What is the point of having an information age if you cannot access and learn from it?
by Viktor Prokopenya, founder at VP Capital, Capital.com and Currency.com
I recently spoke at the Global Blockchain Business Council’s ‘Blockchain Central UNGA, that discussed the promises and perils of using new technologies to access and document learning in the digital age at the Global Blockchain Business Council’s ‘Blockchain Central UNGA’.
The UN recognises that the summit offers a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ chance to recover learning losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic, advance the off-track Sustainable Development Goals and rethink education systems – including by using technology as a tool for good.
A key question that continues to spring to my mind is: “What is the point of having an information age if you cannot access and learn from it?”
Looking around the room as I spoke, I saw countless connected devices that are able to bring all of us the answers to the many questions we have each day. This technology, all at our fingertips, provides a world of information and knowledge – the greatest educational resource and learning platform ever created.
These resources help to inform and direct us on every single move we make in our daily lives, in our professional careers and wider decisions which have an immense impact on the future of our societies. Yet, after decades of development, we know that the promises of previous educational technologies are still not being effectively and equitably realised worldwide and progress toward SDG4 has been difficult. These technologies remain inaccessible to many, not just within the education system, but also in business and across society.
As the shift to new technologies continues, a trend that rapidly advanced during the pandemic, the need to ensure access to education grows stronger every day. We know that without this, people suffer from ever greater disadvantages, placing them further and further behind their peers. And even in cases where people already have access to a certain level of education, we all are called upon to refresh, retrain and reskill our knowledge bases, faster than we could ever have expected.
We need to ensure that future generations are best positioned to harness emerging technologies and to create a positive and more equitable learning ecosystem.
Most of us in the modern age have been incredibly privileged to experience first-hand the benefits of technology. Speaking personally, the proliferation of the internet in the aftermath of the Cold War instilled in me a lifelong passion for technology, specifically in working to improve financial and digital literacy for all.
Specifically, I am a firm believer that financial literacy is essential to creating empowered and independent people. This needs to be taught from a young age, but also maintained and built upon later in life as markets and technological systems continue to develop. However, the rate of financial literacy today is nowhere near where it needs to be – and traditional pathways to financial education have remained siloed to a privileged few.
But this is changing. For example, through mobile technologies and the internet, we have already witnessed the first generation that have benefited from more democratised access to financial education. This is likely to accelerate even faster as Web3 and other technologies, from AI to machine learning, become more widely trialled and adopted.
As a result, we already know that solutions cannot be siloed to the conventional education systems but must also be developed to be easily accessible where people already are. I believe that as a key entry point for knowledge today, online platforms play an essential role in assisting in the growth and development of financial and digital literacy. With the right training and educational tools, everyone should be able to access, learn, and benefit from the new opportunities posed by emerging technologies.
Amidst all the opportunities, it is important that we do not make the same mistakes that previous generations have made. Creating and developing new technologies without considering its potential drawbacks and biases is just as dangerous, if not more so, than stagnating on innovation. This challenge is immense. But we can help to address this by placing equity at the centre of our mindset when we are developing, deploying, and adopting new technologies.
Each of us here has a role to play in working to dismantle these structural inequities – whether it is working to bridge the digital divide, reducing the barriers to accessing new technologies and concepts, or collaborating as businesses, foundations, or governments to develop ethical global standards and regulations.
Our unifying mission is to achieve SDG 4 and take full advantage of the resources which this information age offers to us all. The UN Secretary-General has challenged industry leaders in his blueprint for the future, Our Common Agenda, to “deliver more for young people and succeeding generations and to be better prepared for the challenges ahead”.
We must start by ensuring that industry players proactively work to ensure inclusive and equitable products and solutions. At the same time, they must have the support of governments and policymakers through the creation of transparent and responsible regulations to build trust.
And together we can not only work to expand access to learning for those that have previously been left behind, but create new opportunities that are accessible to all. That is surely a goal worth striving for.