IGF 2024 Lightning Talk #122 Unlock the Value of Public Data by Enhancing Governance

Data has become a pretty valuable resource in the digital age, playing an increasingly important role in promoting technological, application & service innovations, improving governance capabilities, facilitating international cooperation, and addressing common human challenges. Public data, regarded as a type of high-quality data resource with abundant quantity, high quality, and sound structure, is increasingly recognized as a valuable contributor to sustainable development in the digital society, further efforts to promote its development, utilization, and governance are increasingly called for. Since the beginning of the century, the process of open data has been initiated globally, advocating for the open sharing of data generated by the public sector. However, despite the evident benefits of using public data, governance of public data still faces many issues and challenges, with one crucial problem being how to define the "public data". Due to the nature of data, to avoid infringing the interests of other bodies, the definition of public data must be clear and unambiguous, which is also a basic prerequisite for the governance and utilization of public data. According to our research, there are roughly three modes of defining public data in various countries: the first is based on the nature of entity generating the data, the second is based on whether it is related to the public interest, and the third is based on whether there is public financial support behind the data activities. Currently, the definitions and targets adopted by various countries and international organizations when using the concept of "public data" are not consistent, which may pose problems for the formulation of governance rules for public data at the international level. For example, the UNCTAD's Digital Economy Report 2021 pointed out the lack of clarity in the definition of public data in studies, suggesting that it may refer to data generated by the public sector while also considering data collected by the private sector to serve the public interest; the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs' e-Government Report 2020, on the other hand, considers public data to be data that can be obtained in the public domain. The OECD, the EU, and some other international organizations also have their own definitions. In addition to the definition problem, other issues that may be involved in public data governance include: how to use or authorize the use of public data; whether fees should be charged for the sharing and use of public data; how to protect personal data that may be involved in the development and utilization of public data; what roles and responsibilities different stakeholders have in the entire lifecycle of public data; and how to maximize the value of public data to promote cooperation among the international community in addressing common challenges, especially empowering countries in the Global South. This session will start with the most basic issue of defining public data, expanding to discuss other key issues in public data governance. The session hopes to achieve a common understanding and recognition of the model to define public data and clarify the key issues in public data governance that currently require focused measures. At the same time, the organizers will also introduce the latest developments in China's practices on definition and governance of public data to participants and hope to hear from participants about the governance of public data in their own countries. You may find our latest research report on the definition of public data on: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AsPlQOqcf0rOohI-Jr_fJKZBNFOB?e=o7JkXY （We'll continue our study in 2024 and bring the English version soon.）

The organizers will arrange an online moderator who will utilize the online meeting tools provided by the IGF Secretariat to interact with online participants. This interaction includes promptly responding in the chat box and relaying questions to the speakers for their responses. The organizers will also use tools such as Tencent Meeting to conduct synchronous live streaming for the community in the organizers' country and communities.