The Limitless Possibilities of a Digital World

[Music]

well it’s another day working from home

fortunately we’ve got some uh good space

here to do it we’ve come to love this

office i had to clean it up

a little bit today this is uh

what we share we got everything we need

to uh to work from home

we’re so fortunate to be able to be

together and work from home

be able to pursue our work and passions

digitally

and to be safe the upside of being

largely locked down for the last year is

that

i haven’t had to travel at all i don’t

even have to commute to the office or go

to meetings

it’s freed up so much time yes but

actually it turns out there’s a lot more

work than i would have imagined but

it’s also more more time to appreciate

nature and

be with my family frankly it’s been an

awakening of sorts

the opportunity to to take walks every

day outside

sometimes admittedly on work calls or

webinars but

i hate to admit that as i experienced

the the transition of nature from

spring to the summer during my daily

walks i marveled at how spectacular

nature was in fact

i even asked some people is it like this

every year um

and i’m told it was and i’ve kind of

been missing out but i won’t be missing

out uh in the future

i am reminded however of of those people

who

are on the wrong side of the digital

divide who who aren’t so blessed

to have connectivity in the tools that

they need

even as the world is more connected

world economic forum and the united

nations estimate that nearly half of our

global population remains offline

unconnected to the digital world that’s

probably over 3 billion people

with a very high percentage in the less

developed poorer countries in the world

two-thirds of the world’s school-aged

children 1.3 billion children aged three

to 17

did not have internet connections in

their home according to a joint report

from unicef

in the international telecommunications

union the branch of the united nations

but too many people living in the united

states and other developed countries are

unconnected as well or digitally

disadvantaged

in the u.s about 14 percent of children

age 3 to 18 don’t have internet access

meaning that more than 9 million school

children face difficulty in completing

assignments online

and experiencing the virtual world

we all owe it to our neighbors to try to

work together to close the digital

divide

to help the disadvantaged in the human

race and help them

lead fuller healthier lives we must

collaborate

to drive digital inclusion to bring the

benefits of technology to every person

home and organization we need to close

the divide to facilitate the work of the

president and the future

virtual education and training and so

much more

unesco and the itu broadband commission

for sustainable development has set a

target

of connecting 75 percent of the world’s

population the fast internet via cable

or wireless by

2025 this is an important goal let’s try

to

contribute to this the pandemic the

shutdowns revealed some things we should

have known or should have paid attention

to

for too many people who lack the skills

in education

and digital connectivity and tools to

maximize their potential

and quality of their lives too many are

at higher health risk and are vulnerable

to economic disruption

those without high speed connectivity

are at an immense disadvantage

a fact never more evident than during

the pandemic

when many have been able to maintain the

quality of their employments and of

their lives

without major negative disruption but

too many

others were not so fortunate before the

pandemic

in the united states about a third of

u.s households

had somewhat limited digital access and

that rose to 40

in the spring of last year when the

pandemic struck

virtual education can provide real value

particularly to those who have the

devices to take advantage of it

children young adults and older learners

need to be able to do their homework

do research connect with family and

friends

in other places those who seek more

education

better training and job opportunities

need the wherewithal to do it

computer literacy is often taken for

granted but can be a huge

hurdle for the uninitiated including

many older citizens

regarding technology generally we must

collaborate and act strategically and

proactively so we can leverage the

promise

and unlimited possibilities of

technology

to one bridge the digital divide two

maximize the benefits that technology

can bring to our people

and our economies by acting

strategically and collaboratively

globally nationally and in our

communities

and third to empower our workforce to

participate

in the current industrial revolution

so what about this fourth industrial

revolution i’ll call it the digital

transformation revolution

world economic forum says significant

economic and social value is going to be

generated by these business cases of 5g

one of the most important enablers that

allows these technologies to reach their

potential

is connectivity this new revolution

is expected to bring about historic

benefits but potentially some negative

consequences as well

we have to act strategically and

proactively and collaboratively

across government and the private sector

to maximize the benefits

and minimize the risk an ihs market

study estimates that 13.2 trillion

dollars in global economic value

made possible by 2035 generating

22.3 million jobs in the 5g global value

chain alone

what’s this revolution all about well 5g

enabled technology will bring computing

power

