Policy Fellowship for Joseph Gonçalves Metcalf

Senior Adviser to the Chief External and Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone (view profile)

Joseph leads fisheries and digital trade in the Cabinet Office's EU Secretariat, where he advises Rt. Hon. Lord Frost CMG and supports the coordination of trade policy across government. He also works on the governance of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), particularly matters affecting trade.

Prior to the Cabinet Office, Joseph was Head of Australia and Emerging Technologies in the digital trade team at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). As the department's Head of EU Negotiation Strategy until December 2020, he negotiated the digital trade title of the TCA and wrote a section of the May government's Chequers white paper. Joseph has been a private secretary to the Minister for Digital and has completed secondments to Sweden’s foreign ministry and the cabinet of a European Commissioner.

Joseph holds a degree in German and history from King's College London. While at DCMS, he was a permanent delegate to Chatham House.

Questions

  • 1. How can trade policy improve the global governance of emerging digital technologies? Specifically, how could interoperability or mutual recognition mechanisms help?
  • 2. How can trade policy accommodate different interpretations of the term ‘online harm’, while simultaneously preserving liberal, democratic ideals, reinforcing public trust and increasing the economic value of cross-border trade?
  • 3. Is trade policy an appropriate vehicle for international agreement on the global governance of the internet? If so (or not), how and why?
  • 4. What role can trade agreements play in promoting strong data protection standards? Are trade agreements an appropriate vehicle for parties to agree common principles or rules on protection of privacy and data protection?
  • 5. What economic, social or diplomatic value do FTA provisions for regulatory dialogue add to global digital trade policy?
  • 6. Is the World Trade Organization the right forum to modernise rules for digital trade? How can other organisations complement it?