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.