Exploring Opportunities in the Digital Economy and AI at the G20

By Bruno Bioni, Jaqueline Pigatto, Louise Karczeski, and Nathan Paschoalini

As digital technologies rapidly evolve, they present significant opportunities for addressing challenges such as poverty, inequality, and climate change. However, these technologies also have risks that require careful management to prevent reinforcing social inequalities or creating new ethical dilemmas. The task force 5 of T20 Brasil, the official engagement group for think tanks in the Group of 20 (G20), under the name, ‘Inclusive Digital Transformation,’ focused this year’s work on crafting a governance framework that ensures artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven innovations contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth, benefiting all sectors of society.

Led by the organizations Data Privacy Brasil and Observer Research Foundation, the task force has engaged several international think tanks to provide ideas and policy proposals on crucial areas of technological development, such as AI and Digital Public Infrastructures (DPI). This includes encouraging G20 nations to adopt policies that protect individual rights while fostering innovation. Such an approach not only ensures that digital tools support development goals like quality education, decent work, and a sustainable environment but also helps establish a shared ethical and regulatory foundation for a digital economy that leaves no one behind.

Recognizing the pivotal role of a data justice perspective, the task force’s recommendations aim to reduce informational and power asymmetries, while consistently focusing on aspects of inclusion/exclusion. The work involved evaluating and publishing almost 100 policy briefs containing policy recommendations on the priority areas submitted by representatives from research centers and think tanks from around the world. These documents also informed the final statement of the task force, containing main policy recommendations which were aggregated in the T20 Communiqué.

The work of the Task Force also connects to the debate initiated by the UN in 2024 regarding technology governance aligned with the SDGs. The focus on data governance and AI is present in the Global Digital Compact, adopted by Member States at the Summit of the Future (SoF) last September. Thus, the G20 has the opportunity to invest in policies aligned with the SDGs through a shared agenda, while catalyzing domestic actions aimed, in this moment, at the Global South.

The Brazilian Presidency forms the Troika alongside India and South Africa, setting an agenda that addresses the inequalities and injustices arising from technologies produced in the Global North. Under Brazil’s leadership, the group has been able to advance important topics such as information integrity, DPI, and AI, as well as invest in meaningful connectivity so that citizens have effective access to the Internet and its benefits.

Throughout the Brazilian presidency of the G20, AI has repeatedly been brought up as a priority issue. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was particularly vocal about the need for advancing AI that is attuned to Brazilian culture, language, and social demands. This culminated in the delivery of the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan, in August of 2024.

In light of this momentum on AI, and the perceived fragmentation of the discussions surrounding it – and related areas such as data governance – the T20’s task force on Inclusive Digital Transformation has worked towards building bridges between different groups for finding common positions on the topic. Understanding the G20’s role in agenda setting and the encouragement for social participation led by the Brazilian Presidency, the task force actively collaborated with other engagement groups to provide actionable policy recommendations on AI.

This resulted in the launch of the São Luís Declaration, which presents consensual perspectives on AI among four G20 engagement groups: Civil20 (civil society group); the L20 (labor sector group); the T20 (research centers and think tanks group); and the W20 (women’s group). Before the São Luís Declaration, the T20 and C20 had already issued a joint statement on economic, environmental, and digital areas, including addressing principles for AI. Culminating from a six-month process of negotiations, which included an in-person meeting, the São Luís Declaration represents a milestone for the plural construction of policies on AI, by outlining a shared vision of its future within the G20 framework.

The Declaration’s recommendations are informed by two complementary perspectives: data justice, which addresses global power asymmetries in data use and promotes equitable AI governance; and an intersectional approach, to ensure that AI systems protect rights. These approaches prioritize the protection of vulnerable groups, especially women and girls, increasingly at risk of technology-facilitated gender-based violence. The recommendations touch on issues such as the development of a collaborative position on data governance within the G20, strategies for promoting decent work and climate justice, the need for rights- and risk-based approaches to AI regulation, and better coordination among international bodies on the subject.

This connects with another recommendation from the Task Force on data governance, or Data20 – a proposal being forwarded to the Sherpa Track, composed by representatives of each G20 country which are responsible for conducting preliminary discussions and agreements before the final leaders’ summit, to become a G20 Initiative under South Africa’s presidency. The idea is that a cohesive approach to data governance can enable better policies for technologies and applications that rely on large databases, potentially benefiting countries and the SDGs. This would enable, for example, higher quality in the use of AI and DPI.

Data20 first appeared as a call to action to the G20, led by partner organizations Aapti Institute, Data Privacy Brasil, and ODI. Developed through discussions led by the T20 task force and the Steering Committee of the Global South Alliance, which Aapti Institute and Data Privacy Brasil are both part of, the proposal is for Data20 to serve as a coordination track on data governance within the G20. This initiative would act as a bridge between the Sherpa Track and existing engagement groups focused on data, positioning itself similarly to the Brazilian Presidency’s Bioeconomy Initiative. Like that initiative, Data20 would foster inclusive dialogues and generate a final document of guiding principles.

Therefore, the recommendations of the T20 task force make an important connection between global governance and local demands, while highlighting an agenda from the Global South. It represents an important effort towards stimulating the participation of these countries and the representation of their particular interests in the global discussions of AI.

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Bruno Bioni is Founder and Executive Director of Data Privacy Brasil and co-chair lead of the T20 Inclusive Digital Transformation Task Force.

Jaqueline Pigatto is Coordinator at Data Privacy Brasil and deputy co-chair lead of the T20 Inclusive Digital Transformation Task Force.

Louise Karczeski is Researcher at Data Privacy Brasil and member of the secretariat of the T20 Inclusive Digital Transformation Task Force.

Nathan Paschoalini is Researcher at Data Privacy Brasil and member of the secretariat of the T20 Inclusive Digital Transformation Task Force.

Text published on 11/20/2024 on the SDG Knowledge Hub.