Reinventing the Internet for a society of change
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the world to an unexpected opportunity wherein it can redesign the context and concept of the Internet for society.
The world is facing new and unprecedented strategic challenges as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, and the reinvention of the Internet is one strategic tool that could facilitate a new agenda for the future. This strategic process demands an effective push towards a more cooperative agenda, one that focuses on a prosperous and competitive economy, sustainable environment, and a more democratic, open, healthy society.
This reinvention process should be seen as a key and positive element that empowers both citizens and growing businesses to help build an innovative, secure and sustainable post-pandemic world.
More than ever, the society of change that we need demands a clear and balanced repositioning of the Internet, one that is fundamentally based on a full understanding of policy issues and the context to which they belong. Furthermore, a pragmatic strategy is needed for sustainable growth and prosperity so that the majority of society can respond to the following challenges that the world is now facing:
- Transforming society into a high skill/high employment economy for a globalized environment;
- Tackling the effects of an ageing population, while improving major public services;
- This must be done in a way that takes into account foreseeable expenditures and environmental constraints;
It is absolutely critical that the world’s different social actors come to understand the extreme importance of these issues when it comes to promoting a real and effective process of reinventing the internet, particularly by the private citizens and various institutions who are decisive enablers of change. The effective implementation of this process also demands an effective new agenda that is centered on:
- An innovation economy – a driver of future wealth;
- The Knowledge Society – participation for all;
- Green ICT – support for an eco-efficient economy;
- Next Generation Infrastructure: balancing investment with competition;
- Soft Infrastructure: investing in Social Capital;
- SMEs and ICT – supporting small enterprises;
- A single information market – enabling cohesion and growth;
- Transforming E-government – rethinking the delivery of public services;
- Online trust – a safe and secure digital world;
- Clear leadership – rethinking the public policymaking process
This process of strategic change in our society demands an effective ‘partnership contract’ between all of society’s key actors in order to build a verifiable strategy of confidence when it comes to the implementation of different policies for the future.
The focus on innovation and knowledge, as the drivers of creating added value with international dissemination, is a unique challenge that may be the answer to a new way of interaction between those who have the responsibility of thinking and those that have the responsibility of executing the plans in the real world.
We need a new ambition in this time of change, one that will be decisive for our sense of commitment to a better future.