This paper discusses and compares the UN’s Global Digital Compact (GDC) and the African Digital Compact (ADC). It examines whether the GDC’s ambitions are realistically achievable, and how infrastructure and technologies can be effectively managed to enhance the production and use of data.
Following an extensive literature review, the paper looks at the relationship between data and digital governance, and the extent to which technology can enable digital transformation in developing countries. It looks at how (and if) Big Tech fits into a multi-stakeholder consensus on digital and data governance. Finally, it asks if a single global authority – the UN – can solve problems rooted in political and economic inequity.