Governance etica del digitale. Il principio di solidarietà tra protezione, circolazione e condivisione dei dati

The digital revolution has irreversibly changed the ontology of the person. By revealing the “informational nature of human identity”, digital technologies transform it into raw material for the technological process, and every aspect of life is involved. Humans thus become informational organisms that no longer live online or offline, but in continuous onlife interaction in an environment consisting of informational entities, the infosphere, which is uninterruptedly analogue and/or digital. This is because the digital revolution is also an environmental revolution, which also changes the ontology of things. However, in the face of current global challenges (pandemics, climate change, social injustice, wars, migration, etc.), there is a clear need for all good technology and, above all, all human intelligence to steer digital realities towards (and in the service of) a better future. Digital technologies, although immersed in a sea of unpredictability, are not autonomous or indomitable entities: the direction they take, and the way they enter the foreseeable future, is a human project. This project requires governance capable of establishing a harmonious balance between analogue and digital, supported by a regulatory system and digital ethics that guide both towards socially responsible solutions. In the age of artificial intelligence, it is inconceivable to have technology without an ethical perspective to accompany and critically guide it. The humanisation of technology requires constant dialogue between different fields of knowledge – legal, engineering, humanistic, theological – to ensure that technology remains at the service of humankind. Digital technologies, therefore, only express their full potential when interconnected. In this sense, data sharing is both the driving force and the effect of this interconnection, as it fuels its vitality and evolutionary capacity. However, sharing can only develop sustainably within a data governance framework capable of ethically guiding and structuring information circulation processes according to criteria of rationality, fairness and responsibility. Governance based on a solid axiological value system and principles guarantees a long-term vision of the digital phenomenon – a presbyopic view – capable of looking far beyond technical or market contingencies. In this perspective, the principle of solidarity is confirmed as an indispensable foundation: it promotes governance of sharing oriented towards social good, capable of enhancing and balancing the needs of data protection, circulation and sharing. There is still a long way to go, and much will depend on how governance initiatives are actually implemented. The unknown remains an integral part of technological evolution; yet only an anthropocentric and solidarity-based approach, oriented towards the protection of the individual and the pursuit of the common good, can indicate where digital technologies can go.