The Global Governance Centre, together with Caribou Digital and the Atlantic Council convened a Chatham House seminar to explore how tech sovereignty interlinks with questions about data governance and global trade. Ambassador Kah, permanent representative of the Gambia and Chair of the UN Commission on Science, Technology and Development gave a key note, as panellists discussed the varying definitions of tech sovereignty, and how countries, citizens and industry are navigating an increasingly geopolitical world surrounding how data is collected, stored and used globally.

The seminar drew three core conclusions — firstly that governance of the digital sphere has become inherently geopolitical — made up of both nation states and global tech companies with citizens caught in the middle. Secondly, that there is a lack of definitions for key concepts like tech sovereignty, data sovereignty and cyber sovereignty and how they apply to different policy areas from trade to internet governance. Thirdly, that countries want to increase their sovereignty and control over data, but this must be done in a collaborative and multi-stakeholder approach to uphold a free and interoperable internet. The session concluded with agreement that there was much further work to be done on this only increasingly important topic.

Watch the full video recording below.