The Principles for Digital Development team at the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) is pleased to welcome International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) to the Digital Principles community as the first private-sector company to endorse the principles.  

The Principles for Digital Development and IBM’s principles for trust and transparency align on several core values, such as data ownership, privacy, and security, and responsible stewardship. For decades, IBM has followed its trust and transparency principles to guide its work managing client data and insights engaging in responsible development and deployment of new technology, and has advocated for fair and equitable data policies that prioritize openness.    

“IBM is proud to deepen our engagement in the global development community and support the evolution of the digital principles. We see the principles as an incredibly useful resource and vehicle for advancing essential conversations around open technology and transformative economic development,» said Andrew Fairbanks, public sector lead, IBM U.S. Public and Federal Markets. 

Josh Mandell, IBM’s lead for global development, has worked with the Digital Principles community over the past two years as a member of the  Digital Principles  Advisory Council, championing both sets of principles and providing insights on the role that larger technology companies can play in the digital development ecosystem. As a leader in technology, IBM’s endorsement offers great potential to demonstrate how multinational corporations might begin to use the principles in their policies and practices.  

We warmly welcome IBM’s formal endorsement of the principles. The fresh perspective Mr. Mandell has already provided to the community over the past two years has helped to shape our ongoing work and future planning.   

“I am excited by the additional insights IBM will bring to the Digital Principles endorser community,” said Allana Nelson, director of the Principles for Digital Development program. “I look forward to continued engagement with IBM to promote dignity, safety, trust, and efficiency in technology in all sectors. They will be a great resource to us as we look to strengthen the ways in which the Digital Principles can guide best practices in digital development, especially on privacy, security, and responsible data use.”