KUALA LUMPUR: There is a need for more international collaboration and coordination in data governance in view of the emerging technologies in the 5G telecommunications era, said Dr Zheng Liang, Deputy Director and Research Fellow of China Institute for Science and Technology Policy at Tsinghua University.
He said data governance issues will be crucial in the 5G era, as the ability to regulate data is of great significance to both its users and producers.
He added that more companies will use a variety of means to collect citizens’ personal information and behavioural data to accurately draw a ‘digital portrait’ of each person, which will lead to some security issues on personal data infringement.
“There might be some security issues related to 5G technologies, as it is for any other technologies. But such issues can be solved through better technologies and better governance framework, either domestically or globally.
“We need more international collaboration and coordination in the 5G era. We need better global governance mechanisms and more international regulations on emerging technologies in the 5G era,” said Zheng in his presentation at the 33rd Asia-Pacific Roundtable, jointly organised by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia and Asean-ISIS, held here recently.
He was one of the panellists for the discourse titled “Technological Rivalry & National Security: Changing Trends in Digital Economy and New Challenges in the Era of 5G”.
Citing China’s telecommunication giant Huawei, which was blacklisted by US President Donald Trump in May, Zheng said the decision had affected the 5G global value chain as Huawei bought large quantities of semiconductors from companies like Qualcomm.
Trump, however, had rescinded his decision and lifted some restrictions on Huawei in late June.
Zheng suggested that in order to address the issues related to emerging technologies in the 5G era and embrace its benefits, there is a need to strike a balance between data protection and data usage, as well as to reduce the potential risk of these emerging technologies.
“We should encourage more international dialogues and discussions on policy issues. Based on that, we have more consensus and common grounds in areas such as 5G and AI (Artificial Intelligence),” he said. – Bernama
