The United Nations Tech Envoy are asking: How can we best ensure an “open, free and secure digital future for all”? And I am going to contribute to the call. Would you support my draft and join? The United Nations are asking people and organizations all over the world to contribute to a Global Digital Compact until end of 2022. I am happy about comments and everyone who supports the draft and would like to join the submission. I do not mind if it is in German or English. I decided to publish in English to address a broader community.
Background
The call to contribute to a UN Global Digital Compact follows the UN Secretary´s Common Agenda report where the Secretary-General stated
“It is time to protect the online space and strengthen its governance. I would urge the Internet Governance Forum to adapt, innovate and reform to support effective governance of the digital commons and keep pace with rapid, realworld developments. Furthermore, building on the recommendations of the road map for digital cooperation (see A/74/821), the United Nations, Governments, the private sector and civil society could come together as a multi-stakeholder digital technology track in preparation for a Summit of the Future to agree on a Global Digital Compact.“ (p. 63)
In the Secretary-General´s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation he suggested – together with a High-level Panel for Digital Cooperation and further roundtable discussions – eight key areas for action. They are depicted in the graphic. 
The call for contribution to the UN Global Digital Compact bases on this suggestions.Further information https://www.un.org/en/content/digital-cooperation-roadmap/.
Call for contribution to a UN Global Digital Compact
Key questions for a UN Global Digital Compact are the following: How can we best ensure an “open, free and secure digital future for all”? What shared principles should be included in the Global Digital Compact? Which issues should be addressed – those mentioned above in the Common Agenda report or others? What can and should the international community do to address them?
Feedback is asked for the following areas
- Connect all people to the internet, including all schools
- Avoid internet fragmentation
- Protect data
- Apply human rights online
- Accountability for discrimination and misleading content
- Regulation of artificial intelligence
- Digital commons as a global public good
- Other areas
Feedback is asked for a core principle and key commitments with a maximum lengths of text. It is possible to contribute to a shared document or to send the feedback via email. Further information https://www.un.org/techenvoy/global-digital-compact.
My motivation
As a expert in Corporate Digital Responsibility I am involved in the discussion on a fair and inclusive digitalization for years. I described necessary extensions of the existing tools for Corporate Responsibility – like the UN Global Compact – in my Springer management book „Corporate Digital Responsibility“ (see pp. 115). In addition, as a sustainability manager I saw the huge impact of the UN Global Compact as the business commitment on sustainability launched by the United Nations in 1999. Simply put, corporate responsibility has only just begun with this.
I see a strong need for a new global coalition to use digitalization for the common good and I very happy about the initiative of the UN on a Global Digital Compact. Therefore I decided to contribute to the UN Global Digital compact from my perspective with an economic and business view.
Acknowledging the CDR Manifesto
During the work on my contribution for the UN, I encountered strong similarities of the feedback areas suggested by the UN and the CDR Manifesto. The CDR Manifesto was published by a group of corporate practitioners, authors and academics in 2021 (including myself). It aims to align different perspectives on Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) and wants to open up an international – global? – discussion. Therefore it is published in eight languages already. The CDR Manifesto consists of seven principles that support businesses heading for a Digitally Responsible Future. For more see https://corporatedigitalresponsibility.net/cdr-manifesto#cededdda-86a4-46ac-b3ba-d6b38b158620
Therefore I matched the CDR Manifesto principles to the feedback areas for the UN Global Digital Compact and found strong alignments described in the table below.
| CDR Manifesto principle | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | n/a |
| UN Global Digital Compact feedback area | ||||||||
| 1. Connect all people to the internet, including all schools | x | |||||||
| 2. Avoid internet fragmentation | x | |||||||
| 3. Protect data | x | |||||||
| 4. Apply human rights online | x | |||||||
| 5. Accountability for discrimination and misleading content | x | |||||||
| 6. Regulation of artificial intelligence | X | |||||||
| 7. Digital commons as a global public good | x | |||||||
| 8. Other areas | x | x | x | |||||
My conclusion: All of the CDR Manifesto principles could contribute to a UN Global Digital compact beside principle no. 1 “Purpose and Trust” which refers to corporate governance and corporate culture issues that might be not relevant for a broader societal perspective. On this basis I drafted a input text for the UN Global Digital Compact that I am disclosing below.
