As Chair of the Digital Nations in 2021, the United Kingdom hosted the 8th annual Digital Nations Ministerial Summit in November 2021 virtually from London, under the theme “Digital Government in Open Societies: Sustainable, Inclusive, and Values-driven Innovation”

Digital Nations’ Ministers led an international summit today on Thursday 18th November to champion the use of technology to help government institutions deliver more for their people and meet the world’s biggest challenges such as the pandemic, climate change, exclusion and inequality. 

The annual Digital Nations summit, hosted this year by the UK, saw digital ministers and leaders from Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Republic of Korea and Uruguay meet virtually to discuss the opportunities artificial intelligence, big data, digital identity and other cutting-edge tech could offer. 

The ten Digital Nations governments work together on issues relating to the digital transformation of government including the design of digital government services, enabling citizens to interact with governments digitally and benefit from digital identity systems, digital infrastructure, the development and use of data, digital tools and technologies and end-users.

At the event today the Digital Nations Ministers committed to using digital technology to improve government services and decision making.

Ministers agreed to continue to use digital technology to reduce the environmental impacts of government, narrow digital divides, and build trust in digital government services by putting safeguards in place on human rights, data protection, data and AI ethics and transparency.

Following the summit, the ten member nations published a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to work together to accelerate digital transformation, continue to use technology to break down barriers between government and people, and embrace innovative digital solutions that deliver real-world impact.