Signapore and South Korea signed a Digital Economy Agreement that supports the release of Open Government Information and collaboration related to Data Innovation. This includes data sharing projects, the development of policies and standards for data portability, and sharing best practice approaches to data innovation

The UK and Ukraine signed a Digital Trade Agreement that supports the release of Open Government Information and collaboration related to Data Innovation. This includes data sharing projects, the development of policies and standards for data portability, and sharing best practice approaches to data trusts

The German Bundestag passed the "Gesundheitsdatennutzungsgesetz" (GDNG) on March 22, 2024, aimed at improving the use of health data for public welfare-oriented research and the data-based development of the healthcare system. This law regulates the processing of health data for research, healthcare improvement, and other public interest purposes. It establishes a central data access and coordination office within the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices to support and advise users on accessing health data. The GDNG also introduces measures to enhance data protection, ensure transparency, and promote the secondary use of health data. It mandates the establishment of a public metadata catalog, an application register, and a secure processing environment for linking and processing pseudonymized health data from various sources.

The New Zealand Government is introducing the Customer and Product Data Bill to establish a Consumer Data Right, empowering individuals and businesses with greater control over their data. Initially targeting the banking and electricity sectors, this legislation allows customers to securely access and share their data with accredited third parties. By standardizing data exchange and ensuring security, the bill aims to unlock the full potential of customer data, enabling the creation of innovative, data-driven products and services.

The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) is an international treaty aimed at facilitating digital trade and cooperation among New Zealand, Singapore, Chile, and, as of May 2024, South Korea. DEPA establishes common frameworks and standards for aspects of the digital economy such as data governance, digital identities, artificial intelligence, and e-commerce. Article 9.4 of DEPA, on Data Innovation, emphasizes the importance of cross-border data flows and data sharing for data-driven innovation. It recognizes the role of regulatory data sandboxes for sharing data, promotes data sharing mechanisms, and commit the parties to collaborating on data-sharing projects and mechanisms. Article 9.5 supports open government data.

The European Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement on the Commission proposal for the European Health Data Space (EHDS) in April 2024. The EHDS aims to empower citizens by granting them control over their health data and facilitating health data use for research under strict conditions across the EU. This initiative will provide citizens with immediate access to their digital health data anywhere in the EU, improving patient care and decision-making. The provisional agreement still needs to be formally approved by the Council.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has introduced the "Forschungsdatengesetz" (FDG). The act's primary goals are to establish a micro data center, simplify and expand access to public sector data, create linking options, and make data protection more research-friendly. It also aims to improve the findability of research data by mandating public research institutions to create metadata catalogues based on standardized metadata. These catalogues will be integrated into a central search platform to promote and network research collaborations. The FDG will regulate researchers' access rights to various types of public data and establish a one-stop shop with remote access capabilities for researchers. The cabinet will discuss the FDG in the last quarter of 2024..

The European Commission and Japan, have signed a protocol centred on cross-border data flows between the two entities. The agreement aims to eliminate data localization requirements and will allow both parties to manage data  without onerous administrative or storage obligations. Upon ratification, the agreed-upon provisions will be integrated into the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). 

The European Council and Parliament have reached an agreement on the new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) to enhance product transparency and sustainability. The ESPR will introduce the Digital Product Passport as a cross-sectoral tool across the EU. A product's Digital Product Passport will provide detailed information about that product's environmental attributes, such as durability, reparability, disposal details, and availability of spare parts, accessible through a simple data scan. 

The Consumer Data Right (CDR) in Australia, overseen by the Australian Government and managed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), enables individuals and businesses to access and share their data securely with accredited third parties. Initially implemented in the banking and energy sectors, the CDR is an opt-in service designed to provide greater choice, control, and convenience. The Australian Government plans to expand the CDR to additional sectors.

Transport Minister Jesse Norman launched the TRIB Transport Digital Twin Vision and Roadmap to 2035 on June 22, 2023. Developed by Connected Places Catapult for the Department for Transport’s Transport Research and Innovation Board (TRIB), this roadmap outlines a series of activities and initiatives aimed at creating a trusted ecosystem of connected digital twins for UK transport networks. The roadmap includes establishing a framework to facilitate trusted data flow and sharing across the transport sector ecosystem of connected digital twins. It aims to define common standards and legal frameworks to enable interoperability and data access, develop a governance framework around data sharing and management, and design a data framework to coordinate different systems based on data requirements and data sharing protocols.

This report from Agence Française de Développement provides a survey of digital freedoms in 26 French-speaking countries in Africa. It relies on desk research and interviews filtered through a methodology from Freedom House to score each country. It then provides a series of recommendations on policies and actions that governments and other stakeholders could take in the short, medium, and long term to build digital freedoms across Africa.

The Commission published a list of high-value datasets that public sector bodies will have to make available for re-use, free of charge, within 16 months.The Regulation is set up under the Open Data Directive, which defines six categories of such high-value datasets: geospatial, earth observation and environment, meteorological, statistics, companies and mobility. 

This  proposal contains elements to strengthen the links between and general consistency of all EU social statistics based on persons and households. The proposal contains provisions aimed at developing a harmonised definition of population based on sound statistical concepts for all outputs, and to facilitate access to available data sources that will improve the production processes and general quality of social statistics.

The National Geospatial Policy, 2021 is a citizen-centric policy that liberalizes the geospatial sector and democratizes the datasets generated by use of public funds.

The Japanese Government Cabinet adopted the Digital Garden City-State Concept Comprehensive Strategy on December 23, 2022. The strategy aims to utilize digital technologies to revitalize regional economies and address social issues, promoting a balanced population distribution across Japan. It emphasizes nationwide expansion of digital services through comprehensive infrastructure, linking data among services for well-being and efficient governance. Key initiatives include developing tailored digital infrastructure facilitated by a government cloud for seamless local and national services, and architecting the Digital Lifeline for community services and interoperable data infrastructures to foster societal growth. Additionally, it aims to facilitate data sharing through open-source apps, APIs, and regulatory reforms, encouraging innovation and accessibility.

This document is the first intergovernmental agreement on common approaches to safeguarding privacy and other human rights and freedoms when accessing personal data for national security and law enforcement purposes

The Act would accelerate the public sectors digital transformation in Europe and assist the development of a network of independent and linked digital public administrations. The EU and its Member States will be able to provide consumers and companies with improved public services and achieve Europes digital ambitions for 2030 while promoting trustworthy data flows.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in India (MoHUA) launched the DataSmart Cities strategy to empower urban areas through strategic data use. The initiative aims to transform urban management with digital technologies by making cities 'DataSmart,' improving governance, enhancing service delivery, and stimulating innovation and civic engagement through effective data utilization in cities across India. Part of this strategy includes the India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX), an open-source platform that facilitates  data exchange across city stakeholders. Additionally, MoHUA developed the Data Maturity Assessment Framework to help cities assess their readiness and capability to utilize data effectively. DataSmart Cities is a comprehensive strategy involving the creation of institutional structures, processes like policy formulation and data standards, and the implementation of technology platforms like IUDX and an Open Data Portal to support data-driven decision-making.