A new report from the BSA – The Software Alliance points out that global trade rules have failed to keep pace with rapid innovations in software-based products and services, such as cloud computing and data analytics. To curb the rise of digital protectionism, the BSA proposes an agenda that encourages digital commerce, promotes innovation and creates a level playing field for information technology.
“Software-based technologies are driving transformative innovation across the economy and in all aspects of modern life. To reap the maximum possible benefits from these advances, governments need to encourage rather than inhibit digital commerce,” said BSA President and CEO Victoria Espinel. "We need modern trade rules that prevent new forms of IT-oriented protectionism and ensure that innovation can flow freely across borders."
“With regional agreements being negotiated in the Atlantic and Pacific, as well as separate conversations on IT services and products, we have a historic opportunity to craft the right trade agenda for the digital age," said Espinel. "Agreements that recognize the transformative impact of the Digital commerce will empower businesses of all sizes to innovate and grow, provide consumers with access to the best products and services, create jobs and improve quality of life."
The BSA report "Strengthening the Digital Economy: A Trade Agenda to Spur Growth" catalogs examples of digital protectionism that reduce the social and economic benefits of software-based products and services. Examples of these non-traditional market barriers include restrictions on cross-border information flow, nationalistic technology certification and standard-setting policies, and favoritism for local IT products and services in government procurement.
To encourage trade in goods and services in the digital age, the BSA has prepared an agenda consisting of three parts:
1) Modernize the rules so that they reflect the realities of digital commerce today. This requires facilitating trade in innovative services, such as cloud computing, by keeping borders open for the free flow of data and avoiding mandates dictating where servers or other computing infrastructure must be located.
2) Promote the continuous progress of technological innovations. To do this, a trade agenda must provide strong protections for intellectual property and encourage the use of market-oriented voluntary technology standards.
3) Ensure that there is a level playing field for all competitors. For this, governments should serve as a model. They must act with full transparency regarding how they choose which technologies to purchase, making decisions based on whether the product or service best meets current needs and offers good value, rather than on where the technology was developed.
“Any country that wants to compete globally in the information age needs a comprehensive digital agenda that includes forward-looking trade policies,” explained Espinel. “Governments need to recognize that compartmentalizing information in a networked world is self-defeating; no national economy can grow in isolation as fast as it grows with solid commercial relationships”.
The full report is available at: www.bsa.org/digitaltrade.
quick access
EN 
PT 
