DW Akademie’s Post

Global economies can no longer afford to ignore the impact of brain health.    The new B7 France Communique states it clearly.  The competitiveness of businesses and sustainability of economies are increasingly challenged by rising absenteeism, declining brain skills, and increasing neurodegenerative disorders.  Recognition of the intersection between brain health, cognitive skills, and business performance can no longer be siloed to scientists, psychologists, and economists. Policy efforts to guide AI integration, encourage workplace well-being, and measure cognitive capacity are moving to the global stage.    As we reflect on the Houston Summit, the directive is clear: brain health is the defining workforce conversation, and employers must be ready to join it. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/ewCj4iWK   

The next G-20 summit will focus on economic growth, innovation, and strengthening partnerships that benefit America and its allies. In The Washington Post, Peter Rough and Ulrich Speck argue that adding Poland as a permanent G-20 member would advance that agenda. Read their full op-ed: https://lnkd.in/eJ-HCqBW

The Pact for the Future is not an end in itself. It is a practical framework to help accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda and deliver tangible results for people, planet, and future generations. The Pact for the Future was adopted as “a new beginning in multilateralism.” Today was about what comes next. A Civil Society and Stakeholder Dialogue focused on how the Pact is functioning as a practical accelerant for the 2030 Agenda, sharing experiences, identifying challenges, and highlighting solutions. At a General Assembly meeting, Member States took stock of how the Pact is moving from global agreement to national action. Voluntary National Reviews and existing follow up processes are essential tools for measuring progress, strengthening accountability, and ensuring that implementation reflects national priorities. The point is simple: the Pact only matters if it helps deliver real progress for people and planet, and today's meeting marks an important step in building the evidence, partnerships, and political momentum needed to deliver on our shared commitments. The goals are clear. The challenge now is implementation. Together, through effective multilateralism and broad partnerships, we can turn ambition into measurable improvements in people's lives. #PactForTheFuture #SDGs #HLPF2026 #BetterTogether

South Africa’s Presidency of the #G20 – a first for Africa – represented an opportunity to recast global cooperation at a moment of acute need. The post-COVID polycrisis of climate disruption, sustained regional conflict, and economic instability – specifically the geoeconomic weaponisation of trade and aid – demanded precisely the kind of collective action South Africa sought to advance within its central themes of equality, solidarity and sustainability. Yet by several measures, the 2025 G20 failed to provide the global leadership its engagement groups – and the Think20 in particular – had called on it to deliver. The Leaders’ Declaration was a diplomatic triumph in the face of US efforts to scuttle South Africa’s Presidency, but the failure to produce consensual declarations across many working groups marked a serious setback for multilateral cooperation in areas from urgently needed reform of the global financial and security architecture to the global governance of artificial intelligence. In the end, the South African G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) and the special High-Level Task Force on AI, Data Governance and Innovation for Sustainable Development failed to agree on core issues of #digitalinequality, #datajustice, #digitalpublicgoods and #datasovereignty - issues South Africa and the African Union had demonstrated were necessary for equitable and just digital transformation. This lack of consensus on issues is particularly significant given that a period of Global South leadership of the G20 (from Indonesia to India and Brazil to South Africa) is coming to an end, and that the current US Presidency's attention to digital sits only within its return to a trade, growth and deregulation agenda....Read the full paper with Jamie Ann Fuller below. The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance Research ICT Africa, South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, Department of Science, Technology and Innovation ODI Global

Audre Lorde famously said: "When I speak of change, I do not mean a simple switch of positions or a temporary lessening of tensions, nor the ability to smile or feel good..." . And as part of the engagements of IT for Change and Global Digital Justice Forum, I was lucky to participate, and learn from, a session that touched on the uncomfortable questions of what challenging neo-coloniality actually means, at the WSIS Forum 2026 #WSIS. We were only a very small group of people in the room, but it is from these tiny efforts and locations that the currents of change begin. At IT for Change, Anita Gurumurthy and I are grateful that amidst their busy schedules, Alison Gillwald Anriette Esterhuysen Joao Brant Danish South Centre, Geneva made space to discuss this critical issue without which any conversation on decoloniality risks becoming just 'feel-good'. The issue we discussed is this: "applying the Common But Differentiated Responsibilities Principle to international digital cooperation. What would it mean?" The session's key messages: - Rather than treating assistance as charity or reparations, the Common But Differentiated Responsibilities principle frames the provision of global public goods as a shared international responsibility, requiring differentiated obligations based on historical advantage and capacity. Open-source AI, digital public infrastructure (DPI), and other locally developed digital public goods offer viable pathways for inclusive digital development that reduce dependence on Global North platforms. Further, data is the primary public good. Data has been progressively enclosed through platformization and AI development, enabling a handful of companies to accumulate the data and resources needed to dominate AI. - Just as CBDR promotes climate justice by recognising differentiated responsibilities based on historical emissions, capabilities, and development levels, digital cooperation should advance digital justice by ensuring equitable access to the benefits of digital technologies and AI. - Plurilateral cooperation should complement multilateralism. While multilateral reform remains essential, developing countries should also leverage alternative arrangements—such as the BRICS New Development Bank—to strengthen their bargaining power and advance shared priorities. Regional integration is particularly important for Africa. Sharing infrastructure, harmonising regulatory frameworks, and creating larger regional markets can generate the scale needed to negotiate more effectively with both multilateral institutions and major technology companies. Also grateful to all colleagues at the Global Digital Justice Forum for their constant efforts to keep the focus on structural injustice in the Global South Association for Progressive Communications Valeria Betancourt Third World Network Jamila Venturini Rafael Zanatta Jaqueline Trevisan Pigatto Marina Meira Sean O'Siochru and all colleagues (linked-in limits to tagging, alas!)

