Preliminary Event Report: 2040 Independence and Self-Respect Project Seminar: "What is 'Digital Sovereignty'?—Thinking from Contact-Confirming Applications" (Held on March 3, 2022)
Event Date
Event Venue
March 8, 2022
Keio University Global Research Institute
2040 Independence and Self-Respect Project Seminar
What is "Digital Sovereignty"?—Thinking from Contact-Confirming Applications
As part of the "Platforms and the '2040 Problem'" Project, a component of KGRI's "2040 Independence and Self-Respect Project," a public seminar titled "What is Digital Sovereignty?—Thinking from Contact-Confirming Applications" was held on March 3, 2022.
While Japan's COVID-19 contact-confirming application was developed using the API (Application Programming Interface) from Google and Apple, France rejected the use of the mega-platformers' API and developed its own. Behind France's choice lies "digital sovereignty," a concept strongly advocated for in the EU.
The event began with a problem presentation by Tatsuhiko Yamamoto (Deputy Director of KGRI and Professor, Graduate School of Law), who served as a member of the government's "Expert Panel on Contact-Confirming Applications." This was followed by reports from two researchers leading the discussion on "digital sovereignty" in France, Pauline Türk and Audrey Bachert-Peretti. For the discussion, they were joined by Masahiro Sogabe (Professor, Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University), an expert in Japanese and French constitutional and information law. The panel actively debated the various issues brought to the forefront by the contact-confirming application problem from the perspective of "digital sovereignty," addressing questions such as: Why does the EU advocate for "digital sovereignty"? Does it mean the isolation of the EU from the rest of the world in the digital space? And what challenges does "digital sovereignty" reveal for the protection of privacy rights in Japan?
KGRI's endeavor to ask "What is digital sovereignty?" has now begun.
*The content of this seminar is scheduled to be released as a report in the near future.
Event poster: lien.pdf
Date and Time: 17:00–20:00, Thursday, March 3, 2022
Venue: Online
Languages: Japanese, French (*Simultaneous interpretation available)
Program
Opening Remarks:
"Legal Issues of the Contact-Confirming Application 'COCOA'—From the Perspective of Japanese Constitutional Studies"
Tatsuhiko Yamamoto (Professor, Graduate School of Law, Keio University; Deputy Director, KGRI)
Keynote Lectures:
"Health Crisis Management Using Digital Tools and Digital Sovereignty in France—Government, Parliament, Courts, and Platformers"
Pauline Türk (Professor, Faculty of Law, Côte d'Azur University)
Audrey Bachert-Peretti (Associate Professor, University of Lorraine)
General Discussion:
Commentator: Masahiro Sogabe (Professor, Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University)
Moderator: Haruna Kawashima (Project Associate Professor, KGRI)
Inquiries:
Keio University Global Research Institute
"2040 Independence and Self-Respect Project" Office
E-mail: kgri_2040pj[at]info.keio.ac.jp
(Please replace [at] with @ when sending an email)