Leaders talk about tech revolution
▶ Future of banking, health care, retail and more was discussed
Innovation, data, future, smart – these were the buzzwords of the World Government Summit held at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah this week.
World leaders and business chiefs to future-gazers, tech geeks and even actors – Robert de Niro and Forest Whitaker – rubbed shoulders with the International Monetary Fund’s Christine Lagarde and president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim.
Delegates discussed how governments can tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing global citizens now and in years to come.
Unsurprisingly, many of the solutions posed during the three-day expo of seminars, plenaries and forums were based on transformative new technologies.
The future of banking, health care, education, retail, climate change, transport, logistics – you name it, even basic home living – will be radically altered and, in some cases, disrupted by technological advances, and governments must get on board before they lag behind the rest of the world, delegates were told.
At a macro level, the shift towards a digital world will prompt a reshape of democratic systems and international diplomacy as “big data” becomes more readily available and citizens become more empowered.
Governments are under pressure to strike a balance between data privacy and economic development – as data can be used to build businesses, improve government services and better inform the public. To that end, some countries, including France and Denmark, have begun appointing ambassadors for digital affairs, tasked specifically to build relationships with Silicon Valley and other technology firms to see what innovations they are creating and draw up digital-related policies accordingly.
Technology will also impact the economy, as artificial intelligence makes some jobs obsolete and creates new ones.
An estimated 45 per cent of existing jobs in the Middle East could be automated today, which would affect more than 20 million full-time employees and $366.6 billion of wage income, claimed a McKinsey & Company report published during the summit.
This is both a concern and an opportunity, it said.
Also on the macro side, delegates heard how climate change could impact global prosperity, and why some populations are malnourished despite the world being wealthier than ever. Again, technology was cited as the answer to some of these problems.
Some of the most interesting inventions coming out of the UAE were showcased at the event, including a “virtual Vivaldi” at Dubai’s Museum of the Future, a prototype automated vehicle, and the latest preparations for the Emirates’ Mars Mission, scheduled to launch in 2020.