Your thoughts, your commitment?
I would like to start a discussion within my business network on this. What are your thoughts? Would you support the text? Where do you think it is necessary to change? I am more than happy to integrate the names of all supporters and share the text as our common input for the UN Global Digital Compact in December 2022 (new deadline).
Actual list of supporters
Rob Price https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rob-price-4a44884
Markus Besch https://de.linkedin.com/in/markusbesch
Boris Thienert https://www.linkedin.com/in/borisai/
Tina Teucher https://de.linkedin.com/in/tinateucher
Prof. Karen Elliott https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-elliott-3b692725/
Dr. Saskia Dörr https://www.linkedin.com/in/sdoerr/
Our Feedback to the UN Global Digital Compact (Draft)
Feedback area 1. Connect all people to the internet, including all schools
Core principle “Fair and Equitable Access for All”
Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion drives a need to engage different stakeholders, like customers and employees, effectively in the use of digital technologies and services. (cf. CDR manifesto principle 2 https://corporatedigitalresponsibility.net/cdr-manifesto#cededdda-86a4-46ac-b3ba-d6b38b158620)
Key commitment
Innovative, Accessible and Inclusive Products & Services
- Ensure all parts of society have access to digital technologies (connectivity, tools and know-how)
- Ensure that products and services are inclusive by design, user-centric, convenient and accessible design for all
- Facilitate improvements in social innovation through digital tools and technologies
Promote Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
- Promote diversity and diverse thinking, integrated into product and service design, avoiding tech/AI driven bias exacerbating societal perspectives
- Actively avoid discrimination within digital transformation of business
Responsible Employment Rights
- Ensure human and employee rights are maintained with responsible outsourcing of work to the gig economy
- Responsible employment rights across (digital) supply chain
- Respecting employee rights for privacy and human dignity at the digitalised workplaces
Feedback area 3. Protect data and Feedback area 4. Apply human rights online
Core principle “Promote Societal Wellbeing“
Protect data and personal privacy, empower people to engage and develop skills, and protect from harm to improve reputation and trust. (cf. CDR manifesto principle 3 https://corporatedigitalresponsibility.net/cdr-manifesto#29b15052-f38e-4237-a3a3-ff67dff17002)
Key commitment
Implement Strong Privacy
- Ensure data privacy protection for employees, customers, citizens and all stakeholders
Implement Responsible Data Practices
- Follow responsible data validation & disposal practices, including transparency of use & processing of external data
- Implement responsible cybersecurity protection and response practices
- Informing proactively when using tracking, scoring and profiling and giving opportunity to avoid
- Refrain from harmful behavioural manipulation by using data, tech and digital tools
Promoting Digital Maturity Skills
- Addressing digital poverty & promoting inclusion (access to digital, access to digital finance)
- Promote improvements in societal digital maturity (skills, trust and understanding)
Promoting Digital Wellbeing
- Pursuing socially ethical digital practices – to reduce amplification of ‘fake news’ & inappropriate digital influence (harm and digital wellbeing)
- Promoting physical & mental healthy lifestyle, supported or enhanced by digital products or services
Feedback area 6. Regulation of artificial intelligence
Core principle “Consider Economic and Societal Impact of automation”
Reputational need to consider the economic and societal impact of decisions within the organization, including use of algorithms and artificial intelligence for automation (cf. CDR manifesto principle 4 https://corporatedigitalresponsibility.net/cdr-manifesto#cededdda-86a4-46ac-b3ba-d6b38b158620)
Key commitment
Plan for Sustainable & Responsible Automation
- Replacing jobs done by humans in a responsible way, consideration of retraining/reskilling programmes
- Ensure ethical and unbiased, explainable AI decision making algorithms
- Enable employees to understand the ethical dilemma and societal impact of tech and digital transformation through awareness training
- Actively engage with employee opinion and feedback in digital transformation, automation and tech implementation
