New tool assesses human rights risks in digital transformation
Digitalisation strategies are being developed and implemented by states in all regions of the world. Digital technologies can, for example, support public administration in making public processes easier and more accessible.
“In just the past years we have seen an increase in digital projects. Our concern is that digital technologies in worst cases can exacerbate discrimination and enhance surveillance of citizens. Digital technology is rarely 100 percent neutral. Therefore, we have developed a new tool to check the potential human rights risks in development projects,” says Cathrine Bloch Veiberg, senior adviser, Human Rights and Business, The Danish Institute for Human Rights.
Both technical and financial development cooperation are increasingly supporting digital projects. The World Bank, the leading multilateral development bank, increased its portfolio of digital projects from just 6 to a total of 29 between 2019 and 2021.
The acceleration in implementing digital projects which bring together technical development and development finance has resulted in calls for precautions. The misuse of digital technologies can inadvertently aggravate underlying patterns of discrimination and exclusion and may also bolster the authoritarian tendencies of certain regimes by enhancing their surveillance capabilities.
The 10th of August 3.00-3.45 we will present the new tool. Read more about the event here.
Against this backdrop, the Danish Institute for Human Rights and GIZ have developed the Digital Rights Check. As a human rights assessment and guidance tool the Digital Rights Check is specially developed for staff and partners working in technical development cooperation and in development finance working on digital projects.
The tool allows users to select from several channels, based on the different types of stakeholders involved in digital for development projects, to conduct their review. This includes a track specific to GIZ and their policies and procedures; a track that can be used in a broader sense for technical development cooperation and finally a track that can be used by development finance institutions.