The goal of the Disruptive & Emerging Technology Alliance (DETA) is to maximize the benefits of these new technologies while protecting human rights, democratic values, and cultural diversity.
This unprecedented global initiative involves governments across four continents and will focus on five areas: AI, cybersecurity, NewSpace, quantum technologies, and digital rights.
Barcelona just hosted the first ministerial summit of the new coalition, as Catalonia holds the rotating presidency of DETA for the biennium 2024-25.
The ministers have endorsed the Manifesto for Advanced and Trustworthy AI, a call for the ethical use of AI, which will be communicated to key international organizations involved in AI regulation (UN, Council of Europe, EU, G7, etc.).
The ministers have agreed to begin the procedures to join the Zero Debris Charter of the European Space Agency (ESA), which promotes clean space missions.
Disruptive and emerging technologies are having an unprecedented impact on our society and how governments deliver their services. The emergence of these technologies can assist in the daily lives of citizens and in the management of public policies, but also poses multiple challenges to all parties involved.
The Disruptive & Emerging Technology Alliance (DETA) is an initiative that brings together 17 governments representing some of the world's leading technology hubs. The initiative is open to governments from regions and states around the world that demonstrate a clear commitment to democratic values, human rights, and cultural and linguistic diversity.
DETA aims to help member governments of the Alliance maximize the benefits of these technologies and adapt their public policies to this new reality to offer better public services to citizens. Additionally, working in coalition allows them to gain influence in the global debate on technology governance, and vis-à-vis big tech and major international regulators.
This unprecedented initiative has decided to focus on five major areas of work: artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, NewSpace, quantum technologies, and digital rights and technological regulation. Working groups will be created around each of these priority areas, which, while led by governments, will involve industry, research, and civil society from the respective ecosystems.
The First Ministerial Summit of DETA in Barcelona
The Government of Catalonia has been chosen by the participating governments to hold the rotating presidency of DETA during the years 2024 and 2025. In this context, it has organized the first ministerial summit of the coalition in Barcelona, held on November 6 and 7.
The delegations debated the ethical use of emerging technologies and how best to profit from them in favor of citizens, while supporting local industry and preserving democratic values and human rights.
In this sense, the Summit formally approved the Manifesto for Advanced and Trustworthy AI, a text that calls for an ethical use of AI. The text will be sent to the main international organizations that play a role in AI regulation (UN, Council of Europe, EU, G7, etc.). Also, a call is made to all actors of the quadruple helix (industry, academia, administration, and civil society) to support the text, available on the DETA website (DETAlliance.com).
On the other hand, the delegations have agreed to start the procedures to join the Zero Debris Charter, an initiative of the European Space Agency (ESA) that promotes sustainable space missions.
The Summit concluded with a visit to the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC), and tomorrow, the delegations will visit the Computer Vision Center (CVC), the Alba Synchrotron, the Institute of Photonic Sciences of Catalonia (ICFO), and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC).