Strengthening digital trust in Asia Pacific: preventing scams through shared intelligence

Asia Pacific is entering a new phase of digital development. As digital platforms become integral to economic activity, public services, finance, communications and emerging technologies such as AI, trust becomes a critical enabler of digital transformation. This report examines the trust imperative across Asia Pacific, examines the results of the Digital Nations Index in the context of trust, outlines the role of mobile operators as guardians of digital trust, and presents priorities for strengthening the foundations of digital trust for governments, regulators, operators and international cooperation institutions.

Digital trust has become a strategic delivery mechanism for building digital nations. Countries that build confidence in digital infrastructure, services and institutions will be better placed to convert digitalisation into adoption, innovation, investment and socioeconomic impact. To explain how digital trust can be strengthened, this report introduces four interconnected foundations of digital trust. Traditionally viewed as connectivity providers, mobile operators are increasingly contributing to all four trust foundations, making them key enablers of digital trust. 

Building on the foundation of the Digital Societies series, this report marks the inaugural edition of the Digital Nations series. It explores the aspiration of governments in Asia Pacific to leverage digital technologies as a means to achieve sustainable, resilient and inclusive economic growth, based on the development of five key components of a digital nation: infrastructure, innovation, data governance, security and people.