Towards an inclusive digital nation: building trust in the digital age in Asia Pacific

Mobile connectivity has had a transformational impact on people, businesses and wider society, enabling access to many life-enhancing digital services and driving productivity gains from the application of digital technologies to business processes. However, bad actors operate in the digital world as much as they do in the physical, continuously expanding the scope and scale of online threats and finding new ways to exploit vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, the advent of AI tools, including generative AI presents opportunities and risks for online safety.

Governments, mobile operators and social media platforms all have a role to play here. Across Asia Pacific, these stakeholders have introduced various measures to improve online safety and build trust. Importantly, the task of maintaining and enhancing trust must be viewed as a shared responsibility between stakeholders, as opposed to the sole responsibility of any single stakeholder. Given the need for open dialogue and cooperation between all parties in the digital ecosystem, this white paper highlights the steps to support existing measures and inspire new ones.