2021 Recommendations for G7 Leaders
to Stimulate Innovation in the Digital Economy
Global industry welcomes the renewed commitment to multilateralism through the G7 and on the role ofdigital technologies in promoting economic growth through cross-border trade and innovation in nextgeneration technologies. Industry recognizes the G7 as a key forum to champion democratic values, andagrees with the February 2021 G7 Leaders’ Statement that notes that a sustainable recovery for all depends
on action by the G7 to “champion open economies and societies; promote global economic resilience;
harness the digital economy with data free flow with trust; cooperate on a modernized, freer and fairer rulesbased multilateral trading systems (…); and strive to reach a consensus-based solution on international
taxation by mid-2021 within the framework of the OECD.” Enabling free data flows with trust is critical tofighting COVID-19, ensuring a functioning global economy, and addressing climate change. Industry
encourages the G7 to reiterate the importance of free data flows in the April Digital and Technology
Ministerial Meeting.
Industry supports the United Kingdom’s ambitious set of goals for its G7 Presidency and agrees with thesentiment that the G7 can enhance prosperity in a way that is both sustainable and inclusive by pursuing a“collective approach to using new technologies, by strengthening the international trading system and by
supporting a green recovery.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the integral roles that digital and digitally enabled services play indaily life, whether through facilitating distance education, enabling telehealth services, conducting regularbusiness operations, or providing for the cross-border delivery of goods and services. A hidden butfundamental aspect of this success has been the international flow of data. Digital technologies and services
have enabled firms of all sizes and across all sectors to access international markets without the need forcapital expenditures in technology infrastructure. Today, many firms are “born-global”, quickly attaining
global reach through reliance on existing available digital technologies and with minimal cross-border
structural investment. This connection between digital trade and entrepreneurship, and the importance ofpolicy actions to enable the digitalization of entrepreneurship and the use of digital technology, are key tofostering inclusive development.
Industry supports efforts to expand access to and accelerate adoption of technologies to fully realise thebenefits of a global digital economy as well as a free and open internet, recognizing the role digital technology
can play in expanding economic inclusiveness and improving overall human well-being. G7 Members should

continue to encourage open markets that drive groundbreaking innovations and creative solutions, including
those that directly contribute to the economic and public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Industry respectfully provides the following key recommendations for G7 governments.
Enable Data Flows, Remove Localisation Barriers, and Facilitate Trade
The ability to transfer data across borders is essential for the functioning of our digitally-enabled society andbusinesses across all sectors to produce, move, market, and sell products and services. G7 Trade Ministers
recognized this fact in the recent 2021 Trade Ministers’ Meeting Chair’s Statement, in which they expressed
the united support of G7 Members for open digital markets and in opposition to digital protectionism, noting
that, “As a group of market-based economies governed by the rule of law, [G7 Members] believe that digitalmarkets should be competitive, transparent, and accessible to international trade and investment.” The
Trade Ministers’ statement further indicated G7 Members’ agreement on the importance of data free flow
with trust and safeguards for consumers and businesses, and their resolution to promote fair and inclusive
digital trading systems that allow goods and services to move seamlessly across borders, including throughthe development of high-level principles during this Presidency that will guide the G7 approach to digitaltrade. Industry strongly supports these efforts and encourages the G7 Digital and Technology Ministerial tobuild upon Trade Ministers’ commitments by issuing a strong statement to operationalize the “Data Free
Flows With Trust” and advance the development of principles that promote trade in digital services while
encouraging strong privacy protections and cybersecurity practices.
To these ends, we encourage G7 governments to commit to:● Emphasizing the value of cross-border data flows to the global economy, the fight against COVID andclimate change, and preserving human rights;● Underscoring the urgency of preserving a democratic and open internet rather than an authoritarian
and/or fragmented internet;● Strengthening their commitment to facilitate the free flow of data across borders and refrain from
imposing localization measures requiring the local storage or processing of data, the use of local
computer facilities, or equipment;● Ensuring the availability of multiple transparent, non-discriminatory legal mechanisms for the crossborder transfer of personal and non-personal data which are interoperable across jurisdictions;● Ensuring that regulatory approaches impacting digital services and technologies are nondiscriminatory, both on the basis of national origin and on the basis of business models, adhere
strictly to good regulatory practices, and are based on rigorous, objective criteria, with proportionate
and well-justified rules accompanied by strong due process guarantees;● Opposing measures that require companies to transfer or otherwise subvert technologies such as
forced disclosure of source code, algorithms, encryption keys, or other sensitive information as acondition of doing business;● Supporting multilateral efforts at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) to establish a set of common practices and legal processes for ensuring trusted law
enforcement and national security access to data that provides adequate privacy protections forindividuals and certainty for businesses;
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Adopting and maintain strong privacy protections that reflect global consensus frameworks (such asfrom the OECD and APEC) and facilitate global interoperability;
Negotiating trade agreements that promote digital trade, prohibit data localization, and include
robust obligations in respect to data that reflect global consensus frameworks;
Supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) Joint Statement Initiative on E-Commerce as a key
forum for expanding commercially meaningful digital trade commitments in a broad and inclusive
manner;Supporting industry-led, voluntary, consensus-based international standards development andpursue cooperative approaches to policy that enhance regulatory compatibility and enable
governments and industry alike to leverage international standards as a means of demonstrating
conformance with emerging regulatory requirements; andUpdating rules to better facilitate adoption of digital solutions for B2B services.

Reach a Long-Term Solution to Taxation of the Digitalizing Economy
We encourage G7 governments to commit to:● Achieving a multilateral, consensus-based solution to the taxation challenges arising from thedigitalisation of the global economy, and● Refraining from the pursuit of discriminatory digital tax measures that contravene longstanding
international tax principles, ringfence the digital economy, and contribute to further fragmentationof the international tax system.
Promote Trust and a Safe Internet
Facilitating user trust is paramount for internet and technology service providers operating on a global scale.
As G7 governments consider new policy approaches relating to the digital economy, industry supports
continued multilateral dialogue that integrates multi-stakeholder participation. Similarly, G7 governments
should prioritize transparent and non-discriminatory approaches to the regulation of new technologies,
including through deepening dialogues on technology policy to facilitate trade and regulatory compatibility.
Sound domestic and international policy approaches relating to the digital economy can better facilitate
access to new services.
We encourage G7 government to commit to:● Facilitating the interoperability of emerging regulatory approaches to strengthen the privacy andsecurity of innovative technologies and Internet services across jurisdictions;● Encouraging development of effective and pratical moderation practices for online content while
addressing potential market access barriers or risks of disproportionate impacts related to platformgovernance;● Encouraging platforms to demonstrate that they have systems in place for identifying unlawfulcontent and removing it;● Enhancing cybersecurity across all sectors and make clear that any attack, particularly on essential
infrastructure, is off limits;● Recognizing that multiple actors play a role in efforts to ensure safety online when developing policy
frameworks and facilitate broad participation in these efforts;3

●●Acknowledging ongoing efforts and best practices by industry to maintain a safe internet (e.g., Global
Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism); andPursuing a cooperative vision for ensuring transparent, non-discriminatory, interoperable, riskbased, and responsible approaches to the regulation of new technologies.

Ensure Security in Networks and Commit to Common Best Practices
As countries face an ever-evolving cybersecurity threat landscape, a shared understanding on how to addresscommon challenges remains critical. Aligning responses to security challenges will provide a more cohesive
approach to securing services and infrastructure across the global Internet, allowing firms to collectively
respond to threats. This is increasingly relevant as countries pursue new, and sometimes diverging,approaches to ICT supply chain security, including as it relates to next generation networks.
We encourage G7 governments to commit to:● Encouraging international cooperation to enhance global ICT supply chain security and ensure acompetitive marketplace;● Protecting global ICT supply chains and agree on international norms to promote cybersecurity bestpractices as a key instrument in protecting the digital ecosystem; and● Enhancing cybersecurity by using risk-based approaches grounded in global, industry-driven,voluntary, consensus-based standards and best practices, and pushing back against fragmenting,country-unique approaches.
Signed,
ACT | The App Association
BSA | The Software Alliance
Coalition of Services Industries (CSI)
Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA)
Consumer Technology Association (CTA)
Information Technology Industry Council (ITI)Internet Association (IA)Japan Business Council in Europe (JBCE)
Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA)
Japan Machinery Center (JMC)
National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC)
Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)
Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA)TECHNATION
TechNettechUK
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce4