Session
ANU Tech Policy Design Centre
Professor Johanna Weaver, Director of ANU Tech Policy Design Centre, Australia Tanvi Nair, Research Fellow at ANU Tech Policy Design Centre, Australia
Professor Johanna Weaver, Director of ANU Tech Policy Design Centre, Australia
9.b
16.10
Targets: SDG 9B: The Tech Atlas supports domestic technology research and ensures a conducive policy environment by enabling researchers, civil society, governments, and industry to easily access relevant technology policies in their own countries and internationally. This visibility allows for greater openness, enables research into technology development, and informs the public of good practice (or bad practice) policy development. SDG 16.10: The Global Tech Atlas ensures that there is a public archived record of tech policy and legislation that is open, accessible, and easy to find. This creates better global access to tech policy, enabling researchers, civil society, government, and industry to be able to analyse whether internet policy in different jurisdictions are ensuring public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms.
Presentation: the focus will be on showcasing the capabilities of the Tech Policy Atlas, what it captures, how it filters, and calling upon attendees to contribute to the Atlas to keep it growing as a public repository of global tech information.
Every country in the world is grappling with how best to regulate the internet, but - until now - there has been a comprehensive publicly available repository of global attempts to do so. Developed by the Tech Policy Design Centre at the Australian National University, the Tech Policy Atlas is a new public repository of national tech policy, strategy, legislation, and regulation. Its purpose is to assist policymakers and researchers conduct evidence-based independent research on best practice internet regulation. The Atlas currently covers 36 jurisdictions, across 15 policy categories (everything from communications regulation to privacy, to cybersecurity, to data protection, to competition and consumer protection to national security). By the time the IGF meets, the Atlas will have an additional 30 jurisdictions, and will continue to grow. The Atlas Is a powerful tool for civil society, government, industry, and academia to study and compare tech policy from different jurisdictions globally. This tool advances our ability to compare how jurisdictions govern data and protect privacy, which enables us to take inspiration from other jurisdictions. It also provides transparency on development of tech policy in different regions, which enables safety, security, and accountability in technology policy development. This session will showcase the Tech Policy Atlas, encouraging IGF attendees to use and contribute to this powerful and growing resource. This will help build trust and ultimately advance Internet governance development in the Indo-Pacific region. You can access the Tech Policy Atlas online here: https://techpolicydesign.au/tech-policy-atlas
Interaction between onsite and online attendees and speakers will be facilitated through a video conferencing platform, enabling all participants to see the demonstration of the Tech Atlas in real time. For onsite users, we will project the Tech Atlas on a large screen and use a mouse to click through and move across the page to discuss different aspects of the map. Online users will have the option of following along while watching through a video conferencing call, or by using the link to the Atlas that we will provide for online users. This way, the online attendees can follow along at their own pace. For discussion, the onsite moderator will facilitate any onsite questions or discussion. At the same time, the online moderator will compile questions from the online participants and send them to the onsite moderator to answer. If time is running out, the online moderator will answer each question using the chat function. Online tools and platforms: Video conferencing platform (zoom); laser pointer/click for onsite moderator to point and click at Atlas on screen, in-room projecter so the Atlas can be displayed, microphone for onsite moderator, internet connection to run Atlas: https://techpolicydesign.au/tech-policy-atlas.
Report
The 2023 Internet Governance Forum in Kyoto highlighted the global challenge of regulating digital technologies, with countries exploring various approaches. The Australian National University Tech Policy Design Centre’s vision is to help develop best practice tech policy that enriches society.
To support this vision, we've established the Tech Atlas, a comprehensive public database encompassing global tech policies, strategies, legislation, and regulations. Our goal is to make it the primary resource for independent researchers and governments with limited resources. The Atlas serves as a tool for understanding diverse approaches to tech policy and regulation, identifying best practices, and exploring opportunities for harmonisation.
As countries introduce a range of tech regulations, the Tech Atlas simplifies the process of tracking and accessing them. Key discussions at the IGF, including artificial intelligence, cybercrime, and online safety, are categorised in our database for easy navigation within the Atlas.
We understand access to well-documented policies is crucial for researchers, enabling the identification of trends, evidence-based studies, and the formulation of actionable advice for governments and industries. The Atlas aims to be a go-to platform for tech policy information.
No one knows a jurisdiction as well as their citizens, and that’s why we want to ask for the help of others around the globe. We rely on users to spread the word that the database exists, and we’ve made it as easy as possible for people to make corrections and contributions. These entries are verified by our researchers, and we then upload it onto the Atlas!
Visit the Atlas, explore the database, and contribute to advancing global understanding of tech policies. The expertise of our user’s is invaluable in shaping a better technological future for humanity.
Key Outcomes
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The Atlas is a tool for evidence-based research into global tech policy. It will facilitate better research into tech policy from industry, government, and civil society.
Call to Action
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If you can, please contribute any new policies or regulations to the Atlas. We rely on user contributions to keep it updated.