Digital transformation changes the dimensions of human life activities. Even with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, digital transformation is getting faster to be realized. All countries are experiencing this moment of digital transformation. Not only applied in the business sector but digital transformation is also applied in all sectors so that the operational mechanisms of an organization or a person's activities can run effectively and efficiently. The development of smartphone communication tools has also made it easier to accelerate the implementation of digital transformation. The internet network, the development of other technological devices, and human behavior and culture are supporting elements that help implement digital transformation. With digital transformation, connectivity between humans, regions, or countries can be done at any time and without any limitations of space and time.
The use of digital technology has a positive impact on people's lives. However, some people also often use digital technology for actions that harm the interests of others. Based on those impacts, each country seeks to manage digital technology appropriately so that its use does not have enormous enough negative implications. Therefore, the government is actively building good governance in digital technology through its policies and regulations. In addition to policies and rules, digital ethics is also enforced to provide solutions in using digital technology in society. For G20 countries, digital ethics has become part of the social instrument in the virtual space. However, not all G20 countries have developed digital ethics, followed by all their people.
The dilemma of public panic over the dissemination of hoax information in social media is one of the pieces of evidence of the community's non-compliance in implementing digital ethics. Other evidence can be in the form of fraud in e-commerce transactions. Consumers feel disadvantaged by goods that do not meet expectations or sales transactions that involve fictitious merchants. In addition, the leakage of data and information belonging to the public, consumers, or stakeholders is another form of abuse of digital data management owned by an organization or individual.
The G20 cooperation forum has agreed and implemented an automatic exchange of information (AEoI) program for financial information used for tax purposes. This information exchange is very vulnerable to misuse of digital data owned by certain agencies or individuals. The emergence of e-commerce as a location for business transactions through the dark web is a threat to the sustainability of the data exchange process carried out by certain parties. Some regulations have been set up to anticipate leakage prevention during data exchange have been prepared by all countries. However, data leakage during exchange may occur if the system built still has human resources who are reluctant to comply with the digital ethics that all parties have constructed.
An example of the application of digital ethics can be seen in the European Union. European Union countries are also members of the OECD. They have long-established a digital ethic in their community. They have even built a project called the sherpa project. This project aims to see if artificial intelligence and data analytics impact digital ethics and human rights development. The European Union is also making rapid strides in implementing digital transformation. EU even took this step before the Covid-19 pandemic occurred. The example of applying digital ethics in the European Union is undoubtedly different from that of South Africa. South Africa is a developing country. South Africa still needs a firm commitment between the government and its people in building and implementing digital ethics. South Africa's population poverty index is still high (Gini coefficient index of 0.63 for 2021). The poverty index, of course, becomes undoubtedly a concern for the South African government. This poverty level is one of the reasons why all people in South Africa have not entirely undertaken the implementation of digital ethics.
On the other hand, countries in Asia such as Japan, South Korea, China, and Indonesia have built an ecosystem for utilizing digital technology. They have prepared several regulatory tools in managing the digital technology-based financial-economic transaction ecosystem. Policies and regulations that accommodate the application of digital ethics have also been designed. However, the existing reality still finds people's behavior far from ethical digital technology users.
To maintain a common perspective and support the consistency of the results of cooperation in the memorandum of understanding of the G20 member countries, the discussion panel of the G20 meeting forum needs to reconstruct how humans carry out digital transactions and activities on an ethical basis that exists in the social-economic ecosystem. This reconstruction seeks to re-awaken public awareness of G20 countries' ethics, norms, work ethic, and limitations in utilizing digital technology. Reconstruction of public awareness can be done by conducting socialization, education, and communication that contains art but still contains elements of education for the community. It is believed that digital transformation will continue to grow, and its development in the future will be influenced by the conversion of knowledge and the dynamics of people's lives. The cultural approach of the community that is collaborated in digital technology will be beneficial in understanding and encouraging humans to use digital technology by the ethics and norms that exist in actual society. All delegates of G20 member countries hope that the moment of accelerating digital transformation will affect other changes. That way, the existing digital ethics will create another ethics in all human's living spaces to build more constructive social behavior.
Public Relations at the Ministry of Finance
This opinion is the author's personal opinion and does not represent the views of the Ministry of Finance institution.