The Digital Indo-Pacific: Regional Connectivity and Resilience

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to lay a foundation for inclusive collaboration toward a Digital Indo-Pacific, which accounts for the region's differing but complementary strengths. A relatively new entrant in geopolitical nomenclature, the 'Indo-Pacific' has expanded to capture several ideas: the rule of law, balancing against China's rise, strengthening regional institutions, and, most recently, securing technology and information flows. The four sections of this paper - Minerals and Technology Manufacturing||Digital Economy and Adoption||Inclusive Digital Transformation||and Regimes - represent a 'four-layer' framework for analysis. This paper analyses seven countries - India, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia - all representing different systems of governance, demographic drivers, levels of maturity of digital ecosystems, and economic models. The Conclusions and Recommendations section identifies pathways for collaboration condensed into ten recommendations. Show more