Collaborative digital regulation: A much-needed approach to achieving growth of the digital economy

Abstract

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has been advocating in recent years for the need to implement a new approach to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) regulation, labelled fifth generation collaborative digital regulation. To measure the levels of collaborative regulation, the ITU launched a pilot version of The Benchmark of Fifth Generation Collaborative Regulation in 2020. In this article, we examine the relevance of the updated version of the G5 Benchmark, based on a new metric structure, a larger number of indicators, and a wider range of data sources. We compare the G5 scores with those emerging from other established indexes measuring different aspects of the digital development in order to explore their correlation and the significance of the G5 Benchmark. In addition, our empirical analysis suggests that countries with a stronger collaborative regulation (as measured by the G5 Benchmark) are also the countries with more advanced digital development and with larger national economic output, although future research will be needed to establish firm conclusions over causality, when larger time-series become available. We conclude highlighting that the G5 Benchmark provides not only a tool to assess where a country stands in terms of the development of this critical capability but also a path on how to evolve and what are the areas that need to be emphasized.