- The digital world is facing a crisis with slowing internet growth and declining levels of trust that urgently need to be addressed
- 60% of global GDP is expected to be digitized by 2022, with very little distinction between the digital economy and the economy, or between digital society and society
- The Forum highlights six priority areas for action: Access and adoption, identity, positive societal impact, security, governance, and data
- The digital world is facing a crisis with slowing internet growth and declining levels of trust that urgently need to be addressed
- 60% of global GDP is expected to be digitized by 2022, with very little distinction between the digital economy and the economy, or between digital society and society
- The Forum highlights six priority areas for action: Access and adoption, identity, positive societal impact, security, governance, and data
The World Economic Forum,committed to improving the state of the world, is the InternationalOrganization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremostpolitical, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional andindustry agendas. (www.weforum.org).
Geneva / San Jose / Tokyo,10 December 2018 – Building a digitaleconomy and society that is trusted, inclusive and sustainable requires urgentattention in six priority areas according to a new report, Our Shared Digital Future,published by the World Economic Forum today.
The report represents a collaborative effort by business, government and civilsociety leaders, experts and practitioners. It follows an 18-month dialogueaimed at restoring the internet’s capacity for delivering positive social andeconomic development.
The report comes at a historic moment on the day when, for the first time, morethan one-half of the world’s population is now connected to the internet. Atthe same time, less than one-half of those already online trust that technologywill make their lives better.
With 60% of the global economy forecast to be digitized by 2022, there remainshuge potential for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to lift more people out ofpoverty and strengthen societies and communities. However, success depends oneffective collaboration between all stakeholder groups. The authors, inaddition to unveiling six key areas for action, also highlight several existingefforts at global and local levels where collaboration is helping to restoretrust and deliver broad-based societal benefits.
The six priority areas for multistakeholder collaboration are:
Internet access andadoption
Internet access growth has slowed from 19% in 2007 to 6% in 2017. At the sametime, we have reached the milestone of 50% of the world’s population beingconnected to the internet. To close the digital divide, more investment isneeded to not only provide access, but also improve adoption.
Good digital identity
By 2020, the average internet user will have more than 200 online accounts and by2022, 150 million people are forecast to have blockchain-based digitalidentities. However, 1 billion people currently lack a formal identity, whichexcludes them from the growing digital economy. Good digital identity solutionsare key to addressing this divide, empowering individuals, and protecting theirrights in society.
Positive impact on society
By 2022, an estimated 60% of global GDP will be digitized. In 2018, companiesare expected to spend more than $1.2 trillion on digital transformationefforts. Yet, only 45% of the world’s population feel that technology willimprove their lives. Companies need to navigate digital disruption and developnew responsible business models and practices.
Cybersecurity
Cyberattacks result in annual losses of up to $400 billion to the globaleconomy. More than 4.5 billion records were compromised by malicious actors inthe first half of 2018, up from 2.7 billion records for the whole of 2017. Asafe and secure digital environment requires global norms and practices tomitigate cyber-risks.
Governance of the FourthIndustrial Revolution
Policy-makers and traditional governance models are being challenged by thesheer magnitude and speed of the technological changes of the Fourth IndustrialRevolution. Developing new and participatory governance mechanisms tocomplement traditional policy and regulation is essential to ensure widespreadbenefits, close the digital divide and address the global nature of thesedevelopments.
Data
The amount of data that keeps the digital economy flowing is growingexponentially. By 2020, there will be more than 20 billion connected devicesglobally. Yet there is no consensus on whether data is a type of new currencyfor companies to trade or a common public good that needs stricter rules andprotection. The digital economy and society must bridge this gap by developinginnovations that allow society to benefit from data while protecting privacy,innovation and criminal justice.
“The digital environment is like our natural environment,” said DerekO’Halloran, Head, Future of Digital Economy and Society, the World EconomicForum. “We all – governments, businesses, individuals – have a duty to ensureit remains clean, safe and healthy. This paper marks a step forward in offeringa blueprint for a better internet we can all work towards: One that isinclusive, trustworthy and sustainable.”
