[digital.global] in dialogue

The ‘Creative Bureaucracy Festival’ (CBF) will take place in Berlin on 5 June 2025. This conference will bring together representatives from administration, politics, civil society and science to rethink administration and present creative approaches to solving social challenges.

German development cooperation is actively represented in the CBF programme and addresses the following questions: How can data and artificial intelligence (AI) support policymaking in tackling global challenges? And what do innovative approaches look like in practice?

Link to Festival Website

Together with the Data Labs of the German Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) and the Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ), the BMZ Data Lab is organising the following events:

Interactive Panel: Game Changer Data—How Data Labs Make Smarter Policies

11 AM – 12 PM CEST | Transformation Stage

Innovative approaches and applications developed by the data labs of BMZ, BMV, and  BMBFSFJ for the German administration will be demonstrated. The Federal Chancellery’s data lab will also be part of the event, presenting the role of data labs in ministerial administration.

LINK to the PANEL

Workshop: Translating Data into Policy—Mapping Challenges, Crafting Solutions

12 – 13:30 PM CEST | Forum

Following the panel, participants can learn how data can be incorporated into political decision-making processes through practical use cases in the workshop, organised by the GIZ global project Data2Policy. The aim: to make policy more transparent and evidence-based.

LINK to the WORKSHOP

The UNESCO Conference on ‘Capacity Building on AI and Digital Transformation in the Public Sector’ will take place from 4–5 June in Paris to address capacity-building needs for public sector officials related to artificial intelligence (AI), digital technologies, and data governance. Over the course of two days, panels, keynotes and interactive sessions will bring together stakeholders to foster multi-stakeholder, multilateral digital cooperation and discuss how the global digital transformation can be advanced through capacity building of a key sector—civil servants.

Panel: ‘AI policy in practice: AI & data governance from the ground up’

June 5 | 12 AM–1 PM CEST | UNESCO Headquarters and online via livestream

Opening remarks by Yannik Sassmann from the Data Lab of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will set the scene for a panel discussion moderated by Deshni Govender from the FAIR Forward initiative. A highlight will be the launch of the AI Policy Playbook, which was jointly produced by the Africa-Asia AI Policymaker Network and GIZ.

François Fonteneau from PARIS21 and Maxwell Ababio from Ghana’s Data Protection Commission will explore inclusive and fair AI implementation in the public sector drawing on the AI Policy Playbook and a series of policy briefs produced by PARIS21. The conversation will invite questions from the floor so that participants can test the ideas against their own national contexts.

Join the Livestream here Conference Website

Hands-On Workshop: ‘The AI advantage: Smarter data, smarter decisions’

June 6 | half-day workshop | OECD Boulogne

The discussion will continue in a more hands-on format on 6 June 2025, when PARIS21 hosts the half-day workshop ‘The AI advantage: Smarter data, smarter decisions’ at the OECD premises in Boulogne, Paris. Guided by facilitators from PARIS21 and the BMZ Data Lab, policymakers will work through simulations, data-mapping exercises and generative-AI demonstrations designed to sharpen their evidence-informed decision-making skills.

Spots are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Secure your spot here:

Workshop Registration

The Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC) is a global gathering of leaders and changemakers from governments, international organisations, businesses, civil society, and academia. Together, they co-create innovative solutions for a sustainable and fair future. The next conference is scheduled for 2-3 June 2025.

HSC is organised by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Michael Otto Foundation and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

One of the focus areas of the HSC is responsible artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalisation. This initiative promotes responsible and accessible AI that fosters sustainable development, is human-centered, advances gender equality and protects the climate and environment. During the 2024 conference, UNDP, BMZ and partners announced a global platform to harness the potential of responsible AI for sustainable development.

Key milestones include:

• Agreement on shared principles for the human-centric design and use of AI to support the SDGs.
• The launch of the AI SDG Compendium, a global database showcasing how AI can contribute to sustainable development.

The upcoming Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI for the SDGs represents a collaborative effort to define how AI can create meaningful development outcomes for all. The Declaration promotes an optimistic vision: fostering equal partnerships across all sectors and societies, with a special emphasis on empowering emerging communities. It includes a set of voluntary commitments endorsed by a diverse group of stakeholders and will be finalised at the 2025 HSC.

more InformationWatch 2024’s Panel

A Turning Point for Platform Work?

The 113th session of the International Labour Conference takes place from 2-13 June 2025 in Geneva, marking a turning point for platform work. For the first time working conditions in the platform economy are on the agenda of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Once barely recognised as work, platform work has now become a topic whose significance can hardly be overestimated. Many platform workers are visible on the streets, on their bikes, and riding marked vehicles, changing how we experience and navigate the city. Ordering with a click is turning into the new reality of shopping and delivery, revolutionising other services like health and childcare as well. Alongside this, hundreds of millions of workers are working behind their laptop screens, rarely seen as part of this new global workforce connected online by a platform. The latter dictates the rules of engagement, decides the pay, and can unilaterally restrict or even deactivate workers’ accounts.

