Insights from the Digital Trust 2025 Conference

November 2021

At the Digital Trust 2025 Conference, co-organized by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and Center for Digital Trust (C4DT), EPFL, we addressed a number of key questions: How does a lack of digital trust manifest itself today? Is this justified, based on current privacy and security issues, or is it exaggerated? What lessons can be learned from other sectors on how to build the trust that will be needed for our digital future?

The final high-level panel built on the topics of the day to discuss how digital trust can develop to meet the needs of existing and new online services. The challenge is multi-stakeholder, as companies, governments, technologists will all have a role to play in designing security, ensuring that it is implemented, and ensuring that organizations and end-users understand and address the challenges to protect themselves and their customers.

Participants of the High-Level Panel:

Nele Leosk, Ambassador at Large Digital Affairs, Estonia
John Frank, VP and Lead of the UN Affairs Team, Microsoft
Ursula Oesterle, Vice President, EPFL
Niniane Paeffgen, Managing Director, Swiss Digital Initiative
André Kudelski, Chairman & CEO, Kudelski Group

Key Take-Aways:

There are no purely technical solutions to the trust deficit. A Label can foster transparency and reduce complexity, but is not the only solution.
There are no shortcuts: Digital Trust needs to be earned.
Digital Trust is an ongoing practical challenge and cannot be built overnight.
Transparency is key in building Digital Trust
In a broader sense, trust in the digital world is not limited to data protection and security alone
but encompasses social and ethical responsibility.
A general feeling of insecurity in a complex digital world fosters openness of users towards
solutions that address the topic of Digital Trust.
Building Digital Trust concerns all stakeholders and requires a holistic and iterative approach