IT tycoons, show optimism for the future of the internet, and assert the “Future of the Digital Economy” will become the foundation for solving most of the world’s problems. Everybody will have the opportunity to succeed if they use AI technology in a good way.
“In the digital era, most global problems will be solved through networking,” posits Google president, Eric Schmidt. For the last couple of days, IT industry representatives from all over the world have gathered at the Davos Forum to expound the bright future that the internet can pave way for humanity at the “Future of the Digital Economy” session. However, the panelists are in agreement that urgent measures have to be taken to concatenate the 5 billion people off the internet grid.
At the session, president Schmidt was joined by MS CEO Satya Nadella, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandburg, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Collao, among others.
Read also: The use of aircraft-robots as a born-new way to study Mars and other planets (USA)
None of the panelists gave a second thought to earning recognition for their body of work. Instead, they were all unanimously concerned in sharing their unshakable faith in the vast potential of technology.
“If you construct a telecommunication tower in the middle of nowhere, in 8 months, the data usage rate there will rival that of a big urban center,” claimed CEO Collao, explaining that it’s because “users naturally seek out data.”
“Most of the world’s most pressing issues will be solved through the internet,” asserted Google’s Schmidt, elaborating that “if you just provide the necessary network infrastructure, the users will take care of the rest.”
Read also: Star-Wars-style robots become reality (Tesla Robots)
COO Sandburg also gave his thoughts on the strengths of the digital age by using a Korean app-designer as example. He told the story of how “a law school student, Mr. Tae, developed an app that compares hotel prices, and now has 8 employees working for him and is in the works for entering the oversea market,” using this example to emphasize that anyone can succeed in today’s era. CEO Nadella chimed in, “we are living in an era, in which even African banks that do not have a single IT technician can borrow money from Iceland’s financial system.”There was no end to the panelists’ enthusiastic support for a digital economy: “for every technical job created, it generates 5-6 non-technical jobs” (Schmidt); “It gives a channel for the minority to make their voices heard” (Sandburg); “It helps social outcasts access and grow within the system” (Nadella); to show but a few.
Issue about Technology
The issue, however, is that, out of the world’s 7-billion population, 5 billion currently have no means of accessing the internet. Schmidt stated, what’s most important is to “impact the greatest number of people at the lowest cost possible.”
Everyone agreed to that axiom; however, the panelists’ opinions diverged on the “How” of achieving this. COO Sandburg proposed free internet as a solution, but CEO Collao repudiated, “how the expanding infrastructure will be covered under that plan.” Diverse ideas were heard in the forum, but the one that drew the most attention and interest was CEO Nadella’s “utillization of white space,” the empty space between TV and major media radio waves. He further caught everyone’s eyes with the introduction of his three conditions for the expansion of the internet: 1) raise expectations for internet usage; 2) legitimate internet usage; 3) internet free from authority interference.