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IGF 2024 WS #134 Data governance for children: EdTech, NeuroTech and FinTech

    Organizer 1: Jasmina Byrne, 🔒UNICEF

    Speaker 1: Jasmina Byrne, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
    Speaker 2: Emma Day, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
    Speaker 3: Steven VOSLOO, Intergovernmental Organization, African Group
    Speaker 4: Aki Enkenberg, Government, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

    Moderator

    Jasmina Byrne, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization

    Online Moderator

    Jasmina Byrne, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization

    Rapporteur

    Jasmina Byrne, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization

    Format

    Theater
    Duration (minutes): 90
    Format description: Theatre format would better allow hybrid participation including those attendees who could not travel in person especially from the GlobalSouth. We'd like to ensure as global participation as possible. If this format is not possible than a roundtable format is the second option.

    Policy Question(s)

    1. What do EdTech, FinTech and Neurotech and children have in common? 2. Where are EdTech, NeuroTech and FinTech for children headed in the next ten years, and what are the anticipated issues related to data governance? 3. How does child centered data governance of these emerging technologies relate to other child rights issues? 4. From the point of view of Children and child-rights, how can governments strike the right balance between rights-based regulation of new technologies and innovation. 5. How to enhance collaboration between data protection regulators government ministries responsible for these technologies, the private sector, and other stakeholders?

    What will participants gain from attending this session? • An understanding of the current global trends in data governance for children related to EdTech, FinTech, and Neurotech • Examples from leading governments on how they approach data governance for children in the context of emerging technologies • Examples from two global south countries re EdTech and FinTech or Neurotech? • Insights into how all stakeholders can contribute to better data governance for children and how this can improve principles and practices around data governance more generally.

    SDGs

    Description:

    Data, if used responsibly, can address social problems and challenges for the world’s children, while offering tremendous potential for innovation. However, several complex obstacles stand in the way of better governance of children’s data. This session will consider the need for rights-based data governance for children across the three fields of education technology (EdTech), neurotechnology (NeuroTech), and financial technology (FinTech). Globally, EdTech has been at the forefront of innovations in education. Increased digitalization and advances in AI and machine learning have provided opportunities to improve educational outcomes for children, in support of SDG 4. Other innovative technologies such as NeuroTech are also increasingly being trialled in diverse settings. NeuroTech offers powerful opportunities for improving children’s health, in support of SDG 3, and optimizing education, in support of SDG 4. As part of ending poverty, SDG 1.4 requires access to appropriate economic resources, including new technologies and financial services. While children are traditionally unable to legally hold financial assets or carry out transactions without the consent of their parents, FinTech makes it possible for children to make unsupervised transactions. All of these innovative technologies have also created data-related risks, threatening children’s rights to privacy, to access information, and to freedom of thought. The rapid introduction of all these technologies into children’s lives has largely outpaced policy debates and regulatory frameworks. There can be uncertainty around the roles of the key stakeholders responsible, such as ministries of education, health, and finance, consumer protection authorities, and data protection authorities. During this session we will consider a series of examples of attempts to govern children’s data in EdTech, Neurotech and FinTech, and brainstorm a set of recommendations to improve data governance for children in relation to innovative technologies and drawing insights and conclusions for improving principles and practices around data governance generally.

    Expected Outcomes

    UNICEF will take the findings from the session and write a follow-up article or blog post on the UNICEF website. The findings from this session will also inform the development of UNICEF led policy recommendations on data governance for EdTech, NeuroTech and FinTech which are all focus areas over the next two years.

    Hybrid Format: o The moderator onsite will have a laptop next to her and will be supported by an offsite moderator who will feed her questions from the Zoom chat from the audience. The theatre setting lends itself to a screen behind the panel, and questions from the audience will be curated for online interventions. o The curation of questions from the online audience will be key and this will be managed by an online moderator. There will be a balance between in-person interventions and online participation, with a balance between all participants having the chance to engage. o We plan to use the chat function and video function of Zoom.