Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker stressed the importance of protecting the Internet as a platform for innovation, free expression, global commerce, and economic freedom during remarks at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Ministerial on the Digital Economy in Cancun, Mexico. The OECD includes 34 member countries and is focused on promoting policies to enhance the economic and social well-being of people around the world. The event marks the first Minister-level OECD conference on the digital economy in eight years.

During her remarks, Secretary Pritzker emphasized the importance of remaining committed to the Principles for Internet Policy Making developed by the OECD in 2011 that stress a flexible, multistakeholder approach to Internet policymaking and strengthen international cooperation. She urged OECD member states to redouble their commitment to the OECD principles of openness, to the free flow of information and multistakeholder governance of the Internet.

Secretary Pritzker also discussed a new report, “Enabling Growth and Innovation in the Digital Economy,” released today by the Department that chronicles the Department of Commerce’s efforts over the past eight years to support a free and open Internet and a thriving digital economy.

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good morning. It is great to be here. I want to thank Secretary General Angel Gurria for convening this Ministerial on the Digital Economy. I would also like to thank President Peña Nieto and the Mexican government for hosting us in beautiful Cancun. 

Five years ago, the OECD convened to discuss how governments could best support our growing digital economy. Those discussions culminated in our adoption of the Principles for Internet Policy Making. Together, we recognized that a free, open and secure Internet is the lifeblood of our global digital economy. Together, we committed to protecting the Internet as a platform for innovation, free expression, commerce, and economic opportunity. We embraced those principles – of openness, of multistakeholder governance, of the free flow of information – because they embody our shared values and they make people’s lives better.  

This Ministerial is an opportunity to ask ourselves, as the representatives of governments and the leaders of nations, if we are living up to those principles. 

We embraced those principles for a reason: The Internet has unleashed opportunity and improved the quality of life for billions of people. Let me tell you about two entrepreneurs joining me at this week’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Silicon Valley. Hira Batool Rizvi is a young woman from Pakistan who created She-Kab – a digital service that connects women to drivers who will safely get them to work free of threats and intimidation. And Rachel de Villa is a 23-year old from the Philippines who launched Cropital – a crowdfunding platform for local farmers to secure scalable financing from investors around the world. The free and open Internet made these stories of innovation and empowerment – and many more of them – possible.

As more people around the world gain access to the Internet and join the digital economy, the pace of innovation increases exponentially. Consider this: just a decade ago, less than a fifth of the global population had Internet access.  Today, 3.2 billion people are online. By 2020, five billion people will be. That same year, the emerging “Internet of Things” sector will likely comprise a $1.7 trillion global market. By 2025, products and services that rely on cross-border data flows will add $1 trillion annually to the global economy. 

Digital technologies have quickly become a driving force of job creation, entrepreneurship, and innovation in the 21st century.  Yet the digital economy’s continued growth is not guaranteed. It depends on our commitment to the revolutionary platform that made it all possible: the free and open Internet.

We must acknowledge that new technologies also bring new challenges – for businesses, for governments, and for our peoples. Cybersecurity threats are on the rise. Notions of privacy are being upended. Automation is changing the nature of work for our people and disrupting entire industries. For governments, perhaps the greatest challenge of all is responding to these changes in ways that help – rather than hinder – the ability of our people to adapt, compete, and succeed in this new world. We believe the OECD principles provide us the best path forward.

Too often, well-intentioned efforts to address legitimate concerns over issues like privacy and security lead to unintended consequences. In recent years we have seen nations rush to throw up digital walls with policies that include: data localization laws that constrict cross-border data flows; content controls that limit access to information; and onerous technical standards that keep foreign competitors out of new markets. This “digital protectionism” threatens access to the technologies and information that people want and need to succeed. These policies stifle competition, innovation, free expression. They undermine our vision of a free, open and truly global Internet. We expect such policies from authoritarian regimes that want to isolate their people – not from nations that welcome the global exchange of ideas and commerce.

