Why can the World Data Organization, headquartered in Beijing, attract over 200 institutions from more than 40 countries to join?

A new organization has been established, which is relevant to the field of data.

On March 30, the World Data Organization was officially established and held a unveiling ceremony. Its headquarters is located in Beijing. Xinjing News reporters from Beike Finance learned on site at the World Data Organization’s inaugural conference (hereinafter referred to as the inauguration conference) that the World Data Organization has already absorbed more than 200 core organizations as its first batch of member organizations, covering 6 continents and more than 40 countries worldwide.

World Data Organization Chairman Tan Tie Niu, when reading out the “World Data Organization Inauguration Declaration,” said that the World Data Organization’s mission is “bridging the data divide, releasing the value of data, and fostering the digital economy,” and it is committed to building a global data development and governance cooperation platform, promoting the development and utilization of data and cooperation, serving the development of the global digital economy, exploring the construction of an open, inclusive, safe, and trustworthy data governance environment, and ensuring that the fruits of digital development better benefit more countries and regions.

March 30, Beijing, the World Data Organization was officially established and held an unveiling ceremony. Photo by Li Mu yi, a reporter from Xinjing News.

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“We’re entering a new era, and in this era, data is no longer just a resource. It is the cornerstone of the global economy, an innovation engine, and the bridge connecting humanity.” said Xie Jizhen, Chairman of Group Zhengda and a member unit of the World Data Organization, at the World Data Organization’s inauguration conference.

In the digital economy era, data has become the primary production factor and a key force driving economic development in every country. Taking China as an example, by 2025, as the value of data factors continues to be released, the added value of core industries of the digital economy will increase to more than 10.5% of GDP. The digitalization across all sectors, including finance, transportation, healthcare, manufacturing, and more, is built on efficient interactions among vast amounts of data.

“How to push all parties to share opportunities in development, reach consensus in governance, and achieve win-win results in cooperation has become an important issue that the digital-intelligence era urgently needs to address together.” Tan Tie Niu emphasized that the problem of global digital economy development being imbalanced and insufficient remains prominent, and it faces a series of shared challenges: data rules and standards are still somewhat fragmented, the capacity for secure and trusted data circulation needs to be improved, the level of industry-ecosystem coordination remains insufficient, and the value of data has not yet been fully released.

The World Data Organization was established in response to this. It is a global, professional, non-governmental, non-profit social organization voluntarily formed by data-related organizations and individuals, headquartered in Beijing.

Specifically, the roles of the World Data Organization can be summarized as a platform plus an organizational framework of six types of actions. The World Data Organization’s core functions mainly consist of six major sections: member services and industry self-regulation, data governance policy research and compliance services, technological innovation and international standards, key facilities and interconnection, industry research and ecosystem development, and conference exchange and education and training.

The World Data Organization has built a governance system centered on the members’ assembly, the board of directors, responsible persons, supervisors, and the secretariat. Among them, the members’ assembly is the highest authority; the board of directors is the executive body; the responsible persons perform their duties within the scope of the articles of association; supervisors independently oversee; and the secretariat is responsible for daily operations.

At the inaugural conference, it was announced that the World Data Organization has absorbed more than 200 core organizations as its first batch of members, covering 6 continents and more than 40 countries. It brings together diversified stakeholders such as enterprises, universities, think tanks, international organizations, and financial institutions. Among them, enterprises account for nearly 70%. Member organizations broadly cover 14 key industry sectors including industry, finance, healthcare, public services, e-commerce retail, transportation logistics, energy, construction, the internet, agriculture, education, media, automotive, and law.

From static resources to dynamic assets—data circulation needs stronger coordination

From the industrialization of data itself, the utilization of data has formed a value-release pathway through industrialization. Through continuous exploration, the market has established a complete industrial chain from data collection, data cleaning, data annotation, data processing to the formation of data products. This complete chain truly transforms data from static resources into dynamic assets, continuously enhancing its value-creation capability.

Data factor value is particularly important as the global industries move toward artificial intelligence. “Data is no longer a byproduct; it is the infrastructure for artificial intelligence, internet systems, markets, and the economy. Trust, standards, and coordination will determine whether data connects or fractures the world.” At the World Data Organization’s inaugural conference, Jack Perry, Chairman of the UK’s 48 Group and a member unit of the World Data Organization, spoke about the importance of data to the development of the current global industrial ecosystem.

