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On 5 June, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, will present the UN Secretary-General's Policy Brief on the Global Digital Compact - an Open, Free and Secure Digital Future for All.

The next steps will go through key dates, already scheduled, and culminating in the Future Summit in September 2024. It will be important to understand the scope and impact of the public consultation which closed at the end of April, and which aggregates the contributions open to all interested parties, following a multistakeholder approach. It should be noted that .PT participated in the drafting of the submission presented by CENTR - representing the European ccTLDs -, where some of the national initiatives of its responsibility are expressly mentioned, namely the PTSOC service and the Rampa Digital digital inclusion project.

This document already points out some guidelines to be considered.
First of all, the fact that technology is identified as a facilitator, not only for economic growth, but also as a trigger for the fulfilment of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), brought to light by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. The scenario is not, however, pointed out as absolutely favourable, far from it, this same document identifies, namely, the problem of the low level of digital inclusion and empowerment, the fragmentation of the internet, the isolated dominance of a handful of platforms and the lack of control and governance of data as touchstones, which will hinder this gear that is wanted to be agile and with effective results in a time horizon that is not far away, remember, 2030.

António Guterres calls for cooperation and dialogue, reinforces the idea of a digital future based on people, a digital future that is open, free, reliable and secure. To this end, three areas are identified where cooperation cannot, we would say, have any room for hesitation 1) fighting the divide, the digital divide, by bringing the SDGs back to the top of the agenda; 2) build an open, safe and reliable online space for all, not forgetting women and all those who today are and are excluded 3) ensure the existence of mechanisms - either in the form of law, standards or other (effective) soft law mechanisms - capable of governing emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), always guided by human rights, ethics and the necessary and careful risk management. 

The whole document also calls for urgent action and effective collaboration between governments, companies and people, in favour of an equitable and sustainable development. 

We will follow with attention and expectation new developments, until then we suggest that you do not fail to participate in this discussion. On 12 July, another edition of the national IGF will take place, where the theme of will be the Global Digital Compact, join us at: https://governacaointernet.pt/evento_2023/