Transparency with Stakeholders with Verifiable 3rd Party Data
- Ensure organisations & consumers understand sources of collected data, where it is, what is done with it, including scoring, profiling, reporting
Share Digital Economic Benefits with Relevant Stakeholders
- Sharing economic benefits of digital work with society, for example through appropriate taxation
- Respecting personal data ownership rights, reduce data piracy and enable individual monetization
- Promote open data to enable broad innovation by all (including opening Right to Repair)
Feedback area 8. Other areas
Core principle “Accelerate Progress with Impact Economy”
To accelerate consumer demand of ecologically and societally better products. Incubate more cleantech and invest in sustainable and societal impact initiative. (cr. CDR manifesto principle 5 https://corporatedigitalresponsibility.net/cdr-manifesto#49436810-3755-491a-ba5a-65f9b17a68ad)
Key commitment
Invest in Sustainability / Environmental / Impact returns
- Look to partner ecosystems across supply chain, engaging (and measuring impact of) ecotech, cleantech digital solutions
- Position for growth in environmental markets that align to purpose and positive planet impact
Use Verifiable Offset
- Understand Carbon Credit market and if using offset, look to use verifiable offset or digitally enabled natural carbon sequestration (like e.g. reforestation and afforestation)
Accelerate & Innovate Sustainable Consumer Behaviours
- Use Digital products to enable, for example, price discriminating digital tools that promote sustainable practices
- Consideration of economic models that are more conducive to sustainable practices
Feedback area 8. Other areas
Core principle “Creating a Sustainable Planet to Live”
To move beyond Carbon Zero or Carbon Negative to Planet Positive, to create a more positive impact on the planet than your organizational scope using digital products and services (cf. CDR manifesto principle 6 https://corporatedigitalresponsibility.net/cdr-manifesto#b6fb833c-5cde-4685-9f4a-0f7545bad301)
Key commitment
Report impact of business against 3rd party impact assessments
- Promote transparent, sustainable and ethical working practices across the supply chain linked to a recognized sustainability reporting standard such as UN Global Compact, Global Reporting Initiative, SASB, ESG frameworks or BCorp, including digital responsibility practices
Innovate & Positively Impact Beyond Corporate Boundary
- Using Digital technologies or services, look to innovate and create new product lines or business capabilities that tangibly and positively impact
- Economic Sustainability – of supply chain, of people, of business
-
- Societal Sustainability – social cohesion, trust and privacy
- Environmental Sustainability (climate change, biodiversity, waste, resources)
- Introduce Circular Economy principles in Product Design
- For example, contribution of data or APIs, or utilization of other technologies with data science of analytics to create new societal & environmental benefits
Feedback area 8. Other areas
Core principle “Reduce Tech Impact on Climate & Environment”
To mitigate the impact of your organisations technology impact as you head towards Carbon Zero or Carbon Negative and Net Zero. (cf. CDR manifesto principle 7 https://corporatedigitalresponsibility.net/cdr-manifesto#a5e91405-b079-46ee-b893-c02d2257eb34)
Key commitment
Implement an Environmental IT Strategy
- Following responsible recycling practices for digital technologies – target zero waste, promote circular economy
- Following responsible disposal practices for digital technologies, including extending tech life span, e.g. of smartphones and using refurbished IT
- Design in Environmental considerations in the use of digital technologies – e.g. Sustainable Web Design & IT Strategy
Measure, Report, Minimise Energy use & move to Renewable Energy
- Reduce consumption by measuring & actively reducing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions using Digital tech
- In your data centres, and supply chain data centres, direct and indirect
- In your offices & business facilities
- In your travel & vehicle fleets
- In your decentralised asset base
Feedback to be integrated
- Just taxation of all digital products and services
- Use of renewable energies (wind, solar, water, biomass) for energy supply of all digital technologies
- Responsible sourcing of resources for digital products (socially AND ecologically)
