This document discusses the need for harmonization of cyberlaws across different jurisdictions. It notes that cybersecurity threats have global impacts and require international cooperation. Many countries lack comprehensive e-commerce and data privacy legislation. The document outlines UNCTAD's work assisting over 30 countries, including 10 Commonwealth countries, in developing harmonized cyberlaw frameworks. It highlights progress in ASEAN and the East African Community (EAC) in adopting regional agreements. UNCTAD is also working with ECOWAS to support implementation of existing frameworks and further harmonization efforts.

1. Assessing the need for
cyberlaw harmonization
Cécile Barayre-El Shami
Programme Manager, E-Commerce and Law Reform
ICT Analysis Section, UNCTAD
cecile.barayre@unctad.org
Commonwealth Cybersecurity Forum 2014
London, 5-6 February 2014
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2. Cyberattacks have the potential to destabilize on a global scale.
Cybersecurity must therefore be a matter of global concern. We need to
work together to bolster confidence in our networks, which are central
to international commerce and governance.
We need to strengthen national legislation … push for international
frameworks for collaboration … and adopt the necessary measures to
detect and defuse cyber threats.
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General,
Seoul Conference on Cyberspace, Seoul, Republic of
Korea, October 2013
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3. Why cybersecuritymatters
 Technology is pervasive and omnipresent
 Nearly as many SIM cards as people/applications
 90% global penetration
 60% in Africa
 9% annual growth of Internet users worldwide
Mobile money in expansion
 2.5 billion people unbanked in lower to middle income countries
 225 deployments as of February 2014, of which more than 50% in Africa
Increased use of cloud computing
 Webmail and social networks
 Business applications
 G-cloud
E-government initiatives
 E.g: the EAC
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Sources: ITU, GSMA, UNCTAD (2014)

4. Signs of rapid growth of e-commerce in
developing countries
B2C e-commerce sales in 2012: $1 trillion
China, India and Indonesia expected to grow fastest in 2013
China
 E-commerce has grown by 120% a year since 2003
 Surpassed the US in 2013 as largest e-commerce market
 Requested UNCTAD to review its e-commerce legislation (2014)
Latin America: from $1.6 billion to $43 billion in past decade
Brazil accounts for largest market share (59%)
Middle East and Africa: share in global e-commerce expected
to rise from 1.6% to 3.5% by 2016
4
Sources: Economist, Morgan Stanley, eMarketer

5. Issues to address
 Cybersecurity is multi-dimensional and complex
 Sovereignty, freedom of expression and privacy
 No international framework to address cybersecurity
 Security and trust of ICT users
 Lack of capacity:
 Policy and law makers preparing and enforcing laws
 Technical skills (security systems and CERTs)
 Enforcement bodies
 Differences among countries
 Legislation, capacity, resources
 Regional agreements/frameworks
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6. Assessing cyberlaw status
1/3 of the world’s jurisdictions lack e-commerce legislation
 101 countries (including 55 developing countries) with data
privacy laws
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Source: UNCTAD, Greenleaf, 2013
Africa (18) Asia (8) Caribbean and
Americas (13)
Europe (3) Pacific (11)
Privacy
Laws
(16)
Ghana
Mauritius
Seychelles
India
Malaysia
Singapore
Bahamas
Canada
St Lucia
St Vincent and The
Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
Cyprus
Malta
United
Kingdom
Australia
New Zealand
Bills (10) Kenya
Nigeria
South Africa
Tanzania
Antigua and Barbados
Barbados
Dominica
Grenada
Jamaica
St Kitts and Nevis

