The Bridge - Issue 3, 2023 - 17

Addressing the Digital Divide and Mitigating the Risk of AI by People-Centered,
Collaborative Digital Regulation
Feature
We propose merging two distinct types of ITAs-financial
and data protection-to forge an ITA tailored for digital
regulation. In financial regulation, an independent trust
agent is an external body responsible for verifying
compliance with financial norms. They ensure businesses
uphold rules and prioritize their clients' or investors' best
interests, using audits and investigations to bolster trust in
the financial ecosystem.
In data protection and privacy, an independent trust agent is
a third-party entity that evaluates and confirms a company's
adherence to data handling standards, ensuring user
privacy. They also mediate disputes between data subjects
and controllers.
Merging the functions of financial and data protection ITAs
into a digital regulation ITA harmonizes industry objectives
and government oversight, and serves the public interest.
By promoting trust and transparency, ITAs have an essential
function to assure a solid foundation underpinning an
equitable digital ecosystem, so we can nurture inclusive
and prosperous societies.
6. Integrating Small Medium Enterprises and
Prosperity Data Networks to Enable People's
Participation in Business
Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), often considered the
backbone of the economy, play a crucial role in ensuring
a balanced digital regulatory landscape. The integration of
SMEs into digital regulation development can offer a vital
counterbalance to the dominance of large corporations,
particularly multinationals, in the digital regulatory decisions
of a region or country. This is especially significant for
developing regions and countries that are embarking
on their digital transformation journeys. The economist
Frederich Hayek emphasized the significance of harnessing
diverse " knowledge of specific circumstances in time and
space, " which individuals acquire throughout their life
experiences.[11]
For this unique knowledge to effectively
translate into innovative products and services, SMEs
require accessible credit avenues.[12]
Presently, microenterprises and SMEs in developing
countries can access only 42% of the investment funding
necessary for growth and job creation. To bridge this gap,
we suggest the formation of Data Cooperatives[14]
the PDN for a community, a region, or a country may be
analyzed and compared with regional, national, or global
PDNs in order to facilitate cross-border financing for
SMEs. PDNs increase access and participation to valuable
information, finance, and (intangible) assets, enabling
businesses, especially SMEs, to flourish in a competitive
global landscape.
7. Digital Assets for All: Crucial for Inclusive
Participative and Fair Economies
Over the last 40 years, the percentage of intangible goods
in the S&P 500 has increased from 30 to 90%.[16]
Stock
markets enable public companies to access finance,
particularly in developed markets where intangible assets
are prevalent. As the world digitizes, valuing these intangible
assets leads to clearer assertions of title or property
rights. While established companies and renowned artists
capitalize on this trend, SMEs and budding artists face
challenges. While top musicians can sell their rights to
specialized management groups, emerging artists struggle
to find channels to assert and manage their rights.[17]
SMEs, pivotal to economies, have historically faced
challenges asserting ownership of digital assets.[18]
To
tackle this, we suggest the establishment of digital registry
research labs. These labs would focus on how digital asset
registries can empower local businesses and individuals
to define, claim, and manage ownership over their digital
assets. These assets can be artistic, intellectual, cultural,
and more.
For example, the prints on batik cloth produced in an
Indonesian village could be 1000-year -old patterns, but
how does the village " assert ownership " of the national
and global digital rights to various uses of their traditional
patterns? Beginning to sort out these issues in digital
registry research labs can support all enterprises as they
digitize, enhancing the innovation and resilience of the
business models of the future.
8. The Digital Cross Sector Regulatory Sandbox
Network connecting the Regional Sandboxes
as Nodes: Addressing Digital, Economic, and
Social Divides
for SMEs,
known as Prosperity Data Networks (PDNs).[15]
PDNs are envisioned as vital components for broader,
risk-managed financing for SMEs, facilitating access to
global institutional and private finance. A PDN node is a
data repository authorized by SMEs who contribute data
to be shared for the purpose of accessing finance or other
(intangible) assets. Each data repository within the PDN
functions as a cooperative, managed by its data contributors
- the people and their respective organizations.
Composed of federated (local, state, national, regional,
and international) layered AI-powered data repositories,
Our vision of the Digital Cross-Sector Regulatory Sandbox
Network transcends digital regulation and does so to
achieve the aim of bridging digital, economic, and social
divides, fostering an inclusive environment where every
individual, regardless of gender or marginalized status, has
a voice. Inclusivity in shaping the digital landscape and
the associated institutions and regulations is vital to avoid
neglecting the perspective of active members of society
who have not, up until now, been included in digital dialogs.
By using voice-enabled conversational AI and PDNs to
qualify and quantify participation in the informal sector,
irrespective of financial valuation, we can collect data
that reveals the value of family, friendship, caregiving,
HKN.ORG
17
https://hkn.ieee.org/
The Bridge - Issue 3, 2023

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