In 2020, an estimated 2.5 quintillion bytes of data was generated per day. Statistics show that by 2025, 463 exabytes of data will be produced on a daily basis. Described as the ‘oil’ of the 21st century, the potential of data to achieve breakthroughs in various industries and fields is significant. Diplomacy is no exception. Despite popular belief that diplomacy is traditional in nature, it is tasked to continuously adapt to an ever-changing world.
In the diplomatic context, data and related topics are addressed in international forums, but also at regional and bilateral levels. To illustrate, questions pertaining to data sharing have been addressed at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) since its outset. Regional bodies, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Council of Europe (CoE), and the Organization of American States (OAS), have tackled the protection of personal data, while the USA and the UK have, for instance, bilaterally negotiated the issue of data access by which British legal authorities can access data from American communications providers without review by US authorities, and vice versa.
While the above mentioned are just few of the many developments, at a time where data has moved from scarcity to abundance, the diplomat faces new challenges and opportunities.
Making use of abundance
In order to make use of abundance, the first question one should ask is what is the potential of data in diplomatic practice.
Data could be used to better inform foreign policy, measure foreign and domestic sentiments, or to monitor quickly-unfolding emergency situations. In addition to serving as a tool, data arises as a topic on the diplomatic agenda, from data-sharing between countries and the protection of personal data across borders, to the regulation of e-commerce data flows and international standards related to data. Finally, referring back to the oil metaphor, i.e. data becoming increasingly valuable, it can be regarded as a factor in geopolitical power dynamics, placing significant leverage on those countries and actors that collect, store, and control data and its infrastructure.
Our work on data and diplomacy
The Data Diplomacy project
In 2017, DiploFoundation was commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland to conduct a research project on data diplomacy. The Data Diplomacy project included policy research, data policy seminars, and other activities which provided an overall analysis of the impact of big data on diplomacy and international affairs. The objective of the project was to:
- explore the trends and best practices in data science that are relevant for diplomacy and international affairs
- analyse the limitations and challenges related to the application of big data to diplomacy and international affairs
- foster dialogue among data scientists and diplomatic communities
- raise awareness and understanding on the topic of data diplomacy among foreign affairs officials
As a final output of the project, DiploFoundation launched the report Data Diplomacy: Updating Diplomacy to the Big Data Era in February 2018. You can also consult the press release and the executive summary.
In case you have questions, suggestions, or would like to get involved, subscribe to our Data Diplomacy mailing list or get in touch with the data diplomacy team at data@diplomacy.edu.
Data and digital policy
In Geneva, the main operational hub of the United Nations and the international system, data appears in two major realms. First, data serves as a tool to develop better policies on health, trade, migration, and climate, to name just a few relevant areas. Second, data is a topic of diplomatic negotiations, addressing privacy, security, digital trade, and other important issues. To improve the understanding of this quickly-evolving issue, the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP) initiated in 2017 a series of activities and events called Data Talks which focus on how data is shaping our digital future.
Data Talks
The Data Talks address the potential, as well as the risks, related to data management in international affairs. The meetings have so far tackled issues such as cloud computing, data protection, open data, data immunities, and data for monitoring the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Gathering actors from International Geneva, the discussions focus on sharing best practices and experiences acquired across silos and institutions. The outcomes of the first four Data Talks discussions are captured in the short publication Data and International Organisations: Navigating Cross-Sectoral Data Challenges which maps the main challenges and best practices of data-related issues.
Road to Bern... via Geneva
Discussions on data did not stop there. Between January and October 2020, ahead of the World Data Forum, a series of Road to Bern... via Geneva meetings, led by the GIP and the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva, were organised in order to explore the opportunities of data in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Taking advantage of Geneva’s rich data and digital policy landscape, the dialogues were dedicated to the data life cycle: (i) collection of data, (ii) sharing of data, (iii) use of data, and (iv) protection and privacy of data. Each of the four dialogues was co-hosted by two Geneva-based international organisations as a way to engage entities of the Geneva ecosystem (WHO, WMO, ICRC, WIPO, ITC, CERN, ITU, WEF).
The practical applications of data
In light of the Road to Bern dialogues and reflections on the role of data as a tool, Diplo’s Data and AI team has developed the Data Engine consisting of the Data Sandbox and Countries-Companies Comparison tools.
The Data Sandbox aims to provide a better understanding on a wide variety of data sets ranging from climate change, COVID-19, and digital development. The tool has been developed with the intention to help diplomats and researchers identify patterns in a country's position across the above-mentioned data sets and ultimately trigger further research. The Countries-Companies Comparison tool compares the GDP of a country with the market capitalisation of tech companies.
Data diplomacy resources
DiploFoundation has published a number of papers, policy briefs and blog posts (see below) on the topic of data diplomacy:
Papers and policy briefs
- Data diplomacy: Updating diplomacy to the big data era (February 2018)
- Data and international organisations: Navigating cross-sectoral data challenges (February 2018)
- Data diplomacy: Big data for foreign policy (October 2017)
- Leaving no one behind in the data revolution (August 2017)
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Data diplomacy: Mapping the field (April 2017)
Webinars
- Data diplomacy and knowledge management - key skills for the next generation of diplomats (December 2016)
- Evidence and measurement in Internet governance (November 2014)
- Big data and cyberdiplomats: Big opportunities or big problems? (October 2013)
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E-participation webinar: Open data (May 2013)
Training and courses
What's next?
Join us for the various events related to data diplomacy, and get in touch with us:
- Learn more about Diplo’s Data Diplomacy research project, in collaboration with the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Find out about the Geneva Internet Platform’s data programmes
- Subscribe to our Data Diplomacy mailing list
- Subscribe to DiploNews, Diplo’s bi-monthly e-newsletter
- Get in touch with us at data@diplomacy.edu