Only 10% of the world's population lives in G7 countries As global power dynamics shift, the relevance of the G7 is being called into question. The forum's ability to address pressing global issues is under scrutiny. Can the G7 adapt to remain a driving force in international relations? 👉 Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/dJXJvTqJ #G7Summit #GlobalGovernance #InternationalRelations #Geopolitics #WorldLeaders

The new Media Pluralism Monitor 2026 (#MPM2026) has been published. https://lnkd.in/eUfB3y5w This is a remarkable collective achievement of an extensive network of researchers across the EU and candidate countries, providing an essential evidence base on media freedom and pluralism in Europe. It is a heroic undertaking that provides policymakers, regulators, academics, and civil society with invaluable insights for the years ahead. One finding deserves particular attention. ⚠️ Market plurality remains the most fragile area across all jurisdictions. Indicators assessing both concentration of media ownership and control over digital distribution channels place 26 countries in the medium-high to very high risk category. This trend is not only persistent over the past years but deeply problematic. It should also prompt us to think in a more complex and overarching way: media concentration sits at the intersection of economic (market) power and political (opinion) power. It therefore calls for an equally complex legal and institutional response, while Europe relies on a highly fragmented framework spanning the more market and competition oriented legislation of EU merger control (EUMR), foreign subsidy control (FSR), foreign investment screening (FDI), digital platform regulation (DMA, DSA), media freedom rules (EMFA), political advertising (TTPA) Regulation, and the EU Rule of Law Reports. At EU level, the protection of media pluralism remains constrained by the limits of Union competences and, at times, by a lack of regulatory ambition. This is reflected, for example, in the Draft Horizontal Merger Guidelines, which continue to treat media mergers largely through the lens of competition economics rather than recognising the broader democratic implications of concentrations of communicative power. At national level, the legal frameworks remain fragmented, implementation is uneven, and slow. More fundamentally, media pluralism is no longer just a national concern. Cross-border ownership, digital platforms, foreign information manipulation and interference, and the concentration of communicative power are increasingly transnational. Still, they continue to be assessed through mainly national frameworks. Addressing these challenges requires integrated governance and regulatory strategies that overcome the institutional silos that continue to characterise the European Commission and acknowledge that media freedom and pluralism is not a sectoral concern but a foundation of democratic governance, social cohesion, and a resilient European economy. #MediaPluralism #DemocraticResilience #IntegratedGovernance #SystemsThinking #RuleOfLaw

CMPF is today launching our new Media Pluralism Monitor report for 2025. Glad that we contributed again - as always during the last 10 years - with our report on Slovenia, with my colleague and co-author Romana Biljak Gerjević. 

The new Media Pluralism Monitor is out! An annual evaluation of the state of media environments and risks to their plurality and freedom in 31 European countries, also including practical recommendations as well as an overview of the #EMFA implementation. Results available as interactive maps, general report or in-depth country chapters; links below. European New School of Digital Studies European-University Viadrina

🔥 Today the Media Pluralism Monitor #MPM2026 is out! https://lnkd.in/deZrjWu8 👁️ Check out our annual reports on the state of media pluralism in the EU and Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and the Republic of North Macedonia. The most detailed reports on what is the state for safety of journalists, media markets, big tech role in news, independence of media from politics, inclusiveness towards minorities in the media.. and much more. 👉 ENG and national languages! Here for general compatative overview: https://cadmus.eui.eu/ Here for the country reports: https://lnkd.in/dQpAxU3u