TRANSCRIPT OF AMBASSADOR BURHAN GAFOOR, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS’ INTREVENTION AT THE FIRST INFOMRAL CONSULATIONS ON THE GLOBAL DIGITAL COMPACT, TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL CHAMBER AT UNHQ, MONDAY, 30 JANUARY 2022, 10.00AM.

Co-facilitators, thank you for your work and thank you for convening this meeting. I'm very much in agreement with many of the comments that have been made. Let me first of all start by endorsing the statement made by the Ambassador of Cuba, who has spoken for a large group of countries (i.e. the G77). We associate ourselves with that statement.

I wanted to give some reactions to some of the statements but also give some comments on the idea of a Global Digital Compact. First, I think the idea of a roadmap and the thematic deep dives will be very useful going forward. But I think for subsequent discussions it might be useful to have some guiding questions from the co-facilitators so that we can have focused discussions.

Second, there's been a lot of comments made with regard to digital literacy. I think it's important not only to elevate the level of digital literacy here in New York, but also in our capitals, and therefore I think it is important to give time in between the sessions. If there is a way to loosen the roadmap to allow for adequate time, that will be very much useful without fundamentally altering the roadmap. I do like the idea of having advance notice of such a roadmap, but I think with the current schedule many of us would not be able to get sufficient guidance from capitals.

Third, as we prepare for the Ministerial Meeting in September, it will be useful to get updates from the different UN agencies and bodies, in terms of what they are doing in the digital domain. I think it is important to have that landscape survey of what is already being done by the UN system in the digital domain before we go into the deep dives on very specific issues. So that is a suggestion that I'm putting to the co-facilitators. The other suggestion I have is that it is important that in the preparation for the SDG Summit, we do an audit of the 17 SDG goals to see how the digital dimension can accelerate the implementation of the 17 goals. And I would suggest that the two co-facilitators can also make a presentation at the SDG Summit itself to underline how the digital dimension can accelerate the implementation of the SDG goals, but also identify the gaps that have not allowed some of the implementation of the SDG goals. On education, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that digital technologies can be accelerated in terms of reaching larger segments of population to deliver education, but it has also shown that infrastructure, access to computers, and digital divide are real problems. And therefore, I think it's worth thinking about bringing the digital discussion into the SDG Summit right at the outset.

Now, let me now return to the topic of the Global Digital Compact. I would agree with those who have said that this must be action-oriented, it must be pragmatic, it must be policy-oriented. But it must also recognise the diversity of views and policies and systems around the world. Let's not get into the classic UN debate about harmonising and therefore homogenising structures and systems and societies. I think it's important that we accept the diversity of views and systems. Having recognised that of course, we must try our best to protect human rights, freedom of expression, inclusiveness, etc. But it all must start from the recognition that we are coming together as representatives of sovereign countries representing very diverse systems, but we are all committed to working together to find common ground. I think that's very important. Otherwise, my concern is that this process may become a proxy for some of the many difficult debates we had in other fora.

Let me conclude with three aspects of the GDC which are very important for Singapore. One is inclusiveness. The second is innovation. And the third is interoperability. I have made these comments before in a different setting (the GOF on Digital Technologies meeting on 23 November 2022). I call them the three “I”s.  Inclusiveness means not just involving the stakeholders, but inclusiveness at the national level and at the global level, in terms of reaching out to every segment of society, every person on the planet, and the ideas of infrastructure, digital divide, digital skills, and universal connectivity all becomes important.

Second, the GDC must be a framework for innovation. It must facilitate innovation. It must encourage and empower innovation. That means talking to the private sector, or those who have innovative ideas because ultimately, we need them to be part of the solution.

Thirdly, interoperability, which in a sense, relates to what the Secretary General said about fragmented systems, because if it's fragmented, it's not interoperable, and then we end up in silos. That does not create trust, engender cooperation, or lead to a multilateral system, and we will end up having this series of plurilateral structures. And that is not what the United Nations is about. It is fundamentally about creating a multilateral framework.

So these are some initial ideas. We look forward to participating actively in all the discussions. And once again, thank you for having volunteered to take up this herculean task, you have our support and we look forward to working with all delegations.

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