Q3/2018 - G20 Presidency, Argentina
Since the Chinese G20 Presidency in 2016, the annual meeting of the Digital Ministers has become an established event in the G20 calendar. The documents adopted in 2016 and the results of the G20 Digital Ministers' Conference (April 2017 in Düsseldorf) under the German G20 Presidency were confirmed at the 2018 meeting in Salta, Argentina. This applies in particular to the "G20 Roadmap for Digitalization" and the work of the "G20 Digital Economy Task Force" (DETF). These documents contain jointly agreed principles, guidelines and framework conditions for the promotion of the digital economy. However, so far hardly any major joint projects have emerged. In contrast to the G20 under German Presidency, no multistakeholder conference was held in Argentina before the G20 Digital Ministers' Meeting.
Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting, Salta, 23 to 24 August 2018
Under the Argentinian Presidency, the G20 concentrated in Salta on the consequences of digitisation for the world of work and the improvement of eGovernment. The concrete result was a document with the title “G20 Digital Government Principles”. In the adopted paper, general guidelines are outlined for seven areas, which shall provide orientation to the G20 governments for the development of national eGovernment programs.
Another important issue was the improvement of statistical surveys on the development of the digital economy. There was broad agreement that successful long-term strategies can only be developed on the basis of solid and robust data. However, there are no uniform global statistics standards so far. The G20 conference in Salta now adopted a “G20 Toolkit for Measuring the Digital Economy”. The instrument was developed by the Argentinian Presidency together with the ITU, UNCTAD, the European Union, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Further decisions made in Salta related to the need to interlink the “G20 Roadmap for Digitalization” closer with the Sustainable Development Goals of the UND (SDGs) STEAM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) in order to close the "Digital Gender Divide".
Education Ministerial Meeting, Mendoza, 5 September 2018
The G20 Education Ministerial Meeting on 6 September 2018 in Mendoza focused on the consequences the digital revolution will have for education. The G20 Education Ministers agreed on a number of principles and adopted a document called “Policy Options for Education and Skills”. The document contains concrete recommendations on the development of new curricula, teacher training, the use of new technologies in teaching and learning, the financing of education and international cooperation.
Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting, Mar del Plata, 14 September 2018
At the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting on 23 September in Mar del Plata recommendations were adopted that explicate, among other things, which action can be taken to avoid that the opportunities inherent in the new industrial revolution (NIR) are left to the large global corporations and that instead the NIR will also be targeted to promoting the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of the digital economy. This could help to reduce the digital divide, which has been widening again in the recent years.
Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting, Mendoza, 6 September 2018
One of the topics at the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting on 6 September 2018 in Mendoza was the impacts of the digital revolution on the future of work. The G20 ministers expect the “Global Commission on the Future of Work” of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to provide additional impetus how to respond to the imminent radical changes on the labour market in a constructive way. In a separate document, a set of principles for “Promoting Decent Work in the Platform Economy” were adopted.
G20 Summit, Buenos Aires, 28 to 29 November 2018
The content of the documents of the G20 Ministerial Conferences will be incorporated into the final document of the G20 Summit of Heads of State and Government. The G20 Summit will take place in Buenos Aires on 29 and 30 November. Japan will take over the G20 Presidency in 2019.