The APAC Leaders Digital Alliance is a partnership between the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), Microsoft, NUS School of Continuing and Lifelong Education (NUS SCALE), public sector leaders across Asia-Pacific, and industry partners.
It is established to serve as an active collaboration platform for senior officials and leaders from the public and private sectors as well as academia to exchange ideas and share resources on a range of policy issues. This is with the aim of accelerating Asia Pacific’s digital economy and fuelling innovation and competitiveness through broad adoption of digital-native and cloud-first policies.
During this inaugural policy roundtable, public sector leaders from Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea, as well as senior representatives from LKYSPP, NUS SCALE, and Microsoft discussed a wide range of issues relating to data governance and the digital economy.
Themed Digital for Growth: Harnessing the Power of Data for National Recovery, the inaugural APAC Leaders Digital Alliance covered the following:
- Data as the underlying fuel for national recovery strategies and efforts
- Data-driven and digital-driven decision-making
- Skills and capacity building to develop data-driven policies
- Trusted and secure data flows and data governance
- Modernisation of policies towards advancing data-driven government and citizen services
The dialogue centered on the transformative power of data and digital infrastructure in light of challenges and opportunities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. A critical component of the conversations was the regulatory levers required to unlock the value of data and its benefits for people within and across national and regional boundaries.
One key theme that emerged is the need for data-driven governance powered by technology, anchored on trust: As digital adoption increases, we must remember that technologies such as Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing are as much about looking forward as it is about timeless values such as privacy, security, transparency, trust, and inclusion. Data fuels and powers leading-edge technology as well as innovation. The crucial issue highlighted for data sharing and having a robust data economy is establishing trust for citizens to share their data. This can be best accomplished if data governance frameworks contain built-in guard rails and are aligned to global standards.
A second key theme is the case for cross-border data flow: The OECD has estimated that data access and sharing could generate benefits worth between 0.1% and 1.5% of GDP in the case of public-sector data, and between 1% and 2.5% of GDP when also accounting for private-sector data. The discussion revolved around principles for international data sharing and mobility which ensure privacy, security, transparency, and compliance. Central to the data sharing and mobility discussion was the role and extent of trust as well as the enabling ecosystem and complementary policy with tangible incentives to accelerate innovation for better products and services.
The public sector representatives also shared their recent efforts and lessons on national data agenda and initiatives to propel the digital economy for national recovery. Finally, the participants discussed how technology companies of all sizes play a role in helping countries and companies in the region harness data to enable further transformations and beneficial socio-economic outcomes.