), Head of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, Switzerland
• Cathy Mulligan (United Kingdom), Visiting Research Fellow Imperial College Centre for Cryptocurrency
• Edson Prestes (Brazil), Professor, Institute of Informatics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul
• Kira Radinsky (Israel), Director of Data Science, eBay
• Nanjira Sambuli (Kenya), Digital Equality Advocacy Manager, World Wide Web Foundation
• Sophie Soowon Eom (Republic of Korea), Founder of Adriel AI and Solidware
• Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah (Australia), Secretary General, CIVICUS
• Jean Tirole (France), Chairman of the Toulouse School of Economics and the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse

Ex Officio

• Amandeep Singh Gill (India), Executive Director, Secretariat of the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation
• Jovan Kurbalija (Serbia), Executive Director, Secretariat of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation

All Panel members serve in their personal capacity, not as representatives of their respective institutions.