The new international economic order in the digital age: dependency, Big Tech, and data decolonization

This article revisits the New International Economic Order (NIEO) in the context of digital capitalism and transborder data flows. It argues that Big Tech reproduces dependency through asymmetries in data extraction, infrastructure control, and algorithmic governance. Drawing on dependency theory, debates on NIEO and the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO), and contemporary scholarship on data colonialism and epistemic justice, the article conceptualizes data decolonization as a practical agenda to redistribute authority over data governance, digital infrastructures, and technological value. Contemporary dependency is embedded in cloud infrastructures, platform ecosystems, technical standards, and systems of value capture dominated by a small number of corporations and states. Building on the principles of sovereignty, equity, and collective self-reliance, the article proposes a Digital NIEO as a normative horizon for more democratic global digital governance.