Digitalization is evolving at a high speed, reshaping economies, trade and development paths. Digitalization offers significant opportunities related to innovation, efficiency and new business models, yet is also deepening existing divides in access to digital technologies and data and in digital capabilities. At the same time, the environmental footprint of digital growth is coming under increased scrutiny. UNCTAD is influencing related policy debates. Its work on data governance contributed to the decision by Member States to establish a dedicated working group under the Commission on Science and Technology for Development. UNCTAD is also co-leading the implementation of the Global Digital Compact in the areas of inclusive digital economy and data governance. In addition, in 2025, UNCTAD is the chair of the United Nations Group on the Information Society.
Discussions at this round table will explore how to ensure that the evolving digital economy becomes a driver of both inclusiveness and sustainability. Critical policy options and cooperation mechanisms at the national, regional and international levels will be examined. In addition, discussions will consider how UNCTAD and partners can support countries in building resilient digital ecosystems that bridge divides, improve data governance, promote innovation and foster greater circularity.
Programme
Opening remarks: Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General, UNCTAD
Panel 1: Digitalization challenges and harnessing benefits from digital trade
Questions
- What are the pressing challenges of rapid digitalization with regard to inclusion and sustainable outcomes that need to be addressed?
- What should be done to enable developing countries to benefit more from data, electronic commerce and digital trade?
Panel 2: Global support and digital cooperation
Questions
- What kind of international support is needed to ensure that digitalization brings benefits for all and contributes to protecting the planet?
- How can the implementation of the Global Digital Compact, as well as the 20-year review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, advance global digital cooperation?
Moderator: To be determined
Format: Davos-style
Rebeca Grynspan, of Costa Rica, became UNCTAD's eighth Secretary-General on 13 September 2021 and is the first woman to lead the organization.
Prior to her UNCTAD appointment, she was the Ibero-American secretary-general from 2014 to 2021, also the first woman to head the organization. During her mandate, she has coordinated the 22-member Iberoamerican Conference and led four key summits of Heads of State and Government.
In 2010 she was appointed Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and prior to that was UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Grynspan served as Vice-President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. She was also Minister of Housing, Minister Coordinator of Economic and Social Affairs, and Deputy Minister of Finance. In 2021 she was named Special International Advisor to the newly created Economic and Social Council of Argentina and invited to join as member of the G20 High-Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
In addition to her experience as a lecturer and advisor to several international organizations, she has been actively involved in key United Nations initiatives, such as the Millennium Project's Task Force on Poverty and Economic Development and the High-level Panel on Financing for Development.
In 2014 and 2015, she was recognized as one of the 50 leading intellectuals of Latin America. And she was recognized as one of the 100 most powerful women in Central America by Forbes magazine.
Ms Grynspan holds a degree in Economics by the University of Costa Rica and a MSc in Economics by the University of Sussex. She has been awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Salamanca, the University of Extremadura and the European University of Madrid in recognition of her outstanding professional achievements.
