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# IGF 2018 WS #104 Well-being in the Digital Age (OECD Going Digital Project)

Format:

Panel - 90 Min

Theme:

Development, Innovation & Economic Issues

Subtheme:

Other
Sub-theme description: Well-being (encompassing health, the environment, work, safety, privacy, and digital security, among others).

Organizer 1: Molly Lesher, OECD
Organizer 2: Carlos da Fonseca, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil
Organizer 3: Marc Rotenberg, Electronic Information Privacy Center (EPIC)
Organizer 4: Fabrice Murtin, OECD

Speaker 1: Mónica Aspe, Government, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 2: Makoto Yokozawa, Private Sector, Asia Pacific Group
Speaker 3: Carlos Fonseca, Government, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 4: Claire Milne, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Relevance:

Digital technologies have both positive and negative impacts on the overall well-being of people and communities, with heterogeneous effects across population groups, depending on age, gender, income level or skill-set. This workshop would help shed light on how policymakers can develop a whole-of-government policy framework that balances all of the different well-being dimensions of the digital transformation for people and society more broadly, with a focus developing a measurement framework for well-being in the digital age. This policy question has risen to the top of the global digital agenda because technologies continue to develop rapidly and are combining in novel and innovative ways, pushing digital transformation in new and often unpredictable directions. On-going work under the OECD Going Digital project (see below) focuses on the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation for people’s well-being. The Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission has emphasised that economic growth is a means to enhance people’s well-being and not an end in itself. Likewise, digital transformation should not only bring about progress via intelligent and autonomous technologies, but also operate in conformity with human values, in particular fairness, to enhance people’s well-being. The OECD's Well-being Framework provides a good starting point to examine the impacts of digital transformation on people’s well-being because of its multidimensional nature. Preliminary findings from on-going OECD work suggest that designing appropriate policies becomes increasingly complicated as the digital transformation of economies and societies involves a radical change in how people live, work and interact. For example, growing pressures to compete with machines in the workplace; the use of algorithms and digital platforms enabling patient-managed healthcare and more efficient service delivery, but also related ethical risks and privacy concerns; and the impacts of automation on adolescents’ development and human relations, all illustrate how the new digital context affects the drivers of individuals’ well-being. In particular, better empirical evidence about large-scale data breaches and improper data collection and sharing with a range of different actors would help quantify this problem with a view to helping governments find constructive solutions to ensuring the well-being of its citizens. In January 2017, the OECD launched Going Digital: Making the Transformation Work for Growth and Well-being (the Going Digital project). The project aims to help policymakers better understand the digital transformation that is taking place and create a policy environment that enables their economies and societies to prosper in a world that is increasingly digital and data-driven. The work on well-being is one component of this broader project: www.oecd.org/going-digital.

Session Content:

The impact of digital technologies on well-being is in many cases still uncharted territory for policy-makers. This workshop would inform participants about the well-being component of the Going Digital project and seek feedback on the mapping of the related changes in society and the associated policy responses. I. Opening and overview of the OECD Going Digital work on well-being (10 minutes, Fabrice Murtin, moderator, OECD) III. Stakeholder perspectives on fostering well-being in the digital age (30 minutes) ● The Brazilian perspective, Carlos da Fonseca, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil (6 minutes) ● The Korean perspective, Wonki Min, Leading Professor, SUNY Korea Department of Technology & Society (6 minutes) ● The civil society perspective, Marc Rotenberg, EPIC (6 minutes) ● Views from the Internet technical community, Constance Bommelaer, ISOC (6 minutes) ● Views from business, Carolyn Nguyen, Microsoft (6 minutes) IV. Open discussion among participants and panelists (45 minutes) V. Closing (Fabrice Murtin, OECD, 5 minutes).

Interventions:

The speakers will be invited to structure their interventions by responding to the following two questions: 1. What do you see as the three most important aspects for policymakers to consider when developing a digital policy framework to foster well-being for people and communities? 2. It is clear that there are both positive and negative impacts of digital technologies on the well-being of people and communities. How can policymakers best assess and manage the trade-offs? Given that we have a diverse range of perspectives on the panel (economists, lawyers, technologists, and current and former government officials from developing and developed countries), they should all bring a unique perspective to trying to help further develop an understanding on how to foster individual and societal well-being in the digital age. We will also identify several youth experts to intervene from the floor and/or online.

Diversity:

There are 4 women (Molly Lesher, Angela Attrey, Mónica Aspe and Claire Milne) and 4 men (Fabrice Murtin, Carlos da Fonseca and Makoto Yokozama) involved in the workshop. 5 different stakeholder groups are represented: governments (Brazil, Korea), intergovernmental organisations (OECD), civil society (Electronic Privacy Information Center), Internet technical community (The Internet Society), and business (Microsoft). 4 regions are represented: Asia-Pacific (Korea, Australia), Latin America (Brazil), Europe (France), and North America (United States). A range of different policy perspectives are represented, including economists (Fabrice Murtin, Molly Lesher), lawyers (Marc Rotenberg), civil society (Claire Milne), and current and former government officials (Carlos da Fonseca and Mónica Aspe). If the workshop proposal is accepted, we will reach out to individuals on the Youth Expert List 2018 to invite several youth experts to participate actively in the workshop from the floor. In addition, the on-line moderator is a youth working on digital economy issues (24 years old).

Online Participation:

The OECD will provide a trained online moderator to ensure that the workshop offers remote participation online, including by allowing for one online participant to intervene after every intervention by an in-person attendee. The online moderator will be in direct contact with the moderator in the room so adaptations can take place in a timely fashion. Before the workshop, the session will be promoted by all of the co-organisers (OECD, EPIC, Brazil) to try to encourage online participation.

Discussion Facilitation:

The use of the 2 discussion questions indicated above should help facilitate focused interventions from the speakers; they will also be useful as a means to engage with the audience, in person and on-line. Half of the session is dedicated to audience participation (in person and online), and it is expected that there will be a lively debate. Active participation from youth experts will be encouraged prior to the workshop. To the extent that the moderator needs to spur discussion, another discussion question directed to the audience will be used, such as: What aspects of well-being cannot be quantified -- at least not today -- and how would you go about addressing these policy issues from an evidence-based approach?

Onsite Moderator:

Molly Lesher

Online Moderator:

Angela Attrey

Rapporteur:

Molly Lesher

Session Time:
Monday, 12 November, 2018 - 10:30 to 12:00
Room:
Salle XI

## Archived Content

- 2017 IGF: Geneva
- 2016 IGF: Jalisco
- 2015 IGF: João Pessoa
- 2014 IGF: Istanbul
- 2013 IGF: Bali
- 2012 IGF: Baku
- 2011 IGF: Nairobi
- 2010 IGF: Vilnius
- 2009 IGF: Sharm El Sheikh
- 2008 IGF: Hyderabad
- 2007 IGF: Rio de Janeiro
- 2006 IGF: Athens

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## Contact Information

United Nations
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