Thus, making the regulation of platform work and algorithmic management a priority and finding agreement on international standards is much needed to create certainty and protect workers in the digital age. The significance of a potential convention reaches beyond platform work and has implications for us all, as we experience the impact of digitisation seeping into our everyday work lives.

The conference is leading efforts to ensure decency and fairness not only in digital work but traditional employment more broadly. This is due to the rise of the gig model of employment, based on demand-driven short work agreements, which is common to the platform economy across sectors. Forty-hour workweeks are no longer the norm and rather becoming the unicorns of our time.

The future of work of yesterday is now the reality of work today. Over the next few days, we will observe ILO members—governments, including the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, workers, and employers’ representatives—discuss the way forward. This is a rare chance to spotlight such an important topic, and the shared hope is that this opportunity is used for good.

From 26 to 28 May 2025, STATION Berlin will once again be the hub for discussions on all aspects of digital society. With the theme of ‘Generation XYZ’, re:publica invites people of all ages to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the digital present and future.

The most important conference on digital society in the German-speaking region, re:publica brings together people from science, politics, business, civil society, the media, the arts, and online activism. The focus is on sharing knowledge and networking on digital policy topics, ranging from digital participation to climate protection, artificial intelligence, and working in the digital space.

We are looking forward to contributing to the following sessions:

Am I not human? Data workers behind our AI systems and social media platforms speak out

26 May 2025 | 12:30–1:30 p.m. CEST | Stage 3

The panel discussion shines a spotlight on the invisible work of data workers behind digital platforms. The focus is on joint demands for fair working conditions emerging from a German-Kenyan collaboration. Hosted by SUPERRR Lab, supported by our Gig Economy initiative, Siasa Place, the International Digital Dialogues and the Digital Transformation Centre (DTC) Kenya.

• Joan Kinyua, President, Data Labeler Association Kenya
• Andreas Hänisch, Deputy Chairman, TikTok Works Council
• Moderated by Rim Melake, SUPERRR Lab

Interview with Joan Kinyua Link to the panel

Governing and sustaining the AI Commons? Finding models to pass the pilot phase

26 May 2025 | 5:30–6:30 p.m. CEST | Speak Up

Big tech companies dominate the development of artificial intelligence (AI) with a ‘one-model-fits-all’ approach—at the expense of data protection, climate and fair labour. This panel discussion explores how the concept of federated AI commons can be realised as a sustainable and fair alternative—featuring our FAIR Forward initiative.

• Ramya Chandrasekhar, Researcher, Centre for Internet and Society, CNRS
• Renata Avila, CEO, Open Knowledge Foundation
• Daniel Brumund, Advisor AI and Digital Public Goods, GIZ FAIR Forward
• Moderated by Solana Larsen, writer and editor

Link to the panel

Makers, movers, and digital innovators: How digital skills empower Africa to drive global transformation

27 May 2025 | 11:15–12:15 p.m. CEST | Stage 6

Digital skills are central to sustainable change—socially, ecologically, and economically. Drawing on specific examples, this session shows how practical approaches, such as FabLabs and open-source technologies, can empower people of all ages in Africa to shape the digital future and develop global solutions.

• Anna Sophie Herken, Board Member, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
• Manuel Moritz, Senior Researcher, New Production Institute
• Debora Maboya, Head of Operations and Programs, Tai Tanzania
• Moderated by Katie Gallus, moderator and geographer

Link to the panel

From ‘black tax’ to ‘business capital’—Transforming African diaspora remittances

27 May 2025 | 12:30–1:00 p.m. CEST | Lightning Box 2

Remittances from the African diaspora offer more than just family support; they have enormous potential to drive economic change. This Lightning Talk explores how digital platforms, such as WIDU.africa, can transform private remittances into sustainable entrepreneurship—an example of knowledge transfer and global cooperation.

• Seronei Chelulei Cheison, founder and CEO, Sinonin Biotech GmbH

Link to the panel

The World Bank‘s Global Digital Summit 2025 will take place in Washington DC, USA from 17 to 20 March 2025 under the theme ‘Digital Pathways for All’. It is the second edition of the Global Digital Summit, which was launched in March 2024. The Summit is funded through the Digital Development Partnership (DDP), which serves as a platform for exchange between DDP partners, the World Bank and World Bank clients on digital development.