In 1953, Jack Perry’s grandfather helped secure the first trade agreement between the People’s Republic of China and the Western world, which is how the UK’s 48 Group was born. Over more than 70 years, they have built trust through business, connected China with the world, and regarded such a relationship as “Ice Breaking.” Jack Perry believes that we are currently in a “Ice Breaking 3.0 era,” characterized by: promoting the globalization of Chinese technology, and forming partnerships and governance between China and the world in the field of artificial intelligence and data (solutions).

In Jack Perry’s view, the World Data Organization’s core role as a development platform—namely, establishing a platform for trust, standards, and cooperation—aligns with the UK’s 48 Group, NEC Robotics, and NECAI: We have made breakthroughs on big data models, exploring how technology and data can flow among different entities, how such flow can create multiplier effects, and how it can be applied and implemented in real-world systems. Most importantly, we need to understand how this can benefit a proactive and responsible governance framework.

Looking back at global governance practice, many important quasi-public goods have developed corresponding international coordination mechanisms: global public health has the World Health Organization, global meteorological data exchange has the World Meteorological Organization, and global civil aviation standards coordination has the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The relationship between the World Data Organization and existing international organizations is not a replacement relationship, but rather a relationship that deserves stronger coordination. “The World Data Organization is committed to building a global data development and governance cooperation platform, promoting the development and utilization of data and cooperation, serving the development of the global digital economy, exploring the construction of an open, inclusive, safe, and trustworthy data governance environment, and ensuring that the fruits of digital development better benefit more countries and regions.” Tan Tie Niu said.

“China’s Solution” provides an important reference for changes in the global data governance system

As an important driving force in global digital economic development, China has carried out systematic exploration and practice in the field of data governance. China’s digital infrastructure is world-leading in scale, technology, and other aspects.

The “Eastern Data, Western Computing” project systematically plans 8 national computing power hub nodes and 10 national data center clusters, covering 14 provinces in the east, central, and west regions. The eight hub nodes are set to concentrate more than 60% of newly added computing power, and the scale of smart computing is about 80% of the national total. Comprehensive strengths in artificial intelligence have made an overall, systematic leap: the number of patents accounts for 60% of the global total, and continued breakthroughs have been made in fields such as humanoid robots and smart terminals.

In recent years, China has built a complete set of data governance rules. Between 2016 and 2021, the Cybersecurity Law, the Data Security Law, and the Personal Information Protection Law were promulgated and implemented in succession, achieving a full-chain coverage from “cybersecurity” to “data security” to “personal information rights and interests.” On this basis, in December 2022, the “Twenty Articles on Data” were issued, introducing a property-rights operation mechanism of “separating the rights of data ownership, processing, and utilization,” addressing the hard problem of defining data ownership, and at the same time establishing a compliant and efficient data factor circulation and transaction system that integrates both on-market and off-market arrangements.

Previously, China had already introduced regulations such as the Measures for Security Assessment of Data Exports and the Measures for Standard Contract for Outbound Transfers of Personal Information, clarifying requirements such as security assessments for outbound transfers of important data and filings for standard contracts for outbound transfers of personal information. In March 2024, the Provisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-Border Data Flows were officially implemented. Based on the existing system, it further optimized arrangements, providing clearer and more predictable institutional safeguards for expanding high-level opening up and unlocking the value of data factors.

In specialized data areas, China has put forward two initiatives in sequence, forming a more refined concept-based solution. The Global Data Security Initiative provides a practical reference for balancing data security and open cooperation for countries. The Global Initiative on Cooperation for Cross-Border Data Flows clarifies support for countries to promote data flows on the premise of complying with domestic laws and international commitments, while calling for help for developing countries to enhance their data governance capabilities and digital industry levels, so as to avoid widening the data divide.

In addition, in March 2023, China’s State Council issued the “Plan for Institutional Reform of the State Council” to carry out institutional reform, establishing the National Data Administration, and it was officially inaugurated in October of that year. The National Data Administration is responsible for coordinating and advancing the construction of fundamental data systems, overall planning for the integration, sharing, and development and utilization of data resources, and coordinating the planning and construction of initiatives such as Digital China, the digital economy, and the digital society. Recently, the National Data Administration also newly established an International Data Governance Cooperation Division.

Overall, in its participation in global data governance, China has formed a series of systematic and actionable ideas and propositions, providing an important reference for the transformation of the global data governance system.

Xinjing News Beike Finance reporter Chen Weicheng, Wei Yingzi, editor Chen Li, proofreader Jia Ning