Opinion | Is the US building a wall or a bridge to a data-driven economy? It’s time America rejoined the conversation on digital governance and rights

Past American presidents from Bush to Clinton and Obama sought to advance and lead the understanding and governance of emerging technology. Trump has, however, abandoned this approach in favour of protectionism

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The United States is home to Silicon Valley and world-changing tech companies such as Google. The Trump administration should be building bridges, and not walls, to help the rest of the world understand the new and fast-changing data-driven economy. Photo: AP

Published: 12:35pm, 30 May 2019Updated: 12:35pm, 30 May 2019

For almost 25 years, American tech companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and IBM have dominated the internet, changing how people work, study, shop and engage with others. These companies benefited from a wide range of economic factors — early mover advantage, a skilled workforce and relatively easy access to venture capital.

Moreover, their early success gave them valuable input: an enormous supply of data with which to develop innovative products and services, including artificial intelligence assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa.

America’s internet giants were also helped by a coherent approach to data governance. Democrat and Republican policymakers alike built trust online by linking the free flow of data across borders with efforts to protect personal data online and the rule of law.

The Clinton administration collaborated with other nations to delineate principles to govern cross-border data flows and protect personal data. The George W. Bush administration developed non-binding language in its trade agreements based on these principles.

The Obama administration pushed for digital rights globally and found common ground with 11 other nations on binding and disputable rules to govern e-commerce in the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.

US President Donald Trump, as part of his “America first” policy, has rolled back much of the liberal progress made in the previous administrations. Photo: Bloomberg

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