to the end user bringing dramatic

transformation over the next three to

ten years

not just speed with some of government

at the hino but reduce latency reduce

lag time

and an explosion in the number of

connections possible in a small area

this makes it possible to deploy

multiple sensors that are connected to

device and control systems

and computers which in turn can leverage

big data analytics

this industrial revolution is powered by

both established and emerging

technologies

including the internet of things

artificial intelligence advanced data

analytics

robotic process automation robotics

cloud computing

virtual and augmented reality 3d

printing and drones

one major impact will be a potentially

massive shift in the division of labor

between humans machines and algorithms

automation will likely have a huge

negative impact on certain kinds of jobs

often held by those with less education

and fewer skills

a mckinsey report found that 14 of

global workforce

would have to switch occupations or

acquire new skills by 2030

due to automation and artificial

intelligence

those with less education and minimal

skill jobs are likely to be negatively

impacted

most with particular concerns about

retail outlets like grocery stores and

some manufacturing jobs

it’s critically important that nations

if they want to maximize the benefits to

their people

minimize the consequences need to

collaborate

strategically that’s between governments

telecom mobile operators

equipment suppliers other private

organizations and public organizations

in academia

and the collaboration needs to take

place globally nationally

and at the state and local level it’s

also going to be important to develop

and implement security and privacy

frameworks

because of the inevitable growing

dependence on the technology-enabled

worlds

we need to make sure that systems and

services will be there

when we need them this will require

recognized standards and best practices

performance programs and independent

testing to promote assurance

transparency and accountability

workforce enablement is a very important

part of the challenge

we need to learn from history so that we

can try to anticipate the good things

as well as the ban perhaps

more effectively than we did the

downsides of globalization

and the disruptions of the pandemic we

need to learn lessons from history we

need to be strategic and proactive when

it comes to enabling and empowering

citizens

for the workforce of today and tomorrow

we cannot afford to be reactive as we

were

to the downsides of globalization and

disruptions of the pandemic

regarding workforce enablement there are

two critically important aspects

first train and educate the

undereducated and underskilled

so they have a better chance of

meaningful work going forward

second develop and implement a future of

work strategy

preferably led by the private sector

identify the knowledge and skills needed

for a nation to compete in technology

innovation

and implementation pick the case of

globalization

and with free trade many experts agree

that globalization has raised standards

of living

in much of the world and has been has

contributed to millions of people being

raised out of poverty

but many were negatively impacted by

globalization that should not have been

entirely unexpected

but people have done too little to try

to help those who lack the appropriate

skills

and education so we need to think about

the necessary educational and skill

levels for workers for the future

so we can anticipate and be prepared

lessons from the pandemic that the under

skilled and and

undereducated were the ones most

negatively impacted by shutdowns or they

had to work

and put themselves at risk after the

pandemic some lost jobs may not return

the haves need to help to have little

and have nots

raise their skills up skill if

upskilling doesn’t happen

technology innovation will leave many

behind

automation and robotics will make jobs

obsolete

if we begin upskilling now the workforce

will have the appropriate skills to

benefit

from the current industrial revolution

finally we have to develop and implement

a future of work strategy in countries

because countries need a well-educated

and well-trained workforce

to compete in the world and for citizens

to lead the fullest possible lives

legacy approaches to education and

training will not magically

work going forward traditional academics

are not for everyone

collaboration is going to be necessary

to identify what are the necessary

skills what’s the knowledge what’s the

experience that the new workforce needs

how does the existing learning

infrastructure need to be revised or

perhaps a new one constructed

for the benefit of current and future

workers and today’s

and tomorrow’s students developing and

implementing national future work

strategies

are worth considering to help inform a

strategic path forward to reap the

maximum benefits from technology

and reduce the negative consequences of

rapidly changing workforce requirements

so if we can please work together

thinking about what’s necessary and

possible

let’s work together to close the digital

divide let’s

identify requirements and launch

infrastructure to train

and educate the underskilled and

undereducated and let’s launch

future of work strategies so that the

requirements of tomorrow can be

identified today and going forward

so we can set up the means and the

mechanism to train people

so that they can participate in the

fullest benefits

of technology and lead the richest

possible lives