Technology

Our Shared Digital Futures is a publication shaped by leaders from business, government, academia and civil society who collectively acknowledge the need for shared goals and coordinated action to shape an inclusive, sustainable, digital future. Facilitated by the World Economy Forum’s System Initiative on Digital Economy and Society, the paper reviews current status, offers an illustrative list of ongoing initiatives at global and local levels, and identifies developments to watch in at least six shared goals around universal internet access and adoption, digital transformation, digital identity, governance, cyber resilience, and data. It calls on global leaders and organisations to strengthen cooperation and to evolve shared platforms for shaping our digital future.
The publication seeks to serve as a conversation starter, as the world celebrates the milestone of more than half of the world’s population now connected to the internet, and while less than half of those already online trust that technology will make their lives better.

The fifth generation of mobile network technologies, known as “5G,” promises greater speed, security, and capacity. 5G will underpin the internet economy and provide the backbone for the next generation of digital technologies. So, it is unsurprising that there is intense competition among companies and countries for 5G leadership. 5G will determine the direction the internet will take and where nations will face new risks and vulnerabilities. Who makes 5G technologies will affect security and innovation in an increasingly competitive technological environment. Decisions made today about 5G will affect national security and economic performance for decades to come. This is a competition among companies and groups of companies but also a competition between market-based and state-directed decisionmaking. The United States has relied on the former, China on the latter, and Europe falls somewhere in between. American technology remains essential for 5G mobile telecommunications. American companies have been strong performers in developing 5G technologies, but the United States and its allies face a fundamental challenge from China. The focus of competition is over 5G’s intellectual property, standards, and patents. Huawei, for example, has research programs to develop alternatives to American suppliers, and U.S. trade restrictions have accelerated China’s efforts to develop its own 5G industry. While American companies lead in making essential 5G technologies, there are no longer any U.S. manufacturers of core telecommunications network equipment.

Is data really the new oil? Some say that access to this basic commodity is decisive for the success and failure of entire business models in the digital markets. Would an obligation to share data with competitors be an adequate means of ensuring fair competition in these markets?

Technology in many ways is perfectly conceived to operate in the workplace, bringing an ability to operate around the clock at increasing levels of accuracy and productivity. Since the Industrial Revolution, machines have been the ideal colleague, performing some of the most mind-numbing tasks and freeing up human partners to do more interesting and productive things. However, in the near future, new digital technologies are set to take the next step, graduating from the factory floor to the boardroom and applying themselves to more complex, cognitive activities. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are a game changer for automation in the workplace. Like ambitious young go-getters, they promise to take on more responsibility and make better decisions, and the implications for workers, companies, and policy makers are significant and pressing.

Transportation, connectivity, accessibility, mobility – many terms point at a range of different perspectives on the phenomenon of transport. Mobility is essentially a basic human need and in economic terms transport infrastructure has to be considered as a conditio sine qua non for any kind of activity. In the past decade the so-called digital revolution has started to pervade road as well as rail transport meaning an increasing use of digital technologies in vehicle technology and – on the part of infrastructure – in traffic management, control and information systems.

ATMs constitute a critical component in today’s infrastructure for facilitating cash payments. However, ongoing digitalisation (cashless payments, e-commerce and online banking) is challenging the role of ATMs and putting pressure on the cash infrastructure in the EU. The shift from cash to cashless payments reduces the need for cash withdrawals and the rise of online banking challenges the bank branch as the traditionally most prevalent location for ATMs. Moreover, the introduction of pricing policies might also change the dynamics in EU ATM markets. Transparency and price caps on the so-called dynamic currency conversion (DCC) as well as potential reductions in interchange fees will put pressure on the revenues of certain ATMs.
Against this background, this report assesses the sensitivity of EU ATM markets to ongoing digitalisation and pricing policies. The impact of these developments is assessed across business models in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, which are representative of the ATM markets in all EU member states.

Trade has always been shaped by technological innovation. In recent times, a new technology – Blockchain – has been greeted by many as the next big game-changer. This publication explores the question of whether Blockchain may revolutionize international trade.
Opening with an explanation of the technology, the publication goes on to analyse the relevance of this technology for international trade by reviewing how it is currently used and how it may potentially be used in the various areas covered by WTO rules. In doing so, it offers insights into the extent to which this technology could affect cross-border trade in goods and services and in intellectual property rights.
The publication also discusses the potential of Blockchain for reducing trade costs and enhancing supply chain transparency, as well as the opportunities it provides for small-scale producers and companies. It concludes with a review of various challenges that must be addressed before the technology can be used on a wide scale and have a significant impact on international trade.

The rapid uptake of disruptive technologies in Africa, such as mobile and financial technologies, is prompting speculation among tech investors about whether artificial intelligence (AI) applications will also take root on the continent.
A new issue brief by Africa Center Senior Fellow Aleksandra Gadzala, “Coming to Life: Artificial Intelligence in Africa,” mostly throws cold water on the idea. She acknowledges that many African nations still lack the statistical capacity, infrastructure, and good governance necessary to see AI take off. However, in a select handful of countries, AI solutions are already being successfully deployed at scale. Gadzala surveys the state of AI in Africa and discovers what these successful investments have in common, and what African governments need to do to strengthen the ecosystem necessary to see these technologies flourish, focusing on ways to foster a culture of research and innovation, improve investment environments, and strengthen policy frameworks so African nations can reap the full benefits of AI.

Consider a world where human decision-making and thought processes play less of a role in the day-to-day functioning of society. Think now of the implications this would have for the security and defence sector. Over the next few decades, it is likely that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will not only have major implications for most areas of society such as healthcare, communications and transport, but also for security and defence. AI can be broadly defined as systems that display intelligent behaviour and perform cognitive tasks by analysing their environment, taking actions and even sometimes learning from experience.
The complex attributes of the human mind are well known, but to replicate most of these abilities in machine or algorithmic form has given policymakers and scholars pause for thought. What is more, much of the concern generated by AI centres on whether such intelligence may eventually lead to post-human systems that can generate decisions and actions that were not originally pre-programmed. Accordingly, optimists argue that AI has the potential to revolutionise the global economy for the better, whereas some pessimists have gone as far as to forecast that AI will mark the end of modern society as we know it.