Cross-Border Data Flows: The impact of data localisation on IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) transforms business, energises communities and empowers individuals. It can also benefit countries through increased productivity, employment, exports, energy efficiency and GDP. To enable these technologies and unlock their potential, mobile operators and other players in the IoT ecosystem need business models and technologies that will work anywhere in the world and allow data to flow. However, some countries, concerned about digital sovereignty, are considering the imposition of localisation requirements that would have the effect of restricting international data flows and fragmenting the digital world.

As a supplement to its 2018 report Cross-Border Data Flows: Realising Benefits and Removing Barriers, the GSMA now presents evidence-based research that quantifies the impacts of hypothetical localisation requirements in three countries in the context of IoT. The findings from this research are stark. They suggest that over half the benefits from IoT would be lost if a country decided to implement localisation restrictions.

Watch our webinar on the report available in English here and French here.