Welcome coffee

Parliamentary workshop – Responding to the challenges of the digital transformation in democratic processes

Opening: Rihards Kols, Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee, Saeima of the Republic of Latvia

Scene-setting: Barbara Ubaldi, Head of Digital Government and Data Unit, Open and Innovative Government Division, Public Governance Directorate, OECD

The digital transformation has drastically changed the traditional mechanisms of democracy. The use of digital technologies and data has empowered citizens with a new set of tools to engage in the democratic practices and expanded political participation. Nevertheless, the rapid digitalisation has also presented challenges that debilitate democratic processes such as the protection of fundamental rights, destabilised information ecosystems and democratic intermediation. In the digital age, the new way of governing and legislating is called for to address these challenges. In the scene-setting presentation, the OECD presented how to build a robust governance to support digital transformation and on imperative issues that need to be addressed to build a secure and inclusive future.

• See the speakers' presentation (PDF)

Parliamentary panel

Moderator: Vjaceslavs Dombrovskis, Chairman, Sustainable Development Committee, Saeima of the Republic of Latvia

‒ Liam Byrne, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
‒ Anke Domscheit-Berg, Member of Parliament, Germany
‒ Christophe Frassa, Member of Parliament, France
‒ Konstantinos Karagounis, Member of Parliament, Greece
‒ Irine Yusiana Roba Putri, Member of Parliament, Indonesia
‒ Lukas Savickas, Member of Parliament, Lithuania

Reception - Latvian National Museum of Art

Jana Rozentala laukums 1, Rīga

Welcoming remarks:

‒ Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, Latvia
‒ Rihards Kols, Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee, Saeima of the Republic of Latvia
‒ Artūrs Toms Plešs, Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development, in charge of Digital Transformation, Latvia
‒ Anthony Gooch, Chair, OECD Global Parliamentary Network

Safe digital spaces: data governance to enhance access and sharing

Christian Reimsbach-Kounatze, Economist, Policy analyst, Data Governance and Privacy / Security in the Digital Economy, Digital Economy Policy Division, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD

Adopted in October 2021, the OECD Recommendation on Enhancing Access to and Sharing of Data (EASD) is the first internationally agreed upon set of principles and policy guidance on how governments can maximise the cross-sectoral benefits of all types of data while protecting the rights of individuals and organisations.

This session highlighted the opportunities and challenges of data access and sharing, and how the OECD Recommendation on EASD can help governments develop coherent data governance policies and frameworks to unlock the potential benefits of data across sectors and jurisdictions.

• See the speaker's presentation (PDF)
  
• OECD work on Children in the Digital Environment
  
  

Special discussant – View from Latvia
Jekaterina Macuka, Director of the Data State Inspectorate of Latvia

Discussants:
Mattia Fantinati, Member of Parliament, Italy
Lukas Savickas, Member of Parliament, Lithuania

Coffee break

Governing and legislating in the digital age

View from the European Parliament:
Alexandra Geese, Member of the European Parliament
Andreas Schwab, Member of the European Parliament

Discussant: Fadli Zon, Member of Parliament, Indonesia

Group photo

Lunch

Combatting digital mis- and disinformation

Janis Karlsbergs, Publication and Policy Manager, NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence

Molly Lesher, Senior Policy Analyst, Going Digital, Digital Economy Policy Division, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD

• See the speaker's presentation (PDF)
• Toolkit: Disentangling untruths online: Creators, spreaders and how to stop them
• Podcast: Disinformation and its discontents
  
  

Discussants: 
Eun A Her, Member of Parliament, Korea
Anke Domscheit-Berg, Member of Parliament, Germany
Darren Jones, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Cybersecurity and digital security: managing risks and addressing vulnerabilities

Christian Reimsbach-Kounatze, Economist, Policy analyst, Data Governance and Privacy / Security in the Digital Economy, Digital Economy Policy Division, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD

As the digital transformation accelerates, our economies and societies are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks that can harm organisations’ assets, reputation and competitiveness. Such attacks may even result in companies shutting down and, with the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), threaten human safety. The surge of ransomware attacks is the most recent illustration of this trend, affecting operators of critical activities such as gas distribution and healthcare.

This session highlighted how to strengthen security and trust, without inhibiting the benefits of the digital transformation and its potential to increase well-being, innovation and growth. The session focused on the economic and social aspects of cybersecurity, as opposed to aspects that are purely technical, directly related to criminal law enforcement or national security. It highlighted in particular the importance digital security risk management as a key characteristic of the OECD approach to digital security with a focus on (i) enhancing the security of products and services and (ii) encouraging vulnerability treatment.  

• See the speaker's presentation (PDF)
  
  

View from Latvia: Kristians Teters, CERT.LV - the Information Technology Security Incident Response Institution of the Republic of Latvia

Discussant: Luis Jesús Uribe-Etxebarría, Member of Parliament, Spain

18.00 - 18.15         

Closing remarks and next steps