Partnership with Project Liberty Institute

How can we take back agency over our data? In this pathbreaking new project launched by the Global Solutions Initiative and the Project Liberty Institute (PLI), we set out to foster more equitable digital ecosystems. As a multistakeholder research initiative, the project explores the pivotal role played by multiple digital infrastructure technologies and ultimately aims to reshape the global data landscape. Furthermore, it builds on Global Solutions Initiative’s work on data agency in digital economies and PLI’s Task Force for a Fair Data Economy.

The project culminates in multiple high-level consultations and actionable recommendations for upcoming global fora, including the Global Solutions Summit and G7/G20 meetings, as well as a Toolkit for Catalyzing Digital Infrastructure Solutions for Data Agency. This toolkit maps existing efforts, collects insights on best practices for a fair data economy, and is intended to guide governments in their efforts to catalyze and stimulate new infrastructure solutions. The results will be unveiled at the Global Solutions Summit 2025, to be held next May in Berlin.

Approach

Over the course of the coming year, the project examines best practices in digital infrastructure solutions from trailblazing countries including India, Estonia, and Brazil. The project explores groundbreaking technologies and infrastructures such as IndiaStack, Solid, DSNP, etc., which promise to empower individuals with unprecedented control over their data. The vision behind such digital infrastructure solutions, their design as well as their governance and economic model will be discussed and studied in order to assess the limits and advantages of these models.

The project foresees two key multistakeholder consultations. The first is to take place in Fall 2024 on the sidelines of the Paris Peace Forum and the second at the Equitable Tech Summit in Washington D.C. These meetings will engage experts and high-level stakeholders such as policymakers, academics, practitioners, voices from civil society. They will be held under the Chatham House Rule.