7. UNCTAD'sworkon cyberlawharmonization
 Provide technical assistance to more than 30 countries of which 10
Commonwealth countries building harmonized legal frameworks for
e-commerce [Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda,
Tanzania, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore]
 Support developing countries’ efforts towards the preparation of an
enabling legal and regulatory environment for e-commerce
1. Raise awareness and build capacity of policy and law makers, including
parliamentarians; eg. CTO and CPA Briefing of parliamentarians,
Commonwealth Cybersecurity Forum 2013
2. UNCTAD training course on the “Legal Aspects of E-commerce” : legal
validity of e-transaction, consumer protection, taxation, security, privacy,
IPRs, content regulation
3. Reviews of national laws and regional agreements
4. Assistance in the preparation of regionally harmonized legal frameworks
 Programme funded by Finland 7

8. ASEANFrontrunner in Harmonization
Harmonization of E-Commerce Legal Infrastructure in ASEAN
Project (2004-2008)
First developing region to adopt harmonized framework for e-
commerce laws
ICT Master Plan 2015 sets targets for further harmonization
Recognize need for continuous improvement of framework
and to ensure effective implementation at national level
Conscious of new challenges as result of evolving ICT
landscape
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9. UNCTAD-ASEANReview of E-Commerce
Laws Harmonization in ASEAN
Take stock of progress to date
Surveys of 10 ASEAN Member States and
of the Private Sector
Workshop in Cebu, 10-11 November 2012
25 participants from all ASEAN Member States
Country presentations
Group discussions on key issues and priority legal areas
Needs assessment
Review published in 2013 and presented to the
Telecommunications and IT Senior Official and Telecommunication
Regulators' Council Leaders’ in September 2013
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10. Statusof e-commerce law
harmonization in ASEAN (March2013)
10Source: UNCTAD

11. Main goal of the EAC Treaty: regional integration
Regional e-Government Programme adopted by
the EAC Council of Ministers (2006)
Enabling legal framework as a critical factor: e-
transactions, cybersecurity
Harmonized regional and national legal frameworks
Creation of an EAC Task Force
Regional ICT developments
Improved fiber-optic links and expansion of mobile
telephony and related services, notably mobile
money
Business process outsourcing
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UNCTAD'sassistancein Africa
ThecaseoftheEAC

12. EACcyberlawharmonization: Processes
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

13. Great progress achieved in terms of
harmonization in the EAC
Two Cyberlaw Frameworks endorsed
 Phase I: e-transactions, cybercrime, consumer protection, data protection –
adopted by the EAC Council of Ministers (2010)
 Phase II: IPRs, competition, taxation and information security - adopted by
the EAC Council of Ministers (2013)
Progress at the country level
 Computer crime : Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda - (Drafts - Burundi and
Tanzania)
 Data protection and privacy: Drafts in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania-
A draft is being prepared by Uganda - Request from the Ministry of
Information and Communications Technology for UNCTAD review (2014)
 Awareness campaigns
 eg. Uganda: Training of ICT and legal personnel since 2012: banks, insurance,
traders, manufacturers, judges, police and other agencies and bodies
Success of the project based on:
 Ownership from the EAC secretariat
 Continuation and commitment of the EAC Task Force (TF) Members
 UNCTAD continued support: review of draft laws and capacity-
building workshops 13

14. UNCTAD'sassistancein Africa
ThecaseofECOWAS
 Project started in 2013 in cooperation with the ECOWAS
Commission
 To support the implementation at the national level of existing legal
frameworks on e-transactions (Supplementary Act A/SA.2/01/10),
cybercrime (Directive 1/08/11) and personal data protection
(Supplementary Act A/SA.1/01/10)
 To review e-commerce law harmonization
 Building capacity of policy and law makers
 220 trained through distance learning
 Two regional workshops (Dakar, February; Accra, March, 2014)
 Surveys of 15 ECOWAS Member States
 Recommendations to further cyberlaw harmonization
"If we want to promote e-commerce in the region, we must raise consumer
confidence in computer security and electronic transactions" - Dr. Raphael
Koffi, Principal Programme Officer and Head of Telecommunication/ICT
Division, ECOWAS Commission 14

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Thank you for your attention!
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