Global South Forges "Third Way" in Tech Standards
The US-China tech rivalry is being reshaped by the rising influence of the Global South, according to recent analysis. Developing nations are increasingly asserting their own priorities like digital public goods and are forming new coalitions within bodies like the ITU to counterbalance US and Chinese dominance.
India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a prime example of a digital public good gaining international traction, with countries like France, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and the UAE adopting or planning to adopt the technology. This expansion is part of a broader push for "India Stack," a collection of open APIs and digital public goods, which is projected to be adopted by 50 countries within the next five years. The Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), an open-source platform for national ID systems, is another key initiative. First tested on a large scale in the Philippines, MOSIP is now being piloted in 16 other countries, offering a cost-effective way for nations to build foundational digital identity systems. Ethiopia is also implementing a proof-of-concept with MOSIP to issue digital IDs. This push for digital public infrastructure (DPI) was a central theme of India's G20 presidency in 2023, positioning it as a "low-cost, software-based version of China's infrastructure-led Belt and Road Initiative." The United Nations Development Programme estimates that DPI could accelerate the economic growth of Global South countries by 20-33 percent by 2030. In parallel, nations like Brazil and South Africa are developing comprehensive digital governance and AI policy frameworks. Brazil's digital government strategy aims to make public services more efficient and accessible, and the country is seen as a leader in the Global South for its hybrid model of state coordination and private sector dynamism. South Africa's National AI Policy Framework focuses on ethical, human-centered AI, aligning with the African Union's continental strategy. The increasing influence of developing nations is also being felt in traditional standards bodies. The upcoming World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-24) in India marks the first time the event is being held in Asia, reflecting the growing participation of the region in setting global telecom standards. The ITU's "Bridging the Standardization Gap" initiative actively supports developing countries in participating in and shaping international standards. This shift comes as the U.S.-China rivalry continues to create fractures in the global standards landscape, particularly in areas like semiconductors and 6G. Concerns over technological decoupling have led to a push for Open RAN, which allows for more vendor diversity in telecommunications networks and is seeing deployments in Latin America and other emerging markets. The geopolitical competition is expected to intensify in the race for 6G, with the first specifications anticipated by the end of 2028.