Foreign leaders often ask me why the United States is home to the world’s most innovative technology companies. The answer of course begins with the ingenuity of the American people – but it does not end there. Our success in the digital economy is also the result of our approach to Internet policy – one that mirrors the flexible, multistakeholder system endorsed by the OECD. 

Simply put: when it comes to protecting a free and open Internet, we do not just “talk the talk.” We “walk the walk.” And we do so even in the face of complex challenges online. 

To demonstrate our commitment, today the Commerce Department is releasing a new report titled “Enabling Growth and Innovation in the Digital Economy.” It chronicles our efforts over the past eight years to protect a free and open Internet and grow the digital economy. Today I want to share the ways that OECD principles have informed our policy approaches to strengthening cybersecurity; protecting the free flow of information; and embracing the multistakeholder approach to Internet governance. 

The Commerce Department is committed to stronger stakeholder cooperation on cybersecurity, as endorsed in the OECD principles. When hackers leak personal information, steal intellectual property, or disrupt services, people lose confidence. The digital economy relies on trust, and trust relies on security. 

Neither government nor industry can secure the digital economy alone. We must work together. That is why in 2013, our National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST convened over 3,000 stakeholders from government, industry, and academia to develop voluntary best practices for managing cyber-risk. This effort led to the creation of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework – a widely-praised and voluntary approach for managing cyber risk. According to Gartner, nearly a third of U.S. organizations now use the Framework, including major companies like Bank of America, Boots-Walgreens, and Apple – demonstrating that the OECD principle of multistakeholder engagement works. 

The OECD principles also recognize that to keep the digital economy growing, data must move freely. Well-meaning regulations can be barriers to cross-border data flows. For example, when companies encounter conflicting approaches to privacy, the risk is that people lose access to critical services and innovative technologies. 

The Commerce Department has worked with the European Commission to bridge the gap between U.S. and European privacy laws. The result is the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. This agreement will support the $260 billion we already trade in digital products and services each year – and it will encourage future growth. As the E.U. works through the approval process, we are close to implementing a Framework that protects privacy for consumers AND creates certainty for companies. The framework we have created demonstrates how the world’s largest economies can address complex issues like data flows and privacy – and do so while respecting OECD principles.

Our effort to transfer our stewardship role of the Domain Name System to a global multistakeholder community reflects our support for the OECD’s principle of multistakeholder governance. For 18 years, ICANN has managed the Domain Name System with great success and with modest oversight by the Commerce Department. The Internet has flourished under ICANN’s system of multistakeholder governance, in which industry leaders, public interest groups, and experts provide input and oversight. 

Still, we hear the voices of skeptics. They say the Internet belongs in the hands of government. We could not disagree more. 

The strongest voices for government control often come from countries that censor content and limit access to information. The Internet is the greatest platform for free expression and innovation ever known. Shifting control to an international governmental body would leave the Internet vulnerable to geopolitical disputes and endless bureaucratic delays. It would also chill innovation and slow the expansion of Internet access worldwide – depriving billions of people access to the currency they need to thrive in the 21st century. We must ensure that the Internet remains accountable not to governments, but to the people, consumers, institutions, and companies who depend on it. Our Administration is committed to this transition.

As manufacturing goes digital, as cars go driverless, as data goes global, our commitment to a free and open Internet has never been more essential. The Internet is the gateway to the global digital economy and the storehouse of human knowledge for people around the world. But in recent years, as more people gain access to the web, we have witnessed an alarming trend towards Internet fragmentation.

That deeply concerns me. It should concern us all. Our ability to empower entrepreneurs, build long-term prosperity, and drive innovation hinges on our collective commitment to a global, free, and open Internet.

When countries build digital walls, when governments control content, when people are left disconnected and disenfranchised, the members of the OECD must stand firm. Together, we must “walk the walk” and turn the Principles for Internet Policy Making into action. Together, we must reaffirm our commitment to a free and open Internet that connects people to opportunity around the world.

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