Key Takeaways from the D.C. Consultation at Georgetown University
How value is distributed across the global digital economy is largely influenced by digital infrastructure solutions and governments’ role in shaping it. However, today most of the world’s digital infrastructure solutions are owned by private companies, especially only a few monopolies. This impacts competition, growth, and innovation.
Project Liberty Institute (PLI), in collaboration with the Global Solutions Initiative (GSI), has been at the forefront of these conversations, bringing together policymakers, experts, and academics to explore actionable solutions. This week, the second high-level and multistakeholder consultation in Washington, D.C., was held at Georgetown University.
PLI and GSI convened 35 key stakeholders, including policymakers, technologists, legal experts, academics, and others. Recognizing today’s geopolitical challenges, participants agreed that digital infrastructure must be a key focus for governments, and that cross-country collaboration should be reinforced to ensure shared progress.
Defining Government’s Role in Digital Infrastructure
The discussion emphasized the need for a competitive digital environment that upholds personal data rights while addressing the geopolitical implications of digital infrastructure. Participants highlighted:
- The need for government action to prevent monopolies and promote fair competition.
- The potential of interoperability as a practical focus area for governments that could align with broader goals around data privacy and portability.
- The importance of multistakeholder collaboration and incorporating perspectives from the Global South.
- Aligning infrastructure technical choices with governance choices.
- The creation of a toolkit to guide government decision-making on digital governance, infrastructure design, and investments.
The consultation underscored that digital infrastructure is not just about technology—it’s about shaping the distribution of value in the digital economy while ensuring transparency, security, and citizen empowerment.
Next Steps
These insights will be turned into a Toolkit for Catalyzing Digital Infrastructure Solutions for Data Agency, providing governments and stakeholders with actionable strategies to advance equitable digital ecosystems. It will be released at the Global Solutions Summit 2025 in Berlin in a panel featuring key actors from governments to international organizations.
The final recommendations will be featured in strategic policy forums and turned into key policy reports, such as the already published Canada T7 Policy Brief Innovating Digital Infrastructure: G7 Champions Data Agency.