The report is part of ongoing work by the World Economic Forum to provide aplatform to accelerate, amplify or catalyse collaborative efforts frombusiness, government, academia and civil society to advance progress towards aninclusive, trustworthy and sustainable digital economy. The report provides anoverview of key issues for the digital economy and society, establishespriorities for multistakeholder collaboration for the year ahead, andhighlights existing key initiatives and resources.
“Our existing institutions, mechanisms and models are struggling to effectivelyrespond to the pace of digital change and its distributed nature. This reportidentifies critical areas of focus for public-private partnerships to helprestore trust in an inclusive and prosperous digital future,” said Jim Smith,Chief Executive Officer, Thomson Reuters and Co-Chair, World Economic ForumSystem Initiative on Shaping the Future of Digital Economy and Society.
“While recognizing that digital developments fuel many opportunities inpolitical, commercial and social spheres, a key point of this paper is the needto focus on inclusion and addressing digital divides; only throughincorporating more voices and views – in the development of political andcommercial policies – will we be able to create a society that truly benefitsall,” said Lynn St. Amour, Chair of the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF)’sMultistakeholder Advisory Group, and Co-Chair, World Economic Forum SystemInitiative on Shaping the Future of Digital Economy and Society.
“It is imperative that we bring broadband to all those who are not yetconnected –and fast. In parallel, the technology, business and regulatoryecosystems must all be aligned in order to accelerate adoption of the“Industrial Internet” and deliver the benefits of digital automation to a widerange of enterprises. This, done right, can provide an immense productivityboost to economies.” RajeevSuri, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nokia
“It is time we retire the term ‘digital economy.’ There is only one economywhich is digitizing at varying speed. Therefore, special regulatory regimes fordigital businesses don’t make sense. We must develop agile and consistentpolicies that apply to all actors in a changed market reality where technologyand data are omnipresent.” GillianTans, Chief Executive Officer, Booking.com
“We need to maximize the benefits of digitalization to create an inclusiveeconomy, close the inequality gap and improve income distribution globally.” Rudiantara, Minister of Communicationand Information Technology of Indonesia
“Governance frameworks need to allow enough flexibility to learn and to adaptin the face of rapid innovation, while not leaving anyone behind.” Doris Leuthard, Federal Councillor forthe Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of Switzerland
“The breadth of digital’s impact shows that this is not merely a challenge tobe delegated to chief digital officers and others. It represents more than acommercial opportunity. The Fourth Industrial Revolution demands that CEOs takeresponsibility for the massive transformation of their businesses and for theextraordinary impact that this transformation will have on wider society.” Pierre Nanterme, Chairman and ChiefExecutive Officer, Accenture
“Digitalization is the most powerful force in our world today. It can bringprofound benefits and empowerment, but only if handled with care and responsibility.The shared vision and action plan proposed in our report shows a path tomeeting this future with confidence.” MarioGreco, Group Chief Executive Officer, Zurich Insurance Group, Switzerland
“The Internet is one of the greatest innovations in history, improving ouraccess to information, commerce and each other in a way that we’ve never beenable to before. It continues to hold revolutionary promise for improving thelives of people in even the most inaccessible parts of the world. The Digital Futuresreport makes clear how the stewards of the Internet’s development are helpingto make sure it lives up to its promise.” Matthew Prince, Co-founder and CEO, Cloudflare
“By building on our national data and digital consultations, our government isidentifying a path forward to create an inclusive and trustful digital economywhere our full innovation potential can be unleashed. However, building aninclusive, trustworthy and sustainable digital society is truly global inscope. That’s why through our work on AI with our G7 counterparts, we willcontinue to collaborate with international partners to advance these importantgoals.” Navdeep Bains,Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development of Canada
“We are at a crossroads. More than half of the world’s population will beonline by the end of 2018. Now is the time to redouble our collective effortsto leave no one offline, and this timely report outlines shared goals for aninclusive, trusted and sustainable digital future.” Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General, ITU
“We want everyone to thrive in the digital world -no one should be left behind.That means educating everyone on how to keep themselves and their data safeonline, which is something that we at Barclays are very passionate about. Butit also means ensuring universal access to a safe, secure and easy to usedigital identity, so that everyone can confidently unlock the benefits of thedigital economy.” JesStaley, Group CEO, Barclays