Digital enablers of the global economy: Background paper for the CDEP Ministerial meeting

Digital technologies have transformed the global economy. This paper discusses three underlying digital enablers of the economy and the challenges they pose for policy makers: (1) Online platforms, which support global transactions and interactions but are also disrupting existing consumer and competition policy frameworks; (2) Cross-border data flows, which facilitate global trade and co-operation but also amplify policy concerns that have motivated countries to place conditions on these data flows; and (3) Digital security, which should be prioritised to embed trust into the digital economy, but has often remained an afterthought owing to knowledge asymmetries across the market. Given that these challenges are all international in nature, a global response is needed to address them. The OECD is well-suited to foster international co-operation on these digital enablers and support countries’ ambitions for global digital policy frameworks.