Description
A multilateral framework on global data governance is necessary to harness the promises of increased digitalisation for sustainable development and the Fourth industrial revolution (4IR). In 2020, China urged BRICS countries to strengthen cooperation in various areas of the emerging digital economy, including artificial intelligence and 5G. Consequently, China launched the BRICS innovation center in 2021. The center promises to deepen links between BRICS countries and improve global access to emerging technologies. However, increasing techno-nationalism in China and India, as well as the US and the EU, threaten the viability of the BRICS innovation base.
Using global governance as an analytic lens, this paper unpacks the catalytic role of the BRICS in influencing global data governance. It warns that increasing techno-nationalism has severe implications for multilateralism and the deployment of emerging digital technologies.
