Our Advocacy Statements

On behalf of IT for Change, Merrin Muhammed Ashraf submitted comments on the recently released UNESCO Consultation Paper on Regulatory Approaches for Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Consultation Paper is part of a broader effort by UNESCO, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the Internet Governance Forum’s Parliamentary Track to engage…

Workers in India's platform economy have been working in gruelling conditions for several years, in the absence of fundamental labor rights, such as access to welfare, redressal for occupational harms, and the right to collective bargaining. Simultaneously, the platform economy has also created new frontiers in the fight for decent work,…

IT for Change's Merrin Muhammed Ashraf participated in the virtual consultation convened by the co-facilitators of the Global Digital Compact on 22 August 2024 and delivered a statement on Rev 3.0 GDC on behalf of IT for Change and the Global Digital Justice Forum. The statement flagged some critical gaps in the text of the GDC which must be…

Peoples Working Group on Multistakeholderism, of which IT for Change is a part, submitted a written statement to the Co-facilitators of the Summit of the Future processes that conveyed its disappointment with the draft text for the Pact for the Future for failing to fix the trust deficit about the UN. To avoid a ‘League of Nations’ moment for…

IT for Change, through the Global Digital Justice Forum, submitted its input to the Co-Facilitators of the Summit of the Future on Rev 2 of the Pact for the Future. In its submission, the Forum flagged four critical areas where Rev 2 needs to intensify concrete commitments:

On 21 February 2024, Shreeja Sen represented IT for Change and the Global Digital Justice Forum at a virtual consultation, seeking feedback on the Zero draft of the Pact for the Future, which was launched on 26 January 2024. In line with the written submissions, Shreeja's inputs emphasized that digitalization is ubiquitous across sectors, and…

IT for Change played an active role in the T20 engagement group of G20 Brazil 2024, promoting a digital paradigm that emphasizes justice, fairness, and equity in June 2024. Below, you will find detailed information about the various aspects of our participation.

Leadership Role

Our Executive Director, Anita Gurumurthy, has been…

The apt use of data for health policies and innovation can enhance access and outcomes. However, the prevalent trend of exploiting personal data collected through digital technologies as economic assets poses risks of surveillance, discrimination, and exploitation.

This policy brief submitted to the T20, anchored by Idec, Brasil and co-…

As the UN Secretary-General observed in 2023, the crisis of information integrity on digital platforms cannot be addressed without effectively tackling the role of platforms in spreading “gender-based hate speech and disinformation that seek to systematically subjugate women by silencing them and pushing them out of the public sphere.” The…

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) today is hindered by limited computational power, largely controlled by concentrated markets dominated by Big Tech. High-performance chips crucial for large AI models are further restricted through vertical integration and a centralized cloud market. As AI's economic importance grows, access to…