IGF 2021 HIGH LEVEL EXCHANGE PANEL: How to promote inclusive and diverse innovation, investment opportunities and corporate social responsibility in digital technologies?

Digital transformation is revolutionising ways of doing business across all sectors and disciplines. Emerging technologies carry an enormous potential for positive change in terms of promoting resilience, sustainability and inclusion. But this requires strong awareness and capacity building efforts to meet the challenges of creating technologies that are truly inclusive and crafted to the real needs of societies.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)   aims at the sustainable governance of digital technologies while respecting human rights. Its role is vital in handling the new relationship between labour and technology, namely the impending squeeze out of human jobs by automation. It is also crucial for ensuring a more transparent, balanced and fair relationship with users. Businesses need to be responsible and careful about how their digital behaviours impact employees, customers, and society as a whole. CSR performance will be increasingly relevant for investors. Neglecting it may cost a profit-making business reputational damage that will eat away at its value.

This discussion will focus on the close relationship between business growth and the sustainable development and governance of digital technologies.