One of the most important goals of the World Summit on Information Society was to narrow the digital divide that may contribute in narrowing the social divide between the global north and the global south.

15 years later, where are we? Was the divide reduced? Did the Internet contributed in reducing the gap between the poors and the riches? How about the development in the global south? What are the digital elements that may help a better economic growth? Did Internet contribute in the achievement of the SDGs?

The workshop will focus mainly on the MENA region, and will feature research conducted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Wamda and the Internet Society. It looks at both the opportunities and threats that are specific to the Middle East in building a digital economy, and offers recommendations and practical steps that can be taken to create a digital future in the Middle East, by that providing equal opportunities to everyone. The Digital Economy includes everything from small businesses improving their supply chain and entrepreneurs creating mobile apps, to governments deploying large-scale e-government solutions and global Internet platforms such as Facebook or regional ones such as Souq.com

With the introduction of GDRP in Europe and the discussion on the privacy and data protection issues and policies around the world, MENA region countries continue mostly to ignore the importance of introducing data protection laws and establishing independent bodies to enforce the protection of their citizens data.

In addition, Several countries in the region have introduced biometric data collection weather it’s for the registration of SIM cards in most countries in the gulf or the biometric ID introduced by the Jordanian government. Increasingly governments offer e-services for its citizens without clear mechanisms and assurances of data protection.