Digital governance refers to the systems and policies implemented within an organisation to ensure data, information and technology are managed ethically and in the public interest. Boards have ultimate responsibility for ensuring their digital governance framework aligns with its wider governance policy and that its requirements meet standards set by regulators.

Change is occurring rapidly; bureaucracies and command-and-control management structures will have much shorter lives span in an interconnected world.

1. Transparency

Transparency is at the core of digital governance: providing citizens with information about government actions and policies via open data portals helps promote accountability while decreasing corruption while giving citizens a fuller picture of their tax contributions.

Transparency also necessitates providing information in multiple formats in order to facilitate greater participation by wider segments of society, accommodate differing abilities (visual or hearing loss) and ensure inclusive participation – characteristics especially essential in an age of COVID-19.

The Global Platform Governance Network, an Open Government Partnership initiative spearheaded by CIGI and Reset, is developing policy guidance to aid governments in creating transparency rules for social media companies and other platforms that facilitate user interaction, such as app stores. The guidelines aim to protect users while simultaneously encouraging companies to improve content moderation practices as well as sharing best practices for effective techniques used against harmful or illegal online material.