G7 Digital & Technology Roundtable: Investigating Data Localisation Impacts on MSMEs and Alternative Policy Responses
Updated 21 December 2021
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22nd September 2021 - Leeds Digital Festival
1. Background
In April 2021, the G7 Digital and Technology Ministers committed to a G7 Roadmap for Cooperation on Data Free Flow with Trust which set out a plan for action across four cross cutting policy areas. This included data localisation, where Ministers agreed to build an evidence base on the impacts of localisation measures, including on Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and alternative policy responses. *Following on from the G7 Roadmap, this roundtable event, facilitated by techUK at the Leeds Digital Festival, brought together across two panels (Panel 1: Investigating Data Localisation Impacts on MSMEs; Panel 2: Alternative Policy Responses to Data Localisation) experts from business, academia and government to discuss and further an evidence base. A list of speakers for each of the panels is on the Leeds Digital Festival website here.
2. Opening remarks
The UK’s Minister of State for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure, Julia Lopez MP, from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) provided the opening remarks. Minister Lopez spoke about the importance of creating an evidence base to support continued discussions on localisation, and the value of hearing firsthand from businesses and academia. The Minister noted the complexity of the topic, of its impact on trade, but also on wider society and the need to address security and privacy concerns holistically.
3. Highlights
- A representative for the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT) provided an overview of its trade and investment services, offered to MSMEs in the UK and through UK overseas missions. They reaffirmed the UK government’s commitment, as set in DIT’s Digital Trade Objectives, to securing trade agreements that promote data protection, prevent unjustified data localisation, and allow data to flow across borders.
- The panellists shared their thoughts on the impact that localisation can have on cross-border trade. On MSMEs specifically, panellists acknowledged that localisation was less of a barrier for larger companies, but could lead to small businesses exiting the market. A panellist pointed to the fact that many MSMEs are female owned and led (in the UK and globally) and that the impacts of localisation on women needed to be better understood. Another panellist said these stories should be amplified to leaders and policy makers to support decision making.
- The panellists agreed that the G7, as a group of like-minded countries, had an important role to play in helping set global standards. Alongside the G7 Digital and Technology Ministers, G7 Trade Ministers agreed a ground-breaking set of Digital Trade Principles on 22nd October, 2021. In these, Ministers expressed concern that localisation requirements are being used for protectionist and discriminatory purposes, as well as to undermine open societies and democratic values, including freedom of expression.