Digital technologies' effects

 Digital technologies' effects

Technology may contribute to a more equitable, peaceful, and just society. Every one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including eradicating extreme poverty, lowering the incidence of maternal and child deaths, encouraging sustainable farming and decent jobs, and attaining universal literacy, may be aided and expedited by technological advancement. However, the technologies may also worsen inequality, undermine security, and endanger privacy. They have an impact on human agency and rights. Governments, corporations, and people have the same freedom to choose how to employ and handle new technology as did earlier generations.

A universally digitized future?

In barely two decades, digital technology have reached about 50% of the developing world's population, changing society more quickly than any other breakthrough in history. Technology may be a tremendous equalizer by facilitating commerce, financial inclusion, increased connection, and easier access to public services.

AI-enabled frontier technologies, for instance, are extending life expectancy, diagnosing illnesses, and saving lives in the health sector. Distance learning and virtual learning environments in education have made programs accessible to students who would not have otherwise been able to enroll. Blockchain-powered platforms are also making public services more responsible and accessible, while AI support is lightening the load on bureaucracy. Additionally, big data may help make policies and programs more precise and responsive.

Nevertheless, those who maintain their connections lose out on the advantages of this new era and fall even more behind. Those who are left behind include women, the elderly, people with disabilities, members of indigenous communities, people from linguistic or ethnic minorities, and those who live in impoverished or isolated locations. In several constituencies, the rate of connectedness is decreasing, if not reversed. For instance, worldwide, women utilize the Internet at a rate that is 12% lower than that of males. The least developed nations saw a rise in the gap from 30 to 33 percent between 2013 and 2017, despite the gap narrowing in other areas.

When algorithms are used to inadequately varied data, they have the potential to reproduce and even intensify systemic and human biases. One possible explanation for this challenge's inadequate attention is the absence of diversity in the technological industry.

the labor of the future

Technological revolutions have changed the labor force throughout history by bringing about new forms and patterns of employment, rendering others obsolete, and causing wider societal changes. This present wave of change is probably going to have a big effect. For instance, according to ILO estimates, the shift to a green economy could result in the creation of 24 million new jobs worldwide by 2030 as a result of the energy sector adopting sustainable practices, driving electric vehicles, and improving the energy efficiency of both current and future buildings. perhaps born.

Meanwhile, studies reveal that most workers worry they won't have the skills or knowledge necessary to get a well-paying job, and projections from organizations like McKinsey indicate that 800 million people might lose their jobs to automation by 2030. lack the necessary abilities.

It is widely acknowledged that adapting to these trends will necessitate adjustments to the way we approach education, such as emphasizing STEM subjects more; teaching resilience and soft skills; and making sure individuals can continue to learn new skills and retrain throughout their lives. Improved assistance will be necessary for unpaid employment, such as home care and elder care, since demand for these positions is expected to rise due to changes in the world population's age distribution.

data's future

In order to monitor and diagnose problems in agriculture, health, and the environment as well as to carry out everyday chores like navigating traffic or paying bills, data pooling and digital technologies like AI are utilized nowadays. They may be used to uphold and defend human rights, but they can also be used to violate them, as in the case of tracking our whereabouts, transactions, interactions, and behavior. Businesses and governments alike are becoming more equipped to collect and use data for economic and non-financial gains.

However, personal data would become an advantage to an individual if a formula for greater control of data ownership existed. Depending on the kind of security, data-driven technology may empower people, enhance human well-being, and advance universal rights.

Social media's future

Nearly half of the world's population is connected via social media. It allows users to communicate in real time with others all around the globe and to have their opinions heard. But technology may also create rifts and strengthen biases by magnifying echo chambers or providing a forum for hate speech and false information.

Social media algorithms may encourage the disintegration of societies globally in this manner. However, they also have the capacity to have the opposite effect.

Cyberspace's future

How to handle these changes at a time when geopolitical tensions are escalating is a matter of great national and international discussion. The world's superpowers, each with its own internet and artificial intelligence strategy, dominating currency, trade and financial regulations, and divergent geopolitical and military perspectives, are in danger of experiencing a "major fracture," according to the UN secretary general. A partition like that may create a virtual Berlin Wall. A more unified world is seen to depend on governments working together digitally and creating a universal cyberspace that upholds international norms for human rights, peace and security, and sustainable development. One of the main suggestions made by the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation is a "Global Promise to Digital Cooperation."