Act of presentation of the Digital Rights Charter
On January 10 last year, a team led by Chinese virologist Yong-Zhen Zhang shared on the internet the genetic sequence of the new coronavirus. Only three days later, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Modern company had already developed an experimental vaccine. On March 2, she was injected into the first volunteer and today there are hundreds of millions of people immunized worldwide. This is the science. This is the research. This is innovation, saving lives and returning us to normality.
In Spain alone, more than 40 million doses have already been administered, an impressive achievement possible by the effort and preparation of the workers of our health system. But also because of the digital tools used to manage it.
In this pandemic, access to digital media has allowed us to maintain contact with our friends, receive the affection of our grandparents. It has made it possible to maintain many jobs and for students to continue receiving essential training for their future.
Right now, the internet is the world, or at least an important part of it, and leaving someone out of digitalization is like leaving them out of the world: from work, from health or from education.
Technology is vital and must be at the service of people. This government is going to ensure that it is. And let it be safe. Therefore, this Government is making an enormous historical economic effort in science, research, innovation and also in technology to ensure that digitalization reaches everyone. This is what is stated in this Charter of Digital Rights, because as we live in a state of law that guarantees our rights and freedoms, the digital world also has to guarantee them.
This document that we present today demonstrates this Government’s determined will to bring about change by taking the lead, working to update rights, ensuring respect for shared values and eliminating uncertainties about what can and cannot be done in a digitalized world. The principles set out here will guide the laws and public policies with which we want to protect individual and collective rights in this new digital environment. A letter that will also give security to the world of science and innovation.
We live in a different world, where science, research, innovation and digital transformation are hugely important, even more so after the pandemic. It is a world full of opportunities, thanks to these powerful tools. We will listen to the citizens, to know their concerns and needs, and that will make us able to bring the benefits of digital transformation to everyone.