Increasing Concern Over Digitization

Amid controversies about growing threat on “security and privacy” with the digitization of economy, a former secretary general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development on Sunday raised concern upon how digital companies are taking control over global economy. “The platform provided by digital companies is not limited to only commerce. It has been expanded to logistics, finance, payments and others areas. Digital companies have now expanded to cover a large part of the economy without any governance, IANS reported. “Digital companies are taking over control over global economy, which is a concern,” Supachai Panitchpakdi said. In his address at the Horasis Asia Meeting, co-hosted by the West Bengal government and the Indian Chamber of Commerce, he said that the “proliferation of Chinese companies” in the “digital space” in Asia and Southeast Asia in particular, was also a “concern”.  “They are buying up production, trading units, inventories and others in Asia, particularly in Southeast Asia,” he said. Asked whether digitization of economy could lead to a threat to security and privacy, he said, “Yes, of course.”