INDEP online Talk with Cecilia Rikap and Edemilson Paraná on “Reclaiming Digital Sovereignity”

Digital sovereignty has become an urgent question in contemporary policy debates, due to the way in which digital platforms have become a crucial instrument of influence and infrastructural power. World regions such as Europe and Latin America that – compared to China and the US – have little domestic capacity in key digital technologies such as semiconductors, software, cloud services, and more, are now drafting policies to reclaim control over digital technology. But to what extent are these digital sovereignty agendas realistic given the enormous dominant positions of Big Tech platforms? What should the priorities for those wanted to expand digital sovereignty in a democratic, people-centred way that respects planetary boundaries? These questions have become more urgent in the face of strong integration between the state and Big Tech in the US under the presidency of Donald Trump, and the way the US is using the global reach of its digital platforms as a geopolitical club. In this talk, Cecilia Rikap and Edemilson Paraná will present the basics of a report that they co-authored with other colleagues that aims at developing an alternative to Big Tech that at the same time advances concrete forms of democratic planning.

The event will be in English.

To participate, please register here.