IT for Change, Transnational Institute, Our World Is Not For Sale, Focus on the Global South and Sahita Institute
Digital trade provisions embedded in free trade agreements (both bilateral and regional) and negotiations at the World Trade Organization promote unrestricted data flows, prohibit data localization, restrict source code access, and limit the ability of a country to regulate digital technologies in the public interest. These rules lock in corporate control over data and digital infrastructure while undermining national sovereignty, workers’ rights, and democratic governance.
IT for Change in collaboration with Transnational Institute, Our World Is Not For Sale, Focus on the Global South and Sahita Institute organised a training workshop on digital trade rules for civil society organisations and trade unions from Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippines in Bogor, Indonesia from 5–7 May 2025. The participants represented a range of sectors and stakeholders, such as consumer groups, public health activists, agroecology and food sovereignty groups, and women's collectives.
This workshop was designed to build the capacity of these actors in South-East Asia to critically engage with digital trade rules. The workshop featured a mix of inputs from regional and global experts, interactive discussions, and hands-on group exercises. By unpacking how these rules are crafted and who they benefit, the workshop aimed to deepen collective understanding and develop a shared political economy analysis of this issue and foster resistance strategies that centre worker rights, economic justice, and digital sovereignty.
The concept note and agenda for the event can be accessed here.