Brasil holds webinar on the importance of the data economy for BRICS countries

Online seminar organized by the ministries of Development, Industry, Trade and Services and Foreign Affairs discussed the impact of the data economy on the development of the bloc's countries

By Ministério do Desenvolvimento, Indústria, Comércio e Serviços

The BRICS countries have begun discussions on the importance of data as a strategic digital asset for their economies. Organized by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services [Ministério do Desenvolvimento, Indústria, Comércio e Serviços/MDIC] and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [Ministério das Relações Exteriores/MRE], the webinar "Leveraging the Data Economy in the BRICS Digital Economy Community" provided an opportunity to share experiences on policymaking and practices related to national data governance frameworks. It also facilitated discussions on the challenges to be tackled.

Researchers, policymakers, representatives of international organizations, and private sector stakeholders participated in the online seminar, which was broadcast on the MDIC YouTube channel on Tuesday (March 18). Together, they discussed the impact of the data economy on the development of BRICS countries. This initiative took place as part of Brasil's BRICS presidency.

In the opening lecture, the Deputy Secretary of Industrial Development, Innovation, Trade, and Services at MDIC Luis Felipe Giesteira emphasized that the Brazilian government has been focused on studying and formulating a national policy for the data economy. "Our goal is to support the development of our digital economy in a sovereign and independent way," he stated.

However, he pointed out that, despite the expansion of data being a key production factor and a source of value creation for countries leading the digital economy race, emerging and middle-income countries remain excluded from the process of wealth appropriation. "Many of these countries are becoming mere exporters of data as a commodity, while importing digital solutions and services developed with the data generated within their territories," he said.

Among the challenges to be faced, Giesteira highlighted the need to create clear rules that ensure equal access to this asset for all involved parties. According to the Deputy Secretary of the MDIC, the creation of national policies will be necessary to allow states to negotiate bilateral data-sharing agreements between companies from different countries. "The discussion on the data economy must be linked to international negotiations on digital governance. Initiating this dialogue within BRICS, for the first time, represents an important step toward bringing the topic to other global decision-making arenas," he concluded.

The opening lecture also featured the director of the Department of Financial Policy and Investments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Philip Fox-Drummond Gough. When addressing the challenges, he mentioned the various national data regulations implemented in different countries, in addition to the 116 free trade agreements with commitments related to cross-border data flows. "This fragmentation scenario is a challenge to integrating developing countries into the global digital economy, for expanding investment in the digital economy, and for including micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises from the global South in global value chains," he said.

However, the ambassador stated that with the BRICS, there is an opportunity to redefine the international debate. "Last year, both internationally and within the BRICS, there was a growing recognition of the importance of this issue. That is why we chose the data gap as our third priority in the BRICS commercial track program," he explained.