6. When Do Arbitrators Need to Be Technologically Competent?

It is increasingly common for arbitrators to have to answer specific questions about their digital expertise from arbitral institutions or parties before selection. Sometimes they also use software tools to carry out conflict checks before accepting an arbitral appointment. Once the arbitration begins arbitrators are constantly in direct contact with technology. This chapter shows how the proper management, supervision and resolution of contemporary arbitrations require arbitrators to possess sufficient technological competence to be able to make informed decisions about digital issues. The chapter also discusses a range of situations that may arise in any arbitration proceeding in which arbitrators have to demonstrate technological competence: ICT considerations during the initial procedural conference, technological decisions before and during virtual hearings, implementing cybersecurity and data protection measures during the whole arbitration, and so forth. All these situations that may arise during the arbitral procedure show that the need to be able to rely on tech-savvy arbitrators has been accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic and has become the “new normal” in the post-pandemic era. As this chapter argues, arbitrators’ technological duties in commercial and investment arbitration are here to stay.