High-level speakers include:

• Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank
• Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of IFC
• Sangbu Kim, Vice President for Digital Transformation of the World Bank
• Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation
• Vivek Badrinath, Director General of GSMA
• Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary General of ITU

The latest projects and innovations in the digital sector are part of an exhibition with 24 private companies and partners, including the BMZ initiative GovStack, which will be exhibiting on 19 March.

The Digital Development Partnership is a World Bank initiative supported by development partners aiming to advance digital transformation in low- and middle-income countries by building strong digital foundations and enablers while facilitating use cases for digital economies to thrive. BMZ and GIZ are supporting the Multi-Donor-Trust-Fund since 2021, with a focus on the digital and green twin transition.

You want to learn more about our partnership with the World Bank on digital development? Have a look at last year’s results in the Digital Development Partnership (DDP) Annual Review 2024.

More information
Watch the Live Stream

As a prelude to the Creative Bureaucracy Festival in June, the Digital Kick-Off Day on 13 March will showcase innovative and creative solutions for administration. The event is free of charge and will take place online.

Workshop ‘Data to Policy Simplified: Mapping Challenges, Crafting Solutions’
10-11:30 a.m.

Data2Policy and UNDP will host an interactive session, designed to bridge the gap between data and policymaking. Led by Alena Klatte (UNDP) and Geeti Patwal (GIZ), the workshop explores global challenges such as climate change and youth employment, and how data is being leveraged for better governance in addressing them. Participants will gain hands-on insights and learn about practical strategies and tools—like the Data to Policy Navigator—to strengthen data-driven policy approaches within their organisations.

MORE INFORMATION Register here for the workshop

The Mobile World Congress (MWC), one of the world’s largest events in the field of mobile communications and connectivity, will take place in Barcelona from 3 to 6 March. The annual congress is organised by the GSM Association (GSMA), an international association for the mobile communications industry.

Under this year’s theme ‘Converge. Connect. Create.’, over 2,700 international representatives from business, government and technology companies and more than 100,000 visitors will come together to discuss technical innovations.

This year’s focus is on the following six key topics:

• 5G Inside
• Connect X
• AI+
• Enterprise Re-invented
• Game Changers
• Our Digital DNA

We look forward to:

• Roundtable organised by Smart Africa in the run-up to the congress on 2 March
• Session ‘Digital Agriculture for the Underserved: Adaptive User Research and Impact’ | 5 March, 10:30-11:30 CET
  The session will focus on digital solutions for the agricultural sector that are specifically tailored to farmers’ needs. Practical examples will be used to show how user-centred research and monitoring and evaluation can help to design and scale digital solutions more effectively. FAIR Forward will present the ‘Agricultural Information Exchange Platform’ (AIEP), co-funded by the Gates Foundation.

MORE INFORMATION

The 13th edition of RightsCon will take place from 24 to 27 Frebruary in Taipei, Taiwan and online. This global event brings together policymakers, private sector representatives, academics, digital ecosystem stakeholders, and activists to discuss pressing challenges and innovative solutions at the intersection of technology and human rights.

With over 550 sessions on topics such as “Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies”, “Internet Access and Inclusion”, “Governance, Politics, and Elections” and many more, RightsCon serves as a platform for dialogue and collaboration towards a more open and inclusive digital future.

We look forward to our contributions:

FAIR Foward will participate in the session “Navigating GeoAI for climate action: potential and pitfalls”, hosted by the Digital Futures Lab. Speakers include:

• Ruth Schmidt, FAIR Forward, GIZ
• Dona Mathew, Digital Futures Lab
• Pyrou Chung, Knowledge for Development (K4D) Foundation
• Katya Abazaijan, Local Data Futures Initiatives

KfW will present the Digital Rights Check, a tool developed by KfW and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) in collaboration with the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The aim is to sensitise professionals to potential human rights impacts in digital projects in intergovernmental financial development cooperation.

Together with ARTICLE 19, GIZ will host the session “Discourse, data, disinformation—exploring ideas for protecting information integrity together”, bringing together experts to discuss key regulatory reforms, self-regulatory measures, and multi-stakeholder approaches to combat disinformation and strengthen information integrity.

MORE INFORMATION

The Handelsblatt GovTech Summit will take place from 19-20 February under the motto ‘Germany on a digital race to catch up’. The annual event brings together representatives from politics, administration and the digital economy to develop strategies for a sustainable, digital state. The focus is on best practices, fostering partnerships and innovation for the digitalisation of the public sector.

Global Cooperation, Local Resilience: Strengthening Digital Public Infrastructure

On 20 February 2025, 2:40 – 3:10 p.m. (CET), leading experts will discuss the crucial role of digital public infrastructure (DPI) in advancing digital sovereignty and societal resilience in the session ‘Digital Public Infrastructure: Open Source as a Driver of Digital Sovereignty’. This session will explore national and international initiatives—including the GovStack Initiative, the Sovereign Tech Agency (STA), and the Center for Digital Sovereignty (ZenDiS)—and how open source solutions and global collaboration can drive the future of DPI.

Speakers:

• Andrea Donath, GovStack Initiative
• Adriana Groh, Sovereign Tech Agency
• Jutta Horstmann, ZenDiS

Join us for this insightful discussion!

MORE INFORMATION

Contribute Your Voice: Shaping Responsible AI for the SDGs

Join key stakeholders and innovators at this pivotal side event to explore how AI can drive progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This interactive session is your opportunity to shape the upcoming Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI for the SDGs, ensuring AI is leveraged responsibly and inclusively for sustainable development.

What to expect

This event is a follow-up to the ‘Responsible AI’ session at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference (7-8 October 2024). It is an informal convening bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders to exchange ideas and identify concrete inputs for the Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI for the SDGs. It aims to foster a shared understanding of how AI can be responsibly and inclusively leveraged to support the SDGs.

The discussion will focus on gathering concrete inputs aligned with the five key areas of action — People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace, and Partnership — of the 2030 Agenda, which form the foundation for sustainable development. A draft declaration will be shared in advance, which will allow participants to review and provide informed comments during the discussion. Participants will therefore have the opportunity to actively contribute to shaping the Declaration.

The event serves as a pivotal steppingstone leading up to further discussions (possibly at the Global AI Summit in Africa in April in Rwanda) and the adoption of the declaration at the next Hamburg Sustainability Conference in June 2025.

How to participate

Register here directly

UNDP and BMZ cordially invite interested stakeholders from all sectors to participate in the side event. Committed to diversity and inclusivity, we encourage active engagement, particularly from stakeholders from the Global South.

For inquiries, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].

The 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will take place from January 20 to 24 in Davos, Switzerland, under the theme ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age’. This annual event brings together around 3,000 leaders from politics, business, academia, and civil society to address global challenges and explore pathways for positive change.

Anna Sophie Herken, Managing Director of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, will open the launch event of the ‘FemAI Leaders for Africa Initiative’. This initiative is a collaboration between GIZ and the global network Women Political Leaders (WPL) with the aim to empower African women political leaders with the tools, knowledge, and networks needed to drive inclusive and ethical artificial intelligence (AI) governance, to bring diverse perspectives to global AI discussions, and to promote innovative solutions.

Panelists include:

• Anna Sophie Herken, Managing Director, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
• Lacina Koné, Director General and CEO, Smart Africa
• Annemarie Hou, Executive Director, United Nations Partnerships
• Silvana Koch-Mehrin, Founder and President, Women Political Leaders (WPL)
• Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Chair, WPL Board
• Nima Elmi, Vice President, Strategy and Policy, EMEA, Circle Internet Financial; Co-Founder, The Africa Dialogues

MORE INFORMATION

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2024 will take place from 15 to 19 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and online under the theme of ‘Building Our Multi-Stakeholder Digital Future’. As the most important multi-stakeholder platform for dialogue on internet governance, the IGF brings together representatives from politics, business, academia and civil society to discuss key issues at the intersection of digitalisation and society.

A special highlight this year: UNDP and BMZ will launch the consultation process on the Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI for the SDGs on 15 December from 11:30 to 12:30 CET. After further consultations, the declaration will eventually be presented at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference 2025 on 2 and 3 June. The aim of the declaration is to develop common principles and concrete commitments for the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI). Topics such as justice, inclusion and sustainability are at the centre of this action. All stakeholders are kindly invited to join the consultation process.

MORE INFORMATIONgo to Livestream

Digital labour platforms are a growing form of work, offering new opportunities for income generation but also posing challenges to achieving universal social protection (SDG 1) and decent work for all (SDG 8). The first webinar in the series on Social Protection and the Platform Economy, organised by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the International Social Security Association (ISSA) underscores the importance of shaping policies that balance economic growth with worker protection in the rapidly evolving platform economy.

The digital labour platform economy is transforming labour markets and economic structures globally. Digital Platforms contribute significantly to GDP in many countries, with recent studies estimating the global value in 2023 to be worth 455 billion US dollars. These platforms offer new income-generating opportunities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, being attractive drivers of economic and social transformation. However, the lack of adequate labor and social protections for platform workers presents significant challenges. It is estimated that both location-based and online platform workers present low rates of social protection coverage.

This first webinar will provide a comprehensive overview of the platform economy’s development, exploring its potential as a driver of economic growth while examining the inherent challenges it poses, particularly in terms of labour rights and social protection. Discussing how governments can harness the platform economy’s potential while addressing the regulatory gaps to safeguard workers